Happy Birthday to My Daughter....Oh, Yeah and America Too

My daughter turns four today. It's almost impossible to believe that it has been four years since she entered our life. In so many ways it seems like just yesterday. To look at her and see this person is sometimes otherworldly. It's even more difficult to think about a time when she wasn't a part of our lives. I couldn't imagine my life without her, nor could I have asked for a better daughter.

She's funny and smart and makes me laugh daily. Deep, guttural roaring laughter. But more importantly she makes me proud to be her mom. When others look at her admiringly or compliment me on her vocabulary or her compassion while I graciously say thank you, inside I am bursting with pride for the blessing I have been given.

It has been so exciting to see her grow from this tiny baby into this walking, talking, joke making, pre-schooler. I cannot wait to see what the next four years bring. I have no doubt that the years will be interesting and definitely keep me on my toes.

As I have been cooking and cleaning and decorating for her birthday party I just keep looking over at her in amazement, still picturing her as a baby even though she is anything but. So, to my sweet, beautiful, incredibly bright daughter on her special day I wish her a happy birthday and a lifetime of happiness.

You Are Under Arrest????

A young man is getting married. His buddies decide to rent a huge U-Haul, fill it with couches, chairs, and coolers of beer, and drive it around from location to location for the Bachelor Party, as a type of "Party Bus." These same buddies decide it would be fun to "kidnap" the groom from his fiance's house. To do this they wear ski masks and end up dragging the groom from the house with his hands tied and face covered. A neighbor standing in her front yard, witnesses this and calls police to report a kidnapping. The "Party Bus" is pulled over; keep in mind the boys in back have no idea what is going on. They think they are at a stop light. The driver of the "Party Bus" tries to explain, with little success, that the "kidnapped" is a willing participant. Soon, the back of the U-Haul opens two feet, cops have guns drawn, ordered all the boys out with their hands up. They walk out to discover they are surrounded by five police cars and two motorcycle cops. Because there is no AC in the back, and it is Arizona, some of these guys are in various stages of undress.

The boys are lined up along the side of the road. The cops pull the groom aside to make sure he is indeed a soon-to-be groom and not an actual victim. The cops also start asking for ID which is in the pants that were left in the U-Haul. The cops then climb in and start sifting through pants to find ID's, a sight that amused the boys standing on the side of the road in their boxers.

Once they determine it is indeed a bachelor party the cops don't know what to do. The boys overhear this conversation:

Cop 1: What the f#@! do we do now?
Cop 2: How the F#@! should I know?
Cop 1: Do we ticket them or take them in?
Cop 2: For what? It's a U-Haul?
Cop 1: Aren't there some laws about U-Hauls?
Cop 2: How the f#@! should I know? And I don't really want to look it up.
Cop 1: Should we just let them go?
Cop 2: I guess so.

Following this a cop then says, "Okay, boys pile back in" and proceeds to load the boys back into the U-Haul. Once they have all climbed in he hollers, "All set guys?" They all say "Yes" and then the cop locks them back in the rear of the U-Haul. Apparently, the cops had a pretty good laugh over this.

True story.

So, any fun bachelor or bachelorette party stories you'd care to share?

The Boy Turns Two

Our son turned two last weekend, however we had his party today. As you can tell we had a bit of a hybrid theme: Thomas the Train and Dinosaurs. Goes together, don't you think? He seemed to be a little bashful with all the attention focused on him. Below we are singing "Happy Birthday" and all the little man wants to do is bury his head in my shoulder. He eventually came around and blew out his candles and definitely devoured his piece of the cake. Once the door bell started ringing and the guests started arriving he went and buried himself behind the cushions on the couch. Apparently, all the birthday wishes embarassed him.

Needless to say, it took all of five minutes before he got the hang of it and started ripping open presents and playing with the other kiddies. All in all it was a really fun day.

Let the Christmas Parties Begin

We attended a Christmas party hosted by a local publishing company last night. In Arizona, Mariachi bands are a huge deal and so accordingly the entertainment was a Mariachi band consisting of 1st through 5th graders. My daughter was mezmerized. She sat there listening intently for the entire performance, which lasted quite a long time.
There was plenty of food (catered by a popular Mexican restaurant here in town, of course), beer, and margaritas, and prickly pear punch for the kids. Does it get any better? One of the cool parts was the fact that they opened their warehouse and let people peruse the books and buy them if they felt so inclined. When we walked in my daughter asked me, "Mommy is this Costco?" The owner heard and said, "Well, it's like a Costco for books."
We got some great books for the kids and it was a night well spent. Anyone else started attending the obligatory Christmas parties yet, either for business or pleasure?