WFMW--Peter Piper Pizza Party

My son turned 5 last week. Five. Years. Old. Where does the time go?! {I'm a little verklempt, talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic: grapenuts are neither grapes nor nuts, discuss.}



Anyway... for once, hubby was on board with the idea of a big party and several of L's classmates had had their parties at Peter Piper Pizza so we decided to go that route for L's first big birthday party ever. The party was last weekend and I have to say, having a birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza worked for me.



As a little background, I think it's tough having a birthday in the summer in Phoenix. I would have loved to have the party at the park. Kids climb on the play equipment, eat a picnic, have cake and a pinata, done. But here in June, it's just Too Darn HOT! Our house is too small for a big gathering (again, can't use the backyard cuz of the heat) so we had to look for other venues.



Peter Piper and Chuck E Cheese are similarly priced. At Chuck's, each guest is either $10 or $14, at Peter's, each guest is either $8 or $10--and the $10 package is similar at both places. (The $8 plan at Peter's I thought had too few tokens per guest, which you could remedy by getting a bulk package of tokens.) We chose Peter for the location (Chuck is farther away). Also, I had a great coupon that if we got the deluxe package ($10 per kid) we'd receive 50 extra tokens and FREE goody bags (normally $2 per bag).



Turns out, the deluxe package had extra perks I didn't even know about, like giving L a t-shirt for all the kids to sign, and all the kids got ice cream.



So, the party. The best thing by far was the waitress assigned to be our "party helper." Since I was basically clueless, she had to guide me through everything. She would ask me what I wanted and I often replied "what do you recommend?" or "how do other people do it?" We made a bunch of decisions at the beginning (kind of overwhelming), like how many and what kinds of pizzas. (You get one pizza per 4 kids and then we ordered more pizzas so the parents could eat too. She recommended a summer special of two pizzas plus tokens for $20. So on top of the 3 pizzas for 12 kids, we ordered 2 summer specials. Yes, this was way too much food.)

Guests arrived and I gave them their tokens and cups for drinks. {An idea I stole from a friend: bring a sharpie so people can write their names to keep track of drinks and token cups.} We planned the pizzas to come out a half hour into the party. In hindsight, I would have waited till all the guests had arrived before cooking the pizzas, so as not to pay for kids who don't show up. So all the kids played games and I stayed by the tables to greet guests. We ate the pizzas then the kids played more, then we did the cake--signing, blowing out candles, eating cake and ice cream. Then kids played and went home.

For the goody bags, I bought four items in our Scooby Doo theme--notepads, stickers, erasers and fruit snacks--and added them to the free Peter Piper bags. Actually, the prepared bags were very nice, they included a coloring page, sunglasses, mini slinky, a sling-shot-type-rocket-thing, and some candy, all in a decorated zip-top bag. I just slid in the Scooby stuff and I was all set.

For the cake, we ordered a half sheet Scooby Doo cake from Target bakery. At 10am the day of the party, my husband picked up the cake at Target and dropped it off at Peter Piper, where they refrigerated it till we needed it during the party.

I would definitely have a party there again, but I've learned some lessons. First, if you aren't sure how many kids are going to show up (which is likely the case because no one RSVPs anymore), postpone cooking the pizzas till everyone has shown up. I didn't want to slow down the party by delaying lunch, but who cares? Everyone is playing games anyway. {An hour into the party, a family (with 3 kids!) still hadn't shown up. I told our helper but her answer was basically that we had paid for them because they'd already made the pizzas. Bad! Luckily, the family arrived 15 minutes later (straight from the ER, poor things) so it worked out for us, but learn my lesson.} Also, at least where 5-year-olds are concerned, they will not eat all their assigned pizzas, so do not order too many extra pizzas. We ended up with 3 entire pizzas left over!!! A pizza takes 15 minutes to cook, so it's okay if you underestimate and have to order more later.

