Nealy Turned 3!!

Well, it has been a week of birthday fun. This year, Nealy's birthday fell on a Monday, and her birthday party was held the following Saturday due to the fact that we returned from our Spring Break vacation the Saturday before her birthday. So that meant:

• Cupcakes at School on Monday

• Dinner of choice Monday night

• More cake at home Monday night followed by gifts

• Squeezing in fun Easter events during the week

• Family coming into town on Friday and Saturday morning for the party

• Crazy/Insane party prep in the days before the party (which wasn't all that much - just cake pick up/favor acquisition/reminder to friends to come to the party)

• Birthday party event on Saturday

• Wind down Saturday mid-day before launching directly into more Easter activities

It's been kind of a crazy week.....

Luckily, Nealy has been taking tumbling at day care this past year through Premier Spirit Academy, and a Premier party was just what she wanted. She waffled quite a bit on the party theme (princess, Rapunzel, Dora, princess again, Fairies, Hello Kitty), but in the end we settled on Hello Kitty. Thanks to the ease of the Premier party, all I had to worry about was getting the cake (and my cake baker, Mandi Buckalew of Cakeapotomous is a Hello Kitty aficionado), some extra snacks, and additional favors for the cups that Mr. Frank of Premier already had prepared for us. Gotta love the Premier party!
Okay, my party prep story is growing tiresome. Here are some pictures:

Brother and Sister pre-party - holding hands and smiling big. So super sweet...Pure joy

One of many, many attempts at a group picture. This is one of my favorites because Nealy is cracking up at something. We love Mr. Frank! He takes good care of all the babies - such a good daddy.

Nealy posing by her cakes.
Time to enjoy some party food!!
Fun was had by all!! Phew - another birthday party down. Just 6 short months until it's time for another one. Jacks is already planning for it.....

Thanks to all of Nealy's sweet friends for coming and celebrating her big day with her, and thanks to our parents for traveling great distances to be here for the party.

Egg Saga

This is the time of year when we all boil 2 dozen eggs, dye them on the back deck, then put them back into the refrigerator for a couple of weeks when we finally decide to throw them out. Sure, I'll make some deviled eggs from some of them, maybe a round of egg salad, but several will still go to waste. I'm guessing that Joe has decided otherwise.

A few nights ago, I heard him rooting around in the kitchen. Something went into the microwave, then he wandered out of the kitchen for a while to do something else. A couple of minutes later, a smell hit my nose that nearly knocked me the hell over. Apparently, Joe chopped up an egg, added some butter, salt and pepper, then stuck that concoction into the microwave to melt the butter.

I cannot deny that buttered, salted, peppered, and chopped boiled egg might be kind of a nice treat, but I have to firmly stand by the fact that boiled eggs SHOULD. NOT. BE. MICROWAVED. You might ask yourself, how do you melt the butter? How will it taste as good if it's cold? To that I say, melt the butter first, and cold boiled eggs are far preferable to hot boiled eggs. Especially RE-HEATED boiled eggs. I cannot condone this behavior.

I understand that this was a treat that Joe's mother used to make, and she is no longer with us so these types of snacks that are in her style are special to my sweet husband. But, I really think I have to draw the line.

After opening an exterior door, running some fans, and lighting a couple of candles, the smell finally started to evaporate. But it never fully got out of my nose until the next day. UGH - brutal!

The eggs turned out really cute, though.


And come Sunday, I'll eat too many deviled eggs, then spend a little time doubled over on the floor wishing I had stopped eating them much, much sooner than I did.

Spring Soccer

Jacks's last soccer season was slightly painful. It was last spring, he was 4, he was clearly the youngest kid on the team, there were hissy fits. It was so difficult that we skipped out on the fall season in favor of waiting for a new year - and hopefully an all new, aged kid. Well, we got what we wished for. Jacks is doing so well, we almost can't believe it. See the list below of things he did NOT do at his first soccer team:

1. Quit playing soccer and start playing tag
2. Attempt to start sword fights with team mates with sticks found on the ground
3. Pick up the ball and throw it
4. Collapse on the side line in a heap of tears and anger
5. Pick a fight with his sister for getting to sit down in a chair
6. Freak out over the color of his gatorade
7. Try to eat snacks in the middle of the first half when he is actually playing
8. Decide to wait to inform someone that he had to use the bathroom until just after the game begins.
9. Hide behind my tail gating chair and beg to go home
10. Have a bad attitude

I think we've come a long way.

About 20 minutes into the hour long game, I noticed him getting a little slower, a little more halting, and getting very red faced. I fully expected the "I'm tired" whining to begin any second. But it didn't. I am so proud of my big boy. He made it all the way through the game, he sat patiently on the side line when he was swapped out of the game for a few minutes, and he was still smiling when the final whistle blew. I think we're in for a good season with the Simmons Super Heroes. And how about the yellow and black uniform? So much better than the Mississippi State maroon of last year (although that team was wonderful).

