Parties and Parties!

We celebrated Chip's 40th birthday last weekend.  Naturally, I put on two of my prom dresses.  

Just because I felt like it.

Then I had my mother take pictures.

Totally normal behavior.

I love this evolution of trying to get a good shot of these three goons.

Take 1: My kid is hollering about wanting to be in the picture.

Take 2:  Katie speaks sternly to Caroline and my kid really thinks she is in the picture.

Take 3:  Birthday boy, wife, and daughter all looking at the camera.  My kid thinks she is their 2nd child.  

I took these as my mom took ones that totally cropped G out of the picture.

You have to admire her enthusiasm, though.

On Sunday these lovelies celebrated Tiny and her tiny baby bump.

Cinda, Katie, Amanda, Kirby, Jaymee, and Mel have been besties since IU.

They hosted a gender reveal party for Amanda and Thomas.

The gang's all here.  The party can start.

And it's a GIRL!!!!

They were so thrilled and so were all of the guests.

I was in charge of the cake.  We double checked the sonogram picture to confirm that my bakery had gotten it right.  Thank the sweet Lord I didn't mess that up!  

G stayed a bit later to hang with the wonder twins, Quinn and Mack.  

It was a most festive weekend.  Now on to the holidays!  

Little Excitement

Trinity captured what most weekend afternoons look like for me now.  Grading papers, planning lessons, and folding laundry are just a few of my favorite things!

Genevieve attended a 2nd birthday party last Saturday for our friend Spencer.  I was her chauffeur.  

We went to see the Peanuts movie and it was adorable.  

It was 3D and she wasn't so sure about the glasses.  She did pretty well, but we left about 15 minutes before the movie ended because she was getting antsy.  Did Charlie Brown ever talk to the little red haired girl?  I guess I'll just have to deal with that cliffhanger.  

I went to dinner that evening with Meghan, Allison, and Jamie to celebrate birthdays.  Jamie was served wine in an Olivia Pope style  wine glass.  I hate those things on Scandal.  They are like soup bowls on crystal straws.  The stems are ridiculous.  Since Jamie was already wearing a cashmere sweater, she gave us her best Olivia Pope.  She was only missing ill fitting pants and popcorn.  

Trinity went to New Orleans with his boss for a work conference and this is the only photo I received.  

Heavens.

Genevieve and I went to craft at the Art Museum.  

 Sweet T returned home from NOLA with treats.  Cafe Du Monde coffee (for him), Leah's pralines for me, and beads and a book for Lady Genevieve.

Halloween 2015

This past week was Red Ribbon Week at school.  On Thursday we had pajama day.  Woot!  My friend Dani's class had read enough books for our assistant principal to kiss a pig!  At the last minute they invited my class out to witness the fun.

After Mr. Sponsel finished his smooch, I got a little piggy loving.  

It was furry and adorable.

It also reminded me why I don't dine on swine. 

My sweet firsties went nanners!

Such  fun.  

On Friday Genevieve had pajama day at her school.

I'm so glad my job allows me to do the same ridiculous things that 3 year olds do.  

She was jazzed about her new pajamas from Abby.

My friend Karen read a spooky story on Friday afternoon, right before our fall party.

We played candy corn math games.

We graphed bats and pumpkins.

Then we had a fabulous soiree.  I have some fabulous parents who basically did the whole thing.  I walked around eating cookies and asking my students if they liked my fascinator.  They were not shocked by my headgear.  I have to remind myself that sometimes my loud prints and gilded shoes can be distracting!  

Speaking of prints, I almost paired this leopard top with a floral skirt.

No joke.

But then I thought they might all get dizzy and throw up and ain't nobody got time for that.  That's what candy is for.

On Halloween we went to Tim and Jamie's to trick or treat with Charlotte and Liam.  

Liam was Antman, whoever that is.

Charlotte was Fern from Charlotte's Web, one of my favorite books!  

Genevieve was a flash.

She ran like a bandit in her cheap a** plastic "glass slippers."  She had some serious blisters, but kept running...

until she didn't.

Thank God for Tim's wagon.

She rolled back for snuggle time with Georgia.  

We have so many full sized candy bars that I will be eating a candy bar a day for like a month.  You know I'll do it, too. 