Also, we had all this leftover pizza and no place to put it. They did not offer to refrigerate it for us (maybe we should have asked) so my husband drove it home in the middle of the party (which worked for us because we live 5 minutes away). Because we ate relatively early in the party, we were worried about all those pizzas spoiling. So again, if I were to do it again, we'd eat later in the party and not have to drive the leftovers home before the party ended. {We had already driven the pizzas home by the time the late family arrived, so they missed out on pizza. Boo!}

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Oh, final cost of the party (keeping in mind we bought way too many extra pizzas), for 12 children and about 12 adults: $192.00 before tip. So not cheap, but it was a large party and we had to do very little work (and no cleanup--woohoo!). That works for me! For more tips and tricks, visit We Are THAT Family. Thanks!

Five Question Friday--June 25

I'm on a blogging roll! After a one-week absence, I'm back with more fascinating responses to life's most pressing questions--it's Five Question Friday, hosted by Mama M.!1. Do you know how to play a musical instrument?

Yes. :-) I took cello lessons from 3rd through 8th grade. Sadly, I didn't practice much so I never got very good. If you were to hand me a string instrument today (violin, viola or cello), I could play some of the beginning Suzuki classics, like "Allegro."



I took piano lessons from 3rd grade through high school. I can remember a few bits and pieces and can pick out things like "Twinkle Twinkle." I also can read music, so if you give me a piano and sheet music, I can play, just not very well. (Again, I was terrible about practicing so even though I took lessons all those years, I never progressed very far. But I had a very understanding teacher (unlike with cello), who understood I wasn't practicing but kept encouraging me by finding music I liked (more jazz and ragtime than classical). God bless her!)
2. What is your pet peeve while driving?
Ugh, people drive like crap! Among my pet peeves: not signaling, driving with a cell phone in your hand, and drifting into my lane.

3. Would you rather have a housekeeper or unlimited spa services?
I am not a spa person and I keep a very messy house, so definitely the housekeeper. Yes, please!!!

4. Is there a song that you hear that will take you back to the moment, like a junior high or high school dance?
So many songs instantly transport me, I can't choose just one. I never really went to dances so nothing comes to mind there. '80s music takes me back to middle school. Nirvana takes me back to high school. Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos and the Indigo Girls take me back to college.


5. What song best represents your life right now?
I'm inspired by "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds that takes its lyrics from Ecclesiastes--to everything there is a season. Also I like to listen to "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World to remind me that life is a journey and this is just the middle of the ride.



Check out more answers at My Little Life.

TILT--Wired Magazine

I am a crazy mad-blogging woman today--3 posts in one day--this has to be some sort of record. But it's Thursday, which means it's time to TILT!Today's thing-I-love is really more like a thing-I-like-more-than-I-ever-thought-I-would. (Say that 10 times fast.) It's Wired magazine. Isn't that crazy? I am so not a techie!

Okay, a few months ago, hubby bought me (us) a GPS system from Amazon and it came with a free one-year subscription to Wired magazine. Turns out, there's a lot of neat stuff in this magazine. I am currently reading this article about Alcoholics Anonymous. Apparently the 12 step program Bill W. came up with 75 years ago works really well with brain chemistry to be a winning strategy for beating addiction. Fascinating! Also in this issue, I've read this and this and this, none of which really have anything to do with gadgets. (Looking around for the links in this post I've also discovered the website is pretty cool--you can read all this stuff without a scubscription!)

These days, I 'm enjoying Wired more than my parenting mags. Go figure! For more things people love, visit Jill at the Diaper Diaries. Thanks!

Pride & Prescience Give-Away

Sarah at Loved Like the Church is giving away this mystery spin-off of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris. I am a huge Jane Austen fan! I'm currently rereading Pride & Prejudice. But Austen only wrote a handful of novels, so I've also been reading some of the take-offs people have done (two examples I've read are Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen). So I think Pride & Prescience would be right up my alley. I'd love to win!

So head on over to Loved Like The Church to enter to win.

MPT3--First Grade

This is the third in a series of 15 posts recounting my childhood. (To see parts 1 and 2, click the label "MPT" in my sidebar.) Today's topic is First Grade.

