2/06 - Thomas wishes you a happy new year

Again, with the belated...  Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Looks like folks at work were celebrating.

Thomas and I went for a lunchtime stroll and he found somewhere to park while I grabbed a sandwich. Blends right in, doesn't he?

1/19 - PAW Patrol party

It happened again.  I'm not quite sure how, but those little twins of mine have grown one year older (and cuter!)  I now have eight year olds on my hands.  Oh my.

We decided on a PAW Patrol theme, a show we enjoy watching (and re-enacting), about action rescue dogs with excellent vehicles and gadgets.

We started the festivities with the traditional "please bring a healthy treat" request from the teacher.  I'm not sure that I'd call these healthy per se, but they were not sweet, delicious cupcakes.  No.  I sent "pupcakes" instead.

Next up, one "pawty," which Lil' Guy kept hearing as "potty."  (He was not amused.  He lobbied for a "ruff ruff" party, but I am too juvenile to pull that off appropriately.)  We used printables from Nick Jr. for the invites and to decorate the house.  Thanks to Mama for her balloon and streamer wrangling!

"Pupcorn" holders:

I got dog bowls from the dollar store and used them to serve meatballs, little smokies, Scooby Snacks (graham crackers), Whoppers, etc.

And how cute are these lollipups?

We stationed every dog stuffie we could find (there were lots!) around the house as decorations.  For the goodie bags and prizes, I got stickers, dog collar bracelets, paw print stampers, some little plastic dogs, and Scooby Doo sour candies.

We played a few very fun games.  Lil' Gal set up a Fetch station for the kids to play while everyone arrived.

Our first game was Pin the Badge on Marshall.

Then we played Doughnut on a String, where the kids got to eat like dogs, with no hands.

We played Dogcatcher, where the kids took turns being the dogcatcher.  When they tagged someone, that kid had to go to the doghouse (predesignated area) until another kid tagged them out.  If the dogcatcher caught all the "puppies," s/he won.  (I just gave the kids that wanted to be the dogcatcher two minutes to catch as many as they could, then switched to another dogcatcher.)

We finished up with everyone's favorite canine version of Hot Potato.

Then, it was time for cake!!  I tried a technique I found on Pinterest for making the PAW Patrol characters in frosting.  Aside from having to make 11 different colors of buttercream frosting (which all tasted delicious!), and forgetting to reverse the image, it went pretty well.  The kids loved it.

Happy birthday, my sweeties.  I hope your 8th year brings you all kinds of joy.  You are my joy.

Love, Mommy 

12/18 - Snoopy pops to it

There is a popcorn machine on my floor at work today!  And the Legal Department had a holiday party this afternoon with eggnog and pastries.

I am liking this new job a lot! (I think I will ask Santa for a treadmill.)

Back at home, Jake was learning how to ride an expanding glow-in-the-dark swimming frog.  It's harder than it looks!  (That's what she said.)

7/18 - Mary Katherine's wheels keep on turnin'

Wait a minute...  She thought they said PARTY on wheels...

1/20 - Angry Birds Birthday Party

My little guys are not so little anymore...  This weekend, the twins turned SEVEN (7) years old.  They are fast-paced gangly people with strong opinions and fierce imaginations that still let me hug and kiss them up at will.    #love  This year, they wanted an Angry Birds Star War party.  Super cool, but there isn't much merch out there to buy yet.  Not that this was going to stop me...

Nor was their teacher's request to only send healthy snacks (no cupcakes!)...  Inspired by the post at bentology, I made piggie spinach tortilla sandwiches with garden cream cheese spread and not-healthy candy eyes.  The birds were crackers and provolone cheese, with carrot beaks, not-healthy candy eyes, and seaweed eyebrows.  Crouching Mother, Hidden Toddler's tutorial for painting cheese is here.