The Rest of Fall Break 2015

When we got back to Indiana, we had to visit the pumpkin patch.  G loved the same orchard where I took my field trip.

Genevieve had her first dental appointment.  She waved goodbye to me, took the hygienist's  hand, and left me in the waiting room.  It seems she is like me, and will love going to the dentist.  Weird, but I adore going to the dentist.  I love getting my teeth cleaned.  I actually go 4x a year instead of two for cleanings.  I so enjoy it and my mouth is a tartar factory, so it really is necessary.  

Dr. Boyd congratulated G on her healthy teeth with zero cavities.  It seems that my fastidious brushing and only milk and water rules paid off.  

Woot!

With all of our spare time, we visited Uncle Robby, attorney at law.  He has officially morphed into my father, deck shoes and all. Robby was just sworn in to practice law in Kentucky.  He passed the bar over the summer.  He can lawyer in two states.  

Genevieve called both YaYa and Abby from Robby's desk phone.  She is fascinated by real phones.   Think Jane Fonda in 9 to 5.  That movie is fabulous.

"I thought it was Skinny 'n Sweet!!!!!"

That may possibly be my favorite movie quote. 

On Thursday I did what every normal woman in her mid 30s might do.  I donned a pink wig to see the premiere of Jem.  I was shocked by how many people didn't know about Jem and the Holograms, a ridiculous cartoon that I loved as a kid.  

My bestie Marinda was more than familiar with the show.  I purchased $7 pink wigs from Target and we were set!

The theatre was completely empty.

As in, we were the ONLY people there.  The teenage ticket boy didn't even know that the movie was there, what it was, or why in the hell we seemed to think we were so cool.  

We quickly turned ourselves from Jerrica to Jem!  

The movie was utterly ridiculous and I can't believe someone actually made a terrible cartoon into an even more terrible movie.  

Oh, well, we talked through the whole thing and had a blast with how amazing we looked.

We spent my final break weekend with Abby and Papi.

Abby and I spent Saturday putzing around and shopping, while G hung with the boys and watched football.  

We had cupcakes!  

G snuggled with Abby in her new pajamas.  The grandmothers are good at random gifts for no reason!  

This morning G sat outside in the crisp fall weather as we all had our coffee.  

Back to business as usual starting tomorrow.  It seems like ages since I've seen my firsties, so I'm ready for a fun week!  

More Florida Fun

One day we ventured out to a botanical garden.  It was so beautiful.  It was on the grounds of what was a failed amusement park from the 50s called Bongoland, and the dinosaurs from the park were still there.  

On Tuesday we drove to Orlando to the happiest place on Earth.  

I dressed twinsy style with my toddler.

The temperature was perfect, and the day went very smoothly.  We rode 13 rides between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. including about a 45 minute lunch.

We had fast passes, but mostly there was less than a 10 minute wait on all of the rides.  

Dumbo is still her favorite ride.  

We rode in honeypots for the Winnie the Pooh ride.  

Goofy's Barnstormer kiddie roller coaster was new to me.  I think the last time I went to Disney World I was like 14.  G loved this one and we hopped off, ran down to the exit and ran back up and got back on!  

YaYa and Bob were troupers with this adventure.  Everyone had on their tennis shoes.  We had to hit up a Finish Line the day before because Jane forgot hers.

Dad represented the Hoosier state as we experienced a lot of culture on It's a Small World.  G sang the entire time.  

Now let's talk about the hell on Earth that was Ariel's Grotto.  We waited to meet Ariel, since we had no chance of getting in to see Cinderella, Aurora, Anna or Elsa.  G walked right past Jasmine, so she was jazzed about the mermaid.

An hour in line later, G threw a major hissy, screamed and flung herself on the filthy floor of the grotto.

Now any other mother would have yanked her off the floor and left that second.  Not this mama.  I waited for too dang long and she was going to sit next to that swimming ginger if it killed me.  

I hope that doesn't offend any redheads.

Well, the tears dried up when she saw that sparkly tail.  

So not worth an hour.

She loved the ride!

We ended the day with the People Mover.  Here you can see our matching glory.  

YaYa and Bob have taken us for both of our Disney experiences, to Disneyland in CA last year and to Disney World last week.

Trinity has escaped the fun both times!