Random Nosebleed Story

I loved First Grade. I loved my teacher, Mrs. Trout. My most vivid memory of 1st grade was the day I got hit in the nose with a ball at recess. It was one of those big red playground balls (like you'd use in dodgeball, for example) and we were playing handball (actually I'm not even sure if I was playing handball or if I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time) and the ball came flying at me and hit me right smack on my nose and I started bleeding. I think it was Mr. Lanners (the PE teacher and recess monitor) who first helped me out. I remember being back in my classroom and my teacher had found my little snoopy stuffed animal (from my locker? cubby hole? where did she find it?) and let me keep that at my table the rest of the day. I liked that!

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Now this is probably why I remember this story--I picked my nose! The bleeding had stopped a while earlier, but for whatever reason, I picked my nose and apparently I scratched off a scab because this big wad of coagulated blood came out on my finger (are you enjoying these gory details?) and then the bleeding started all over. Of course the teacher found me bleeding again and was all comforting and concerned and couldn't figure out why it would have started bleeding again and I was certainly not going to tell her the awful embarassing truth!!! Anyway, lesson learned--Do Not Pick Your Nose After A Nosebleed.

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Learning to Read

First grade was when I learned to read. I remember the day Mrs. Trout moved me from the second-lowest reading group to the highest reading group. I felt so proud. The highest reading group was called "Lightning" and until me, there were only boys in that group. I felt so smart!

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Learning to Swim

I believe it was the summer between kindergarten and first grade that I learned to swim. I think I'd had lessons in the past, but I still wasn't able to swim. Our next door neighbors had a pool and they invited us over to swim all the time in the summers. One day at their pool, I stationed myself in the shallow end, just about a foot from the wall, and I would sort of jump toward the wall, then I'd step back a few inches and jump again, and so on until I was a few feet away from the wall and had to swim a few strokes to make it to the wall. It worked, that's how I figured out how to swim!

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Learning to Ride a Bike

I think I was actually a little older when this happened, but I thought I'd recall the story here in this learning-themed post. ;-) I learned to ride a bike in the usual way. First, I got a really cool bike for Christmas--it was white and blue and I loved it. I don't remember it having training wheels, I think we immediately (well, not immediately, this was Chicago, we had to wait till summer) set about teaching me to ride. I know I spent a lot of time trying to ride, you know with my parents holding the seat and me trying on my own, but I wasn't getting it.

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One day, my older sister had her friend, Mindy, over at our house. Looking down from my room, I watched my sister and Mindy getting ready to ride bikes and it looked like Mindy was struggling, and for some reason my competitive instinct kicked in and I was like "I'll show her!" I went outside, got on my bike, and rode off. Just like that--I could ride!

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It turns out Mindy could ride just fine, I don't know what I saw her having trouble with, but whatever--it worked! I was riding smooth as silk after that!

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Head on over to Mommy's Piggy Tales to read more childhood stories and come back next week for the exciting adventures of Second Grade. Thanks for reading!

MPT2--The Early Years

This is the 2nd in a series of 15 posts recounting my childhood. To see part 1, go here. Today's topic is the preschool to kindergarten years. I have very few memories from before first grade. I went to "nursery school" (that's what they called it in those days) when I was 3 and 4 years old. I've seen pictures of me on the playground there and my mom recorded in our photo albums who my best friends were at the time. But I don't have any actual memories of nursery school.

The one memory I have from when I was 4 years old, and it's my official first memory, is of our move from our old house to our new house. Our new street was a cul-de-sac with a bend in the road. My memory is of us driving down the street in our station wagon--we rounded the bend and I could see our new house for the first time.

I vaguely remember Kindergarten. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Rosenberg. She was petite with short dark hair. I remember she was kind. My most specific memory of kindergarten is when we were learning the letter S. I can picture the paper with a big "S" in the corner and I think we were filling the page with pictures and cut-outs of things that start with that letter. I'm sure we made a book of the whole alphabet like that, but oddly it's the S page I remember specifically, perhaps because my name starts with S.

Playtime: I thought it'd be fun to add some tidbits about the various toys that I remember most from my childhood. I know that at this age, my most treasured toy was my Stacy doll. How do I know that? Because "Stacy" was one of my very first words! I wanted to take a picture of my beloved doll (she is still in my posession), but I couldn't find her. I thought she was in my closet, but she must be in the garage. To see more about my clutter problem, read my "organizing" posts. She had a hard head and soft body. I could comb her hair and I had two outfits for her, one was a dress and one was denim overalls. I would go on to have other, bigger dolls (including a Cabbage Patch Kid), but none was as loved as Stacy. I have to go dig her out and let T play with her!

