BECASDAD gets a make-over!

Well, it's actually a make-under. The only thing that stayed on BECASDAD was the license plate and Beca's car seat! That's right, the Jeep got traded in. We got a Dodge Grand Caravan with Swivel'n'Go seats (the ones that turn around and there's a table!). It's really pretty - silver with leather seats, stow'n'go third row seats that you can also use for tailgating, a dual DVD screen with SIRIUS Satellite TV - that's right Disney, Nick, and Cartoon Network all delivered right to the screens in our mini-van!! Plus SIRIUS radio! It's so cool! Steve is ready for a long trip because he can actually hook up a game console to it, while Beca is watching a different DVD. The most amazing part is that it doesn't come with automatic lights! Most of the bells and whistles - it even has a back-up camera - and my lights don't turn on when it gets dark! What is up with that?
Anyway, we're excited about the new addition to the family. Mostly because Zoe hasn't figured out the car belongs to us and she doesn't know to get super excited until we are already in the door and it is great fun to watch her confusion!

Vacation to PA - June 13-20 part 1

After all the birthday insanity, we got Beca psyched up to go to "Pennsyl-bania". We rented a mini-van (Chevy Uplander will never be paid for by us again but it did have some power features and included a DVD player so it was sufficient) and loaded up early in the morning on Friday the 13th. A necessary Biscuitville and Starbucks stop put us a little later getting out than we expected. Not quite out of Raleigh (still on 440, actually), Beca decides to actually wake up enough to realize that she despises what she.
Ugh! Our first actual stop isn't even 20 minutes from our house! Once we had a different shirt and some pajama pants on, we got on our way. We made it north of Richmond in 3 hours, stopped at McDonald's and stretched our legs a bit, and then hopped back in the van for a miserable 2+ hour ride around DC. Traffic was bad and Steve was driving since I got up early to load the van and drive the first round. I always forget that the more north you get, there are only 2 seasons - winter and construction. It definitely wasn't winter. Eventually, we made it to my grandmother's (literally over the river and through the woods, mind you) just in time for dinner. And guess what, as soon as we walked in the door, Beca had more birthday presents! Dolls and princess shoes and princess hair accessories. Plus my grandmother was kind enough to save a silver lame' dress with a tulle bottom that has silver and gold polka dots on it that I wore when I was in middle school (special events only and the kicker was I had a bowl cut, big round glasses, and braces - ah, pre-teens) - thankfully, Beca will only be playing dress up in it. then we set up her tent in the basement and went to bed. Unfortunately, wake-up came early the next morning with Beca screaming. A "monster" scared her - better yet, her Uncle Kyle was sleeping downstairs and snores like a freight train. OK, so I could buy off that sounded like a monster. She managed to wake him up so at least the monster was quiet! Then we packed the car back up and drove 2 hours into the mountains to check into a hotel. The term hotel was pushing it even though it was a Quality Inn - not my idea of quality but mom, Steve and I are definitely spoiled yuppy types who get really nice rooms in nice hotels since we travel on a regular basis. We did some shopping and got fixed up and dressed for my cousin's wedding! Ryan is the #4 grand-child on my Dad's side and the 3rd to get married.
We had a blast at the wedding and reception! Beca even sat "still" and "quiet" throughout the ceremony as she had been promising her Oma all week that she would be (Mom taught her that she needed to be quiet during the wedding and Beca would always put her finger to her lips to say this!) The reception was a lot of fun - Beca had a great time dancing and during various songs that no one else wanted to dance to, she was the only one on the dance floor. I hate DJ's that don't get that.

