Just Heather
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T Minus 2
Jan 13, 2005 | Filed Under: Party Girl

This year for her birthday, Stacia wanted to have a slumber party. And, since I sometimes smoke crack with Mir, I (stupidly) agreed. Since then, common sense has prevailed and I have manged to convince the birthday girl that a Fake Slumber Party would be just as cool without the issue of me staying up all night.

What is a Fake Slumber Party, you ask? Well, I have no idea but eleventy-hundred* little girls are coming to our house on Saturday for one so I guess I better figure it out. I’m making this up as I go along. Sort of like last year’s birthday. The child wanted a tea party. Oh, but then she wanted a Care Bear party. No. Wait. A tea party. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So what do I decide to do? Host a Care Bear Tea Party for 20 kids. Yes, that’s right. 20. This year I was so proud of my genius. We’re having a slumber party, right? That means no boys. So we’ve cut the guest list in half. To 20. You do the math.

The girls are all coming in their favorite jammies, with teddy in tow. We’re starting the evening with pizza because what is a slumber party without pizza? Then we’ll do our nails and other girly things you do at slumber parties. I want to find a mad lib birthday story to finish the night. I thought it would be fun for the girls to write their own “bedtime” story, but what do I know? I’m not 7.

Then comes bedtime—when they all go home! In between? Yeah, I’m still working on that because it so does not sound like 2 hours worth of activities. The key to large gatherings is over-planning. The kids really do not get wild until there is lag time. I learned this the hard way when I hosted 15 kindergartners in my kitchen for Holiday Baking. (Yes, as a matter of fact, I am insane!)

Any other slumber party-y suggestions?

*Shamelessly stolen from The Mommy Blog.

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5
Today’s Not-to-do List
Jan 06, 2005 | Filed Under: Mommyhood, Party Girl

Alternate Title: Things I would not have done if it had not been my daughter’s birthday.

  • Woken up early to dry her new favorite sweater and finish start birthday treats for school.
  • Left the house. For. Any. Reason.
  • Eaten half a tub of Rainbow Chip Frosting.
  • Almost hit a UPS truck because I couldn’t see clearly through the giant chunk of ice formally known as my window.
  • Climbed over the backseat to kick open the door so I could get my little one into her carseat.
  • Played “Heads Up 7UP” for the first time in 17 years.
  • Climbed into the backseat to kick open the other door so my birthday princess would not have to stumble across the car.
  • Cooked dinner—especially fried chicken.
  • Cried when I noticed how grown up she looks is.
  • Taken half a dozen pictures of my newly-7-year-old perfecting her “super cool grown up” look.
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Stacia: The Night Before Christmas Eve
Dec 22, 2004 | Filed Under: Dictated By..., Hectic Holidays

The night before Christmas Eve is a very special day. Because after the night before Christmas Eve is Christmas Eve. And after Christmas Eve is Christmas! I can’t believe Christmas is here. Can you? I can. Because on Christmas Day I get to stay with my family and my family is nice. And we all open our presents together. And we all have some hot cocoa and cookies. Sometimes. The end.

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It’s a blustery day!
Dec 13, 2004 | Filed Under: DVR It, Glamorous Life, Hectic Holidays

Snow! Hooray! It’s that pretty, dusty, Christmasy (I know it’s not a word, dear, get over it!) snow, too! As opposed to the wet, sticky, turn-the-roads-into-mush snow. I was hoping to get some of the fun snow over Christmas break.

Hubby has taken 2 weeks off surrounding Christmas. Stacia has the same two weeks off from school. I was looking forward to some cuddle-on-the-couch time with my family. We’ll do that anyway I’m sure, but it’s so much better when the snow is fluttering outside the window.

Now, if only the snow would motivate me to put up my Christmas decorations instead of encouraging me to burrow under the covers on the couch. Hey, I took the boxes off the shelf in the garage. They haven’t quite made it into the house yet, but Desperate Housewives is on my DVR calling to me so it’s totally not my fault!

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Happy Birthday, Munchkin!
Dec 05, 2004 | Filed Under: Mommyhood, Party Girl

Today, my baby turns 2. Where does the time go? It’s not that I can’t believe she’s two-years-old—she acts very two—I just can’t believe two years have passed since I held her tiny baby hands, kissed her tiny baby head, and marveled at her tiny baby toes.

I don’t feel any older. Why should my baby be?

I'm 2!

I'm 2!