Join me next week as we discuss first grade. Meanwhile, check out Mommy's Piggy Tales for more childhood reminiscing! Thanks for reading!

Top 10 Tuesday-- Activities with L

This is (I believe) my first time joining Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday--go over there and check out more Top 10s! I have a big ambition for this summer: to play with my kids. I'm such a slacker mom, there are days where I realize it's almost lunchtime and between housework and internet "breaks" (mostly the latter), I've barely been in the same room with my kids. Bad mommy! So with our schedule a little less frenzied this summer, I have set myself a few goals. The two biggest are (1) every morning that L is not at camp and we don't run an errand, we will spend some time at the kitchen table doing an activity and (2) I will consciously play with T for half an hour a day (most likely split into 2 15-minute sessions). These will also be good times to reinforce what we're doing in speech therapy.

Just to give a little bit of background, my kids spend most of their time in our living room which is a giant play room of toys strewn from one end to the other (that I rarely bother to clean) but things with lots of pieces or things T will destroy are kept out of there (as well as art supplies) and we play with those at the kitchen table. When I think of it. Which hasn't been often enough.

So, thanks to some ideas from the recent Works For Me Wednesday--Mom, I'm Bored edition, I give you the Top 10 activities I can do with L during kitchen-activity-time. (T will be able to join in on some of these activities, for others I'll set her up with something age-appropriate--I'm still working on those ideas.)

1. Puzzles.

2. Playdoh. This is a good one for T to join in on, as long as I'm there to keep her from eating it.

3. Building sets. Lego, Trio, K'nex.

4. Basic art. Coloring, stickers, stamps.

5. Painting. L loves to paint. When I haven't had anything fun to paint on, I've given him a manila folder. I was thinking of maybe making "pet rocks" with paints and googly eyes.

6. Holiday crafts. (I got this idea from WFMW, thank you, Neverbored.) We have two different ornament crafts we didn't get to last Christmas. Also, I have a St. Patrick's Day banner I didn't get around to in March. Perhaps we'll work on a craft that could become Christmas gifts this winter.

7. Pipe cleaners. I got this idea from WFMW (thank you, Lisa) and bought the pipe cleaners at Dollar Tree. I still need ideas for some crafts to do with them.

8. Baking. As easy as making a cake from a box mix or as complicated as cookie cutter cookies. L loves to help bake!

9. Workbooks, puzzle books, activity books, sticker books. We have a nice stash of these and L loves them.

10. Play sets. We're giving L this awesome Mystery Mansion for his birthday next week and we'll play that at the kitchen table (because if we keep it in the living room, T will destroy it in no time flat). I'm so excited to play Scooby Doo with him!!! He has other toy sets that we keep out of the living room that are good for kitchen play too.

Edited to add: Games, how could I forget games?! Kitchen time is great for getting out the board games like Candyland and Cootie.

Also, I'm linking this to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family, because I think these ideas will work for me and maybe they will work for you too! Check out lots more ideas here.

Alright people, what am I missing? Please help me out with more activity ideas and with ideas to keep T happy at the table with us. Thanks!!!

What's Up--June 13

I had a near meltdown today. I had an IBS episode (as usual) on the way to speech today so I stopped at McDonald's to use the bathroom. Get T out of her carseat, get L out of his, trot us all into the potty. These days it's always a debate between putting T in her umbrella stroller or not. Since she was about 6 months old and outgrew her infant carseat/carrier, I've been using the stroller for these adventures, but now she's old enough to go without. It takes longer to get her in and out of the stroller, but when I don't, as was the case today--she ends up sitting on the floor--the disgusting McD's bathroom floor! Yuck!!! Then back to the car, buckle T in her seat, then L, then disinfect their hands, all of this is in 102-degree heat, I'm snapping (oh and T's shoes are on the wrong feet--long story)------I just want to be happy, I want my kids to be happy, the IBS makes it really hard to be happy. Sheesh. In those moments, I always wonder Why do I ever leave the house?. Believe me, I've tried that, but I can't stay home--both my kids are in speech therapy, L's in camp, we need groceries and prescriptions and shampoo.

