Party Planning Committee

March is right around the corner so I need to get on the party planning. D is turning 35 this year. He isn't making a big deal out of it, but I would like to do something. I can't decide if I should try and throw a little party for him, or just have everyone meet for drinks one night. D's birthday is the 12th and the Pickle's is the 15th.

We have decided to do a family birthday party on Saturday and then have friends with kids his age come on Sunday. The plan is to have a school bus themed party because he is very into buses at this moment. I wanted to set up a low table and make some yellow play doh and have the kids go to town on it but D has stated a resounding no to that idea. If we could count on the weather we could do it outside, but March 15 can go either way.

I'm on the look out for school bus themed party supplies for now.

Things accomplished

I actually got moving this weekend and got some things done. My parents came down on Saturday and mom and I tie-dyed 50 shirts for her client. Things went pretty well, until I found out their was dye on the floor, which happens to re-activate when you walk on it with wet feet, and therefore allows you to track it around the house. Luckily it did not end up upstairs, but I did have the fun of moping the basement.

I also moved the hooks on the basement door from the inside of the kitchen to the outside, by the basement and I put up one coat of chalk board paint. I think it looks pretty good. I am hoping that it helps reduce the amount of clutter collecting around the edges of the house.

My next step, start on the quilt. I have some motivation for tomorrow. D's parents are coming in town and D and his dad are going to the basketball game. This leaves me an his mother to ourselves. I have come to realize that we have very little in common and while she is D's mother, and I am civil and polite, I have no desire to be friendly. I just constantly feel like she is collecting information on me and D and the pickle and that nothing discussed with her is private. I have learned to keep my mouth shut while around her. So I'll spend most of the evening upstairs working on the quilt while she watches TV downstairs.

But it is about time I got moving on that quilt. The premise is easy and it should be quick to piece together once I get started.

The pickle is amazing me every day. He has recently started showing a flare for pretending. He puts the cabbage patch kid on the potty. After watching the end of the car race this weekend her reenacted the car rolling over and skidding over the finish line a few times. It's pretty cute. He is very into 'pie' lately, even though he has never had any. There was a story in his magazine about a cat knocking a pie off the table so now when you ask what he wants to eat he says "pie". That or "moose" which referrers to the moose munch Carmel/chocolate popcorn that my mom sent him for valentines day. Which, is beginning to make me think he might have a corn allergy. Every time he eats it he gets bright red blotches on he cheeks. Something to talk to the pediatrician about.

Brrrrr

I was to head up to my parents this weekend to get a bit of a crafting kick in the butt. Thanks to possible blizzards in the Cleveland area they are coming down here instead. That's good news to me. Mom and I are going to tie-dye about 50 shirts for a client of hers. I'm ready to get a little crafting done. Maybe it will get me motivated to work on that quilt commissioned months ago! Uh oh.

I've also been offered the opportunity to watch a friends dogs on occasional weekends which will provide a little spending money my way. Which will be nice.

With dad in town this weekend I have a plan to set him on some small projects about the house that I have been too lazy to do. Namely moving the hooks from the door in the kitchen to the other side of the door and to paint that door with some chalkboard paint.

D has 4 basketball games to referee this Saturday so it will be nice to have my parents on hand to help avoid the cabin fever that sets in with the pickle. We had the next 3 weekends set up for some short trips but so far 2 have fallen through. Probably not such a bad thing, I wasn't really looking forward to traveling 3 weekends in a row. But, I feel like we need to do it now, before there is another one of us to pack for and schedule to try and stick to.

Day 2

Yesterday was one of my day's off, about 10 am I decided that I needed to get the pickle out of the house so I bundled him up and hauled him outside. D, who was working from home joined us and started to shovel us out of the snow and ice. Poor pickle, doesn't quite get the whole mitten concept, therefore could not grab anything. He had a little interest in playing with his shovel, but when not able to grasp it he gave it up pretty quick.

He was ready to go back inside about 2 min later. I set him in his sled and pulled him around, which he tolerated. Only because, I believe, he couldn't get up himself. He just keep repeating "Done! Up Up, Cold, Done!" Finally I gave into him and hauled him back inside.

The intrigue of having mom and dad home was too much for him and he never fell asleep for his nap, which of course lead to a break down right before dinner. After dinner he was hustled up stairs and into the bath and off to bed before 8.

That left D and I to have a nice evening alone... which consisted of him watching OSU basketball and me reading. Then watching Lost together. I got the annoyed sigh, and eye roll when I attempted to speak to him during the commercials, when he thought he might read his book. After a little cajoling we tried to remember what we had done for valentines day in the past. All we could come up with was going out one year, to and to his apartment one year. We aren't really sure what we did last year, but I'm pretty sure we just stayed it.

We aren't much for celebrating holidays like V-day. Honestly, I'm the lazy one who would not get him a card. Since he does the shopping he can just get it while at the store. Otherwise, I have to make a special trip for him. No gifts were exchanged, just a quite night in.

I'm trying to get a jump on planning the pickles 2nd birthday. I think that we have decided to celebrate family on one day and friends with kids his age on the next day. He is very into buses now so I am thinking of a school bus theme. Making a school bus cake out of a bread loaf pan, printing off some school bus coloring pages and pretty much letting the kids go at it. I'm sure I'll leave it all for the last minute!

The more things change the more they stay the same

I'm not sure what I want to do with this space. Clearly it has been a while since I posted or visited. I think about it, then just don't do it.
Pregnancy is going well. I feel lots of kicking and thumping going on in there. I feel so much smaller this time now, than I did with the Pickle. Also I'm still in that stage where people aren't sure if I'm pregnant, or just fat. The news has slowly been making the rounds at work. It is funny to see peoples reactions. Especially when they find out I am further along than the two women who announced at 9 weeks.

We had our 20 week ultrasound a few weeks ago. D and I are thinking girl, although we don't officially know. Depending on which ever Chinese prediction chart I look at one says girl one says boy. It was the same with the Pickle.

Crafting has taken a back burner lately for house work, and organization. I have really been trying to purge my unecessary items and not collect more. It is a slow process but the house is starting to come together a little more than before.