Mario Rocks!

Today is Kim's son's birthday and in celebration, she ordered this awesome cake that any boy would be thrilled to find on his birthday table! Ironically, this cake was created by our own Miss Becky of Mark It With a B cake designs and our first POK gal!
    I am jealous by the talent of Becky in this magnificent creation! As a mother of Mario lovers, the detail and authenticity of this cake is beyond words to me.  If you have a chance, look up Mark It With a B on Facebook and you can see all her amazing creations!
 

Is that the Easter Bunny Coming to Town? Or is it just Miss Natalie?

Today I must share the sweetest story ever. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to have lunch with Ali and Natalie. At the end of our get together, Natalie gave us both ziplock bags filled with Easter Goody Bags for the kids. Sidenote of importance: Natalie is our Gift Bag Queen, always a little something special for the kids at every Holiday. I for one, know that my kids always love these goodies and unfortunately have become a little accustomed and greedy about receiving them.
     Anyway, later that day I see this post on Facebook  from Alison and had to share:

"Upon entering the house the kids noticed the easter treat bags Nat made up. Jack~oh my goodness the Easter bunny was here! Me~no Miss Natalie made them. Jack~(sharp inhale of air) Miss Natalie is the Easter bunny...VAUGHN VAUGHN Miss Natalie is the Easter bunny!! Vaughn & Jack~ (screaming with excitement) Bella Miss Natalie is the Easter bunny. (i didnt do anything to stop this insanity so now my kids have expectations of Natalie :)"

I found myself giggling, a big smile on my face as I visualized my little "Sauer Patch Kids" as I dubbed them years ago dancing around their kitchen with glee! Oh the joy from this little act of kindness from our sweet treat gal! How magical and special the day was for many kids that day in our little city as they opened up pastel decorated celephane bags of chocolates and little candy surprises! Today when I doled out the surprise to my kids, I retold the story and we all howled at the sweet tale and how exciting this had been for little Jack and his siblings! My eldest, laughed as if she couldn't believe how silly a thought, but the next moment started pilaging through her bag to discover what was hidden inside. So much for the cool tween (though she did have the thought to thank Nat via facebook), she was once again transformed to an excited schoolgirl ooohing and ahhing over her loot!

So thank you Miss Natalie... for reminding me through your thoughfulness of the joy of the unexpected, the magic of innocence and the mystery of the infamous Easter Bunny!!!!

I used to be wild....really....

So eight hours, three boxes of bleach, four boxes of hair dye and I basically look exactly as I started! Yep, a weekend wasted to change equals pretty much the same ol me! LOL... but I am happy at announce that I did not fry my hair off, I did manage to reclaim my dignity after a orange Ronald McDonald detour and I'm back looking like me! Pheww.... I had a couple scarey moments there! I suppose it is a little lighter, hard to tell in the picture, but noticable in natural sunlight. My biggest dissappoinment is the stain from hair dye on my new shower curtain, but I guess the damage could have been worse, so I'll chalk it up to one for the lesson books. I used to be wild... really... but now find myself happier in the security of what I know to be true... including my hair...

Is it Spring or Is it a midlife crisis?

So I sit here with a pink shower cap on my head at my computer, relieved that Molly's friend's Dad picked her up for their overnight so I wouldn't have to leave the house in the forementioned appendage! I am in hour two of the "great hair lightening" experiment and I cross my fingers in hope that one: I don't fry my hair off completely, and two: that I don't end up looking like Ronald McDonald!
      As an Asian growing up in America, I have always dreamed of being a blonde, but realize that that just isn't in the cards for me, but perhaps a lighter brown will suffice my need for change. In the past, I have gone and gotten my hair cut and then usually ended up with cutter's remorse, so at least if this hair colour change doesn't work out as planned (and assuming that I still have my hair when it's done) I figure I can just dye it back black and no one will be the wiser.
     So I sit here and ask myself, "do I need a change because Spring is finally arriving, or am I having a midlife crisis?" I was informed by my eldest that my birthday is in 11 days and I will be 39 years old. I actually hadn't thought about it much, with the exception of getting together with some girlfriends for a margarita night. In the sense of how old I am, I stopped worrying about that or even caring when I hit 30! But now, it's got me thinking. Here I am, heading into my 39th year, single again and not really knowing what the future holds for me. Am I scared? a little. Am I excited? on a good day, yes. Am I where I thought I would be at 39? not at all! But perhaps that's the most exciting part, I find myself on unchartered ground and the future is mine for the taking. What will this year bring besides overly processed hair? I really don't know. All I know is that I'm ready for anything and while year 38 was full of growing experiences and reclaiming my independence, I feel like now I'm ready to hit my full stride as I prepare to hurdle the big 4-0 next year. So if this is a midlife crisis... at least I'm not out trying to reclaim my youth in a over the top way that always turns ugly and self-destructive in the end. But perhaps that's waiting around the corner for me and I just don't know it yet.
       As for today, I'm just trying to find a little happiness in a box of hair dye and I'll move on from there. The kids are playing "art studio" upstairs, I'm munching on a peice of triple chocolate cake and preparing to sit out the duration of my hair processing in a light coma on my couch watching a Jerseyliscious marathon... sure it's rediculous, but wouldn't we all look a little crazy if we had a camera crew in our lives. I sure as hell know I'd look like a loon today...