Umm, nobody likes the song "Shout" here - everyone got off the floor when it came on sooooo, don't you think you should just move to the next song? Plus, this guy was a total dork and had all these games and things. And he kept yapping. "DJ at a wedding" means play music and keep things moving along if they aren't going anywhere. Beca's favorite thing at the wedding was the box of M'n'M's on her plate that had pink and white ones that said "Ashley & Ryan" and "6/14/08". My favorite thing at the wedding was watching my cousin, Brett (Best Man and brother of the groom) hand out Peach Schnapps shots and then proceed to take all the shots that people didn't want all the time wearing that purple straw hat. Both were weird ideas of the DJ. It was a dollar dance that you got a shot for every $1 and then you got to dance with the bride or groom. I think people didn't contribute as much as they could have because no one really wanted to have to take a shot. And yes, the vests on the guys were actually even a brighter pink than this picture! We also enjoyed getting my dad and his siblings together. This is my dad in the middle of his two older (and rounder - hehehe) brothers! The next morning we woke up and I realized 3 unpleasant things: 1 - my stomach was not happy because of some medication I was taking, 2 - I had a bad rash all over my neck because I had used something in my hair that my skin doesn't like and I slept on sheets that were on the hotel bed, and 3 - I had no idea where my prescription sunglasses are. Remedies - #1-suck it up, #2 - stop using stuff in my hair. The third item happened to be an announcement during the reception that my brother remembered hearing. Apparently, my aunt did too. All we can figure is that my glasses case fell out of the car or my purse. We took a detour to go back to the reception site and managed to find them, just laying on the bar. OK, time to head down the hills. Driving along those roads was beautiful - most follow and cross rivers and being late spring, it was just gorgeous. During the trip, Beca had gotten a CareBear kickboard, swim floaties, and beach ball, along with the "googles" which she had to run around in for a while. We decided to make a stop in Hershey, PA at Chocolate World! Beca was in heaven as "choc-o-late" is one of her favorite things. She picked out a stuffed hershey kiss with a tube of kisses attached. It was a fun little detour! Then it was on to my aunt's house for a graduation party for my cousin, Kat. Beca adores Kat and hangs on her constantly. She went in the pool with her for a while - at least until her lips started turning purple once the pool was in the shade. So, my cousin Daniel (Kat's brother) had gone out and bought at least 6 cases of beer (as best I can remember the number of boxes sitting around and the amount of beer in coolers). Reminder - this was a high school graduation party. Once the family had pretty much gone home, Kat's friends started showing up. And my aunt wasn't feeling good - she had thrown her back out and just couldn't get off the couch. So we tried to clean up a little for her. When we went out to check on the high schoolers, I heard one of them say "you can't jump off the diving board with a beer". Ok, time to take the beer in the garage - at least that way it wasn't as accessible. And of course, Daniel, the beer purchaser, was nowhere to be found. We made Kat promise to help her mom and get her friends to clean up. She said she would and we made the trek back to grandma's house, minus my dad who had flown home that evening.

Monday was super fun! We got up and got ready, then drove through Amish and Mennonite communities (including Intercourse, PA) and made it into Lancaster to go to an amusement park called "Dutch Wonderland". It's a great park for little kids and it has been around for a while. You enter through a castle that has a moat so you walk across the drawbridge! It is such a clean park too! Beca had lots of fun - her very favorite ride of anywhere was right up front - the carousel! While on it for the first of three times, she looks at me and says "I can't see my Dumbo ride" - she's definitely a Disney princess. We rode the potato sack slide (but since it's in a park, it doesn't rock dangerously as you climb it like the one at the fair). They also have a double drop log flume and a little roller coaster that Beca liked but said she didn't really want to do it again! Most of the rides there are perfect for little kids - there were only 2 or 3 that Beca couldn't ride. There were several she didn't want to ride either. Kyle, Steve and I went on the bumper cars and twice around on the big wooden roller coaster - it was fast and fun but not for Beca or her Oma! Beca got talked into going on the hippity-hoppity frog - it just went up and down, slightly dropping and then going up again. She panicked for the first few drops but then realized she was ok and she started trying to put up her hands. Lots of squealing!! She also rode a few other little kids rides and got to participate in a story time where they talked about around the world and made "snow". She danced and danced while they sang. But her favorite part of the day is when she and I changed into bathing suits and went into the water park area. Steve, Kyle and Mom watched us from the bottom of the big twisty slides. Beca would only go in the blue slide - which you could see through. She heard the folks working say that the black tunnel is dark so she kept repeating that she wanted the blue line. After loading our boat, Beca gave the girl a thumbs up and we headed down the slide. It was really fun and she alternated squealing and laughing the whole way down. Until we came out and Steve got a picture. Then we let her play in the water playground. Little water slides, water shooting out of the ground, "trees", playground fixtures, everything. And you could pump different features and make more water come down. I decided to try one more blue tube slide ride but when we got up the stairs and were getting ready to go down, Beca pooped in her bathing suit. At least it was a good time to get changed. One last carousel ride and some ice cream and then Beca started yelling at us so it became time to go. We weren't in the van for 3 minutes and Beca and Kyle were both asleep, alternating snoring rounds. Luckily for us, Grandma had some dinner for us! Beca got a bath, announced to everyone that "I'm a naked" as she likes to call it and then finally settled down when I got a nightgown on her. Uncle Kyle went home so no more monster in the basement! And guess what? Beca slept in the next morning! I'll finish Tuesday-Friday of our vacation on another post. It will include 5 generation shots!