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Day 3
Dec 03, 2004 | Filed Under: Family Fun, Family Ties, Hectic Holidays, Living Inexpensively, Music Notes

And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: a synopsis of our trip to the Magic Kingdom! I got my butt up at 5:30 in the morning to pick up a few of the items on my Christmas list first. Target had it all on sale for Black Friday, and I wasn’t about to miss it! I was back before 8 with a trunk-full of presents. I walked into the hotel room to find my entire family sound asleep! Never mind that I had called 20 minutes earlier, spoken to Spencer, and asked him to have the girls up and dressed. The plan was for me to breeze in, get myself ready, fix the girls’ hair, swing to the food court to fill my eleventy hundred dollar souvenir cup with coke, and make it to the bus stop by 8:30. He’s damn lucky my sister called a few minutes after I freaked out to say the bus wasn’t leaving until 8:45. Otherwise, I might have seriously freaked.

The band was having breakfast at Fantasia Gardens and—since it was free with our package—I wasn’t about to miss the buffet! We rode the band bus over to breakfast to give the girls some time with Hayley. This was her big trip so she wasn’t much a part of the whole family vacation thing.

The character hunt continued. Everyone had a fun time with that. Even Daddy since Jasmine is decidedly hot. Plus, her top kept coming undone. Since I was busy watching my girls, I didn’t notice. Spencer did. You’ll note Brenia’s not in the picture. She was hiding from the Genie who was also not in the picture as he was nice enough to hide from her so she would be. It didn’t work.

Next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean—my all-time favorite ride. The first time I went to Disney—when I was 5—I made my parents go on it 6 times. That was back in the day, when you actually could go on rides multiple times without wasting away in gargantuan lines. Stacia stopped on the way out to have her hair wrapped. Brenia was fascinated and wanted to be just like sis. I didn’t think much of it until the gal said she could do it. I would never have imagined that an almost 2-year-old could sit still for such a thing, but she was great! Now imagine my excitement over pink and blue hair wraps for birthday and holiday pictures. Did you know these suckers can stay for up to 2 months? Me neither, but I will admit they are too cute.

Brenia enjoyed the princesses a lot more than the big characters. The girls saw Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White. My sister had a great time with that too. Lexie has decided she wants to move to Orlando and play Sleeping Beauty. Right—my sister the princess. She’s got the sleeping part down pat. It’s the soft-spoken thing she’ll need to work on.

Of course, we can’t forget the reason for our trip. My sister’s band marched ahead of the light parade. It was really cool to see her coming down Main Street USA. Unfortunately just when Spencer had the camera settings figured out for the dark, the batteries died. We got them replaced in time, but the settings reverted back and he didn’t get that fixed until the end of the band. Which worked out nice for my cousin as her daughter was in the last row so we have a decent picture of Jasmine trying not to smile as my whole family woo-hoos

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Thanksgiving
Dec 02, 2004 | Filed Under: Family Fun, Family Ties, Hectic Holidays

I know I’m late, but I was out of town so I get a good excuse! We had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Coronado Hotel in Walt Disney World. It sucked ass. Well, the food did anyway. The two bands that were preforming in the parade the next day were joined together for a Thanksgiving “feast” and dance. Yes. That’s right. I spent Thanksgiving Day at a high school dance.

Mickey, Minnie and Goofy all stopped by to see us so it balances out. This one will probably be our Christmas card. That is, if I can actually manage to get them printed and mailed in time. On second thought, it probably won’t be our Christmas card. It’s just a cute picture of my kids with Mickey and Minnie in their gay apparel.

Here, you’ll note me freaking out as I yell for someone to take a picture of Brenia kissing Mickey Mouse. Good thing hubby was on it. Next to that is Brenia mimicking my sister in some funky lean back dance. The girl loves to dance!

And this is the part where I get all sentimental and list the stuff I’m thankful for:

  • Mickey Mouse
  • JoJo’s Circus
  • pizza delivery
  • bubble baths

I’m kidding. (sort of) Here’s my real list:

  • finding The One and chasing him down
  • happy and healthy children
  • a friend who knows to say “what’s wrong?” just from hearing “hello”
  • a large extended family who—for all their faults—would drop anything if I needed something
  • not needing stuff
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Wake up, sleepy heads!
Nov 18, 2004 | Filed Under: Checking Out, Hectic Holidays

Do you have nightmares of missing the biggest sale of the year because you stayed in your deep, post-turkey sleep well past the starting bell? Fear not, my fellow shoppers! Target has the answer for you. I’ll be waking up next Friday morning to a phone call from Darth Vader. Lord Vader will use the power of the force to keep me from oversleeping, missing out on the Black Friday bargains!

Choose me and feel the power of the dark side. While the others are nestled, asleep in their beds, we’ll stock up on reasonably priced sale items, crush the Rebel Alliance, and rule over the galaxy with an iron fist. Trust me, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of this fight.

But wait—there’s more! Since there are apparently “certain secrets to shopping that only International Supermodels know” you can also choose to awaken to the voice of Heidi Klum. Who’s waking you next week?

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