Safe Arrival

Been a busy week and just finding time today to come on and update. I am happy to announce that our package arrived safetly in Arizona and was a great surprise to Julie. Her sister had been in on the secret, so it was a fun that they both excited by the surprise! I find myself already thinking about next months gal who is already choosen and need to touch base with Ali about getting this prepped for delivery in the next three weeks. We fell a little behind as March (Julie) became April and now April will become May. As busy Moms, this is totally acceptable in my book... so we will just prod along...in my mind, kindness is all about timing sometimes, and life never is about perfect timing, at least not in my life.

Argh.... technology....

So I figured out today that my hotmail account I set up for POK does not work, so I opened a new account with yahoo. This would not be such a big deal with the exception that I had cards made with the hotmail address on them.  Those who know me and the Martha Stewart side of me, know that I was fit to be tied at this predicament and it took all my strength not to fall into a puddle of tears, after all the time and effort I put forth in designing these cards. However, the problem solving Mom part of me  thankfully took over and  I merely  printed out address labels to cover this mistake up and now I'm back in business. Of course, this took me about an hour out of my evening and now I'm an hour behind on everything else.... story of my life....

On the bright side, I did get four cards/letters mailed out today to four amazing women I know! Childhood friends that have now grown up and become Mommy's and it's so much fun for me to watch as their children grow along side mine, even if only via pictures on FaceBook! So, while I was cussing out technology for a good hour tonight, now I am reminded just how thankful I am for it as well....

Keeping it Real

Too sick to write much tonight, but I feel obligated to write something, so here it goes. I made it through a leaky, sneezy, coughy, achey day at work and am finally cozied into bed for the duration until I rise tomorrow to do it all over again.  
    I was too sick to worry about wearing make up to work. I was too sick to care that the kids got up at 5:30 to play Wii. I was to sick to cook them dinner tonight, so it was McDonalds to the rescue. I was too sick to care that Nic wore his new school tennis shoes out and got the entire muddy backyard on them and wore them back inside with half the yard still attached. I merely threw them in the soapy dish water as I rinsed both the dishes and the shoes and even contemplated throwing the shoes in the dish washer, but with my luck I'd ruin the blinking lights and have a tantrum on my hands come Monday morning. 
     However, I was not too sick to run by Walmart and get razors to shave my legs, the second time in about five months. Something about the sunny weather makes me hopeful for the day that I can throw shorts and flip flops on and leave the house. I was not too sick to pick up a pediatric enema kit to ease the dreaded constipation of my six year old. I insisted he poop when we were in the Dells for Spring Break a week and a half ago and I think he's poop once since! He sat on the toilet until he nearly fell off asleep last night! So, one little squeeze and he was back in working order. I was not too tired to take a long hot shower and rinse out my sinus once again, only to have my head fill back up with gunk by the time I toweled off.  I was not too tired to go by the movie store and pick up The Blind Side now that it's moved to the $1 rack and enjoy it in the background as I write this post and inevitably bounce around the internet until I'm ready to crash for the night, which will be sooner then later tonight.
    Perhaps I'll re-watch Annie later if the coughing keeps me from falling asleep... just waiting for the decongestant to kick in... I hope it does soon! Perhaps a grape popscicle to cool my sore throat will be in order and then I'm calling it a night. So for every thing you "didn't do today"... remember everything you did do... it's NOT about keeping tally... it's about keeping it real!