Beca's grand birthday

So, the actual birthday was Monday the 9th and I had already realized that this birthday would drag on and on for a while so I figured, just go with it.

I stayed around in the morning instead of making it to work early like I usually do and Steve and I went in her room to sing happy birthday! Then I got her pretty dress on her and let her wear some new pink shoes. She was so happy that it was June "nine-sss"!

There were steaks for dinner with Oma and Pop-pop. We had picked up an ice cream cake from Cold Stone (MMMMMMMMMM - I love that place but I am plenty content that I do not live very close to one - Thirsty Thursdays when milkshakes are 1/2 price are going to be the new detriment to my hips and waist).









And then, because Beca ate her dinner, there were more presents! She got lots of princess items - her favorite of which is her umbrella. She dances around with it and sings "Jolly Holiday" from Mary Poppins.












Sorry it took so long to get these all together. Thanks to everybody for all the gifts! Beca still (as of June 28) wants to open presents!

Sometimes I don't understand this stuff

Soo, I didn't realize posts went by when you started them, not when you actually finally publish them and I had 3 I was working on at the same time. The last one published is regarding the haircut so if you saw the birthday party and ceiling mess but didn't read about the haircut, please do. You'll be wondering why those people are allowed to help populate this earth. And really, aren't there enough carbon footprints in the world? (Like I know what carbon footprint is - I think this one should be added to the nightly news buzzword bingo).

I promise I will catch up my blogging - I now have a list regarding our vacation to catch up on and I will only publish all of those when they are ready.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling - AAAACK!

Funny thing that "irony" is. So, we had spent the whole day gushing to our gusts about how great the ceiling in the kitchen was and how easy it was to install. Then, after most everyone had left, the Blooms and my parents were still here playing with Beca. Mom and I were in the kitchen and all of a sudden the ceiling cracked over my head and started separating! Yikes! So we had 4 of us on chairs pulling down tiles. Steve got aggravated that Mom was taking a picture but I thought it was freakin' hysterical and we needed a picture of this insanity!! So, eventually we have to take them all down and figure out what to do in the kitchen. I believe it will still involve the tiles but may also involve some glue. Additionally, there is apparently a pressure build up between floors and this contributed to the problem soooo we'll be having out an HVAC professional whenever he gets a chance to check in with us. Oh well.

Beca's haircut and a WTF moment

OK - the scene is this - a children's salon that cuts children's hair and has toys for kids to play with and of course purchase. A Sunday afternoon (the day after the birthday parties and ceiling collapse). A couple is finishing watching their little boy get his hair all neat and trimmed. Another couple is waiting to have their son's shaggy mullet shaped up. A young girl sits in a jeep having her hair parted by one of the 2 hairstylsists. An adorable little girl named Beca and her parents show up 5 minutes early for an appointment. But they overhear the hairstylist named Sarah working on the little girl in the jeep. Her father just dropped her off and poor Sarah doesn't know what to do with the girl's haircut - apparently there are crazy parents out there who yell at hairstylists for not giving their little precious the most perfect cut ever! HELLLOOOOOOO - IT'S HAIR - IT WILL GROW BACK! and really, if you went to school to cut hair, why aren't you doing it? I did not go to school to learn to cut hair - that's why I love my hairstylist of 8 or 9 years. She did go to school and still goes to classes as well as teaches color classes and she can pick a style for me that looks good on me. That's what I expect of all hairstylists.
OOh - that was a tangent...