It was also Nealy's third birthday that day. She spent most of the game being silly, but being very good considering she was so excited for her super special Chick Fil A birthday dinner (her choice) followed by cake and presents at home. She is having her birthday party this weekend, so I'll be sure to post all about her birthday after the big event. I'm going simple this year - we're just doing a tumbling party at the gym with a Hello Kitty theme. I figured I'd take it easy on myself this year considering how busy we've been. I did manage to make some cupcakes for her class on Monday and an extra bundt cake to enjoy after dinner. It ain't pretty, but it tasted goooooood. Yep - that's Crisco icing, baby. There's clearly a reason I contract out all of my cakery. Until next time...

Dinner on the high seas

For those of you who have not cruised before, the wait staff that serves you dinner in the main dining room each night is kind of a big deal. You are assigned a table, usually with another family if you are not already a large group, and that is your table for the duration of the cruise. You are assigned a head waiter, a waiter, and an assistant waiter. The head waiter doesn't really do any serving - he wears a blazer, distinguishing him from the others, he offers colorful entertainment by coming around to the tables and checking in on everyone, and he basically supervises a large section of the dining room. He's kind of a meet and greet guy. The waiter is your constant attendant. He takes the orders, offers information about the specials, takes your order, serves the food, etc....but he also knows everyone's name, your favorite drink, some things that you really like, what kinds of foods the kids like, remembers to get crayons and coloring sheets for the kids, and if he's really good, he's pretty good and magic tricks - like card tricks, napkin folding, and general sleight of hand illusions. The assistant waiter is just that, the assistant. He makes sure your water stays full, clears the empty plates, and basic stuff like that.

This cruise offered an exceptionally colorful dining room staff for our family.

Our head waiter was named Habib. He is from Tunisia, and he totally freaked out Nealy. He would make a big deal of seeing us when we came in the dining room by loudly greeting the kids in his swarthy, Mediterranean accent. If it weren't for the cruise ship dress code guidelines, we get the feeling that Habib would be wearing some gold chains, a lot more hair product, an insane amount of cologne, and possibly one of those shiny button up shirts with some chest hair exposed, and he might try to sell you a car stereo. You can imagine why Nealy was freaked out. She refused to look directly at him when he was nearby, but she asked for him and talked about him when he wasn't around. Particularly because he would say insane things like, "Hey, hello, Nealy is my friend, no? I like her. I will buy her a dolphin. Come on!!!" I feel like his general way about him isn't really translating into my explanation. I will provide a picture to help you along.....This picture is CLASSIC! Joe is grinning ear to ear because he loved Habib so much. Nealy is hiding her face because she refuses to look him in the eye. And Jacks looks so uncomfortable with the entire situation. I can't get over this picture. It's honestly just too much. Get a load of that guy! Can you stand it?

Our waiter was a young man from the Phillipines named Edwin. He was an amazing guy. Edwin has a 3 year old daughter back home, so he really loved Nealy because she reminded him of his daughter. And we actually saw Edwin around the ship during the days sometimes. He was in his full waiter uniform, so I don't know what he was up to wandering through the promenade, but I've never seen one of our waiters outside of the dining room on a ship. I always assumed they were kept busy in the kitchen all day long doing some sort of brutal work while the rest of the world basks in the Caribbean sun. I mean, work on a cruise ship sounds like a great way to see the world, but I get the impression that most of the staff is kept way too busy to see anything except the interior of the kitchen most of each day.

Except for the entertainment...the dancers, the singers, the ice skaters, the entertainment staff, they are the ones who really get the best of both worlds. They work hard, but they get to enjoy the amenities of the ship, and they also disembark when the ship is at port if they like (if you see a super fabulous, tiny black man with diva sunglasses, hot pants, and an entourage on the dock, he's probably a dancer). You might notice the fancy people sitting behind Nealy in this picture.....

They were some of the acrobats from the "In the Air" show. Nealy flirted with them a little bit, and they smiled sweetly back at her - in that, "I don't speak English but I think your baby is cute" sort of a way.

And that was a little information about our dining experience on the ship. It was a trip to remember.

And speaking of the trip, I noticed a lot of interesting billboards along the interstate in Florida. Many of you know that although I am originally from the great state of Florida, I also fully acknowledge that our neighbor to the south is truly the "crazy state." It is the state that attracts the most vocally militant people of all walks of life. Right now, it seems the pro-lifers have a huge stake in billboard advertising along the Florida Turnpike. I will not take this opportunity to get political, but some of their billboards are nuts.
I tried to find you an image of the one that Joe and I enjoyed mocking, but I couldn't find one. Instead I'll describe it for you.....
The copy asks, "Pregnant and alone?" Then there is a close up picture of a troubled looking woman holding a pregnancy test. But she's holding the test dangerously close to her mouth. Think Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, when he holds his pinky to his mouth after saying something eeee-vil. Why is she holding that pregnancy strip so close to her face? Does she remember peeing on it? Come on! That billboard does NOT make me worry about single mothers and the fate of their future, it DOES make me worry about people who forget that you shouldn't wave pee sticks around their faces!

Other than that, it was really beautiful in Florida. The stretch beyond Gainesville has some really gorgeous rolling hills and farm land. When you can see it past the billboards.....

More later - this week we got back to work, had Nealy's birthday, Jacks played his first soccer game of the year, Easter egg hunts were/will be enjoyed, Nealy's birthday party to come in 2 days, we are expecting a visit with Chet and Queenie.... I think I need a vacation. Oh wait.....