For the party, I built a live action Angry Birds game.  I covered boxes with butcher's paper to make them look uniform, got some piggie stuffies from the party store, and ordered some new Angry Birds Star Wars stuffies to throw at them and knock them all down.  The kids worked as a team to build up the structures and took turns hurling the angry birds.

Next, I wanted to make an Angry Birds bowling game, but my attempts with the paint I had were not successful.  Happily, Mama had some plastic bowling pins on hand, so we used those and a ball I meant to draw a bird face onto, but I ran out of time.  The kids never noticed the lapse in theme and loved the game, so I'm going to count it as a win.

Our last game was a variation on Hot Potato -- Pass the Angry Bird.  Whoever was left with the bird in hand when the music stopped "got exploded."  We played three rounds!

Then, it was time for cupcakes!  You can use my cupcake topper template.

Happy birthday, my sweeties!  I love you!

6/14 - BART has a meltdown and Sneep tries to catch the bus

Between my safety alert lists and my wonderful friends, I became aware this morning that BART was not running.  It was the twins' last day of school and our morning routine does not have minutes to spare, so we kept calm and carried on and got them out the door.  I'd just missed the last morning bus into the city, but there was a chance I could overrun it...  Mama and I hopped in the van and gave it our best, but we did not succeed.

Silver lining?  I got to go to the twins' kindergarten graduation.  Thank you, universe!

2/10 - Littlest Monkey finds a time machine

Littlest Monkey and I passed a fire engine, chief’s car, ambulance, police car, and police motorcycle on the way into work.  There was some kind of medical emergency, and they were bringing someone out of a building on a stretcher. Here is Littlest Monkey by the fire engine. (We didn’t take a picture of the sick person, because we wouldn’t want people taking OUR picture if we were being rushed into an ambulance.)

We couldn’t find a title for this painted sculpture, so Littlest Monkey tried to use it as a time machine.  He wanted to go to the future where monkeys rule the world and drive banana cars around town.  Lucky for us, it didn’t work and Littlest Monkey and I will see you soon!  We are excited about the Kindergarten Dance!!!

Kindergarten Dance Update:  As expected, Lil' Guy was eager to dive right in, and Lil' Gal clung to me at the door way for about half an hour, protesting the noise levels.  (What with the music and the balloon popping, I can't say I blamed her!)  The twins' best friends arrived, and Lil' Guy and his pal dove into the fray.  Lil' Gal's sweet friend eventually lured her in with a game of "keep the balloon aloft," and a good time was had by all.

1/11 - Pinkie Penguin picks pistachio

This little skate pin was just the right size for Pinkie to take a ride around my desk.  Whee!!

We went to check out the new bakery/sandwich shop in the neighborhood.  They had rows and rows of pretty cookies. (We did not partake.  This time.)

Pinkie Penguin and I went to a party after work. Pinkie thought the cake pops looked like eggs and wanted to try to hatch them.  (The pink ones were red velvet – yum.)

And then!  Pinkie found some friends at the party.  These little doves cooed and made laughing sounds when they saw us.  (Hey!  My 80’s outfit wasn’t THAT funny!)

3/26 - Beaker's night out

We scored tickets to the SF LGBT Center's Soiree 9 "La Dolce Vita."  Lil' Guy saw Mama's outfit and exclaimed, "I know who you look like!" and ran off to get Beaker.  He begged us to take Beaker to the grown-up party, so we did.

Here's Beaker with Raja from RuPaul's Drag Race, season 3.

Here are Mama and Mommy with a giant sparkly bunny, who rested his drink on Mama's head.

And here is Beaker, worn out from all the excitement, swooning in a pile of flower petals.

11/18 - Z and me

Today, Z(ebra) and I had a very big day -- 6 meetings and a party!  Here he is helping Liz take notes and appreciate the view from the conference room.

 

 

Later, I got a little smooch (awww) and measured Z up to make sure he was big enough to go to an arcade with me.

Fun was had by all, and the twins were thrilled with the Mardi Gras beads Z brought back for them.