The sweet little girl is just staring at the Dora show on the screen. So Sarah decides to put Beca in another chair - a boat - and starts cutting her hair, understanding clearly from me that I am not the hairstylist and I just want my little girl's hair to not be unruly and I won't be mad at whatever it looks like, especially when I relay that Beca's bangs get trimmed to an almost Scandinavian short style when I do them and they are generally not very well done because I do not understand the oddities of trimming a cowlick, even though I have one.

The receptionist asks the little girl if she knows her mom's number and the girl rattles off all 10 digits without batting an eyelash. She just goes right back to staring at her screen. It was so sad how she just sat there and acted like this happened often. The receptionist's side of the conversation with the mother was additionally sad. She tells the mother that she's new and didn't realize what was going on and she needs to come back over in the next 15 minutes from Target where apparently it was necessary to go shop during this haircut. The mother apparently rattles off instructions to make sure that Sarah understands the kind of haircut but the instructions make little sense to Sarah. Phone call over.

So Sarah is now focusing on Beca's hair. She's mostly finished when in comes the father who almosts blasts the receptionist with the line "If I had known it would be a problem, I wouldn't have left her." UMMMM, WHAT THE????? Are you kidding? Can anyone tell me when it is ok to leave a 6 year old (hell, even a 10 year old) alone in a shop of any kind other than one that is specifically designed as a day care? Steve and I were flabbergasted. Then the mother meets the father outside and there's a slightly heated argument but it seems to be more regarding the inconvenience and embarrasment he imposed upon her. She pops in and kisses her daughter on the head and huffs about a simple little haircut. Now, I'm starting to will Sarah telepathically to hurry up and finish my little birthday girl's haircut and she is just patiently gathering the top knot up and slicking Beca's hair with shimmer glitter hairspray and adding a little blue bow. It was really cute and worth the trip. And we got to remind ourselves that we really are ok as parents because our daughter falls out when we are not around, not nonchalantly watches Dora with 3 clips holding up her wet hair. I still pray that the little girl will learn more out of life than parents don't give a rip and I really hope she doesn't do it to her kids. But, it is a cycle generally. I've seen it get broken - even within my own family but often it just repeats.

Anyway - here's Beca's haircut and the 2 bathtime Disney Princess Barbies that she picked out at Target with birthday funds. Weird thing about them is that they tout they are for bathtime but they are only color changing (meaning a streak of hair changes from blue to purple and Ariel gets tatoos and Cinderella's bodice turns purple) in cold water and go right back to "normal" in warm water. So I have to go get ice cold water to color change - luckily Beca has yet to realize that this is really an option. But she loves bathtime with her princesses and we are excited to possibly empty some of the bath toy bin!

Beca's birthday parties

FINALLY I finished this post - and just a warning - lots of pictures! We had 2 birthday parties on Saturday (the 7th) - one for her friends and one for our family-friends. The kid's party was fun but it was so hot. Payton, Kate, Allie and Forrest all helped Beca celebrate. We had decided sprinklers would be amusing and it was!The beach ball sprinkler is the best invention - turn the water up high and you're covering a 15 foot diameter (at least) with water. It was crazy and the girls loved it. So did our grass. There were also bubbles and everyone had to take turns catching bubbles on their legs.
Then they all decided about the same time that they were done and they wanted to dry off and go inside.
Inside, there was several naked girls running around for a little while (no happy daddies). And there were all of Beca's toys! Then they had lunch, which everyone ate well at! There were also Rocket blow-outs - lots of fun for everyone. Beca remembered her party hats before her mommy did. oh well.


I made a Rocket cake for her Little Einsteins birthday. Really, it is way easy. The most frustrating part was baking a cake in a batter bowl (Pampered chef's big one - make sure yours can go in the oven!) on a hot night for over an hour. It was a 9-inch round, the dome cake, icing in 3 colors and 2 ho-hos (original recipe called for twinkies but EEEEWWWWW!). I used a toothpick to make the antenna - my favorite part about Rocket is how they use his antenna to give him his personality so it had to be there. And I don't know why but I keep buying the Duncan Hines Whipped frosting and I don't even like it! Next year, I'll have to make my own - but of course, I said that last year. The "red" is more of a pink but maybe that's because I've used those icing colors before. The only thing Beca didn't like about the cake is that I wouldn't let her have a piece of it during the first birthday party.

Aidan, Elijah and Baby Emily were at her evening party, along with many of the adults that "belong" to Beca. We get a lot of "it's my Oma, it's my Cynthia, it's my Nici" - everyone is hers and not somebody else's. We have a lot of fun teasing her with "Oma is my mommy and Pop-pop is my daddy" and then she gets wound up about her Oma and her Pop-pop. We do it with all of our family members right now - Uncle Kyle, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jenny being brothers and sisters is not acceptable!

Anyway, we had more bubbles and bouncing fun and present opening.
This is her magic wand. It does not actually turn red into green, rocks into gold or anything else, contrary to what our project manager at work seems to believe. It's just pretty and fun to wave. But, oh, if it were real...
No, magic was not a factor - Jason is just way cool to Beca and she "let" him wear a Little Einsteins hat while they waved the wand over the grocery cart. Now if she could just do the grocery shopping, that would be even cooler.

After most everyone had gone home, the sky fell down. Literally. Next post, I'll cover that event.

Birthday parties for the 3-something set

History - In Beca's short life, she has spent 2 of her 3 years with 2 other very special little girls - Payton and Kate. All blond hair, blue eyed, and each with their own personality. One of the fun things about them is that they take turns being the leader of the trio. And they all like to push each other's buttons and know just how to do it. Beca's teacher, Beth (or "Jeffy" as Beca calls her), said it's like fourth graders trapped in 3 year old bodies! Payton is 10 days older than Beca (they were originally due on the same day) and Kate is 2 months younger and the only one with a sibling (younger even). Sadly, they probably won't be in the same class as they move up - Payton already has and we know Beca is in a different class but that they share a playground.
So, Payton's birthday party was one weekend and Beca's was the next. Little girls = lots of squealing. Both were fun parties! Here's some shots from the first party (the "game" is called "Crush ___" - in this case, I think it's Beth who's getting the crushing):


















I'll let this be the end of this posting because I am beat tired. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and today and that heat just exhausts me. So the remainder has to wait for yet another posting on my blog!

More Home Improvements

Ok, so I have some catching up to do. The past few weeks have been completely insane. Steve spent a week in Wilmington with his step-father (finally out of the hospital), we went to Beca's first party for a friend's birthday (Payton's birthday is the same day as my brother!), and then Steve and I painted our living room (ceiling too) and set up a gazebo structure on our back porch. The living room is awesome and exactly what I wanted! It was so pretty, I couldn't put Beca's bookshelves back in front of the mantle so we packed up all the formal china (since we don't even have a real dining table to eat off of anyway). Then my Mom's hutch was moved back into her house and Beca's toys moved into one room. That is until five 3-year-olds had too much fun - that's for another posting! And then there was one last thing to take care of - the fireplace is drafty and until we feel like getting a gas pack put in, a piece of blue foam board has been in front of it. It's not pretty and very Carolina Blue-ish, which is icky for us. I found these cool wall dots squares at Lowe's and they went right on! Take a look (wall color is behind the chair - Beca is listening to her Ariel birthday card):
There will be more shifting furniture and things very soon - the dining room will get painted and my "office" will move downstairs. I can't use it right now since Beca stays up until 10 or 11 pm every night and her room is right next to the office.
Oh, and there's that ceiling thing. But that too is another posting.

Gas prices is really your excuse

Random work rant - I had to book a flight today for another trip to Minnesota. So, if ticket prices rising are really because of gas prices rising, why does it cost less to fly to Minnesota through Dallas than through Chicago or St. Louis? Dallas is sooooo much father away
Yes, I get the different plane aspect and all that. But if you just base it on miles, what is the deal?
I think the gas thing is all a game, made up by politicians. Somebody made the suggestion to me the other day that they think the Republicans are making some of it up to discount the Democrats. But then the Dems are making the other portion up to make everything seem worse than it really is so that the Reps will be voted out of office. Either way, I'll be glad when it is November and things look more stable. Then the most yelling in ads will just be from the goofy car salesmen.