L started camp at his new preschool and loves it. It's a lot of work--he needs to be in sunscreen, swimsuit, and water shoes when he arrives. I have to send a change of clothes including dry shoes, I send a snack (they provide one, but L's allergies require I send his own) and I send a lunch complete with cold pack and a thermos of Neocate.

I'm feeling really down tonight, I don't know why exactly. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I don't get enough sleep but I need my downtime after the kids go to bed. I can't finish my regular chores, let alone any projects (I'm so behind on uploading and sharing photos--and I still haven't sent thank you notes for Easter).

On to the fun stuff: tv and movies....

Glee finale--LOVED it! I love that they jumped right into the performances. I loved the Journey medley, loved what they did to "Don't Stop Believin'," loved Bohemian Rhapsody, loved Olivia Newton-John.... Great finale, wrapped up some things left others for the fall. Thumbs up.


We have been watching more crap movies lately. Gigantic was pretty good but frustrating. Here's the deal, I like movies that tie things up in a bow at the end. That, as my husband would tell you, makes me lame. But I like what I like. No bows in Gigantic and a particularly annoying loose end. Hubby really liked it. Frost/Nixon was okay but not great. We watched Avatar this weekend. Amazing special effects (I couldn't believe the Na'vi were computer-generated, wish we could've seen it on the big screen), but don't even get me started on the "white guy saves blue people" plot. Fail!


Most of our tv shows have wrapped up for the season so I've been watching chick flicks during naptime (over the course of several days). I enjoyed both Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Confessions of a Shopaholic. Neither is outstanding, but hey people hook up and everything gets tied up in a nice neat bow. I couldn't decide if I liked Hugh Dancy or if he's just a poor man's Johnny Lee Miller. I preferred him in the Jane Austen Book Club. I need to watch that movie again (good thing I own it).

Top Chef Masters--an a$$hole wins again. I liked Marcus the least from the beginning (and particularly his treatment of Judy and his "I told you so" when she helped a fellow chef and ended up going home, for unrelated reasons). They didn't even like his African dish but they rewarded him for making African food. That stinks! Let's all remember that last season of Top Chef (Las Vegas), they rewarded super-a-hole Michael V. with the win too--over his nicer brother, Brian, and my favorite, Kevin. (Admittedly, those were different judges. These Masters judges did seem to do the right thing last season, giving the title to Rick Bayless over super-a$$ Michael Ciarello.)

So You Think You Can Dance started up again recently. Historically, it's been one of my favorite shows but last season was disappointing. This season I'm sad that it's only a top 10 rather than top 20 and I'm not sure how I feel about this Dancing with the All-Stars format. We'll see....

Time to chill out, eat some ice cream and watch more SYTYCD. Thanks for reading!

Five Question Friday--June 11

Welcome once again to Five Question Friday, when I get to talk about me, me, me (as opposed to all those other blog posts about, um, oh right, me). Let's get started....

1. What do you think makes a good friend, or friendship?

This question quite possibly requires too many brain cells for this time of day (10 am). Let's see, I think one of my best friendship qualities is I'm a good listener. I think you just have to be there for your friends, you don't have to have the answer, just lend an ear or a shoulder, share the burden.
2. What is the last thing you bought & later regretted?

Ugh, I've had to make so many returns lately! I hate returns! First, I searched and searched stores and online for a new everyday bag (messenger style, with an adjustable strap, and two side pockets to carry water bottles and sippy cups in our hot Phoenix summers). I finally took the plunge and ordered from Amazon and when it arrived I was immediately disappointed. So back it went and I'm currently using a free diaper bag I got from Enfamil while pregnant. :-(

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Also, I recently bought a pair of yoga pants from Target.com--a "deal of the day." Size large, yet they were too snug. Yuck! I need to return that to the store along with the "2-pack" of ice packs I bought the other day only to get it home and find that the box only contained one ice pack. Poop!

3. Have you ever had a prank played on you?
For my 11th birthday, I had a slumber party with 5 or 6 of my closest friends. During the party, I got a phone call. The caller didn't say who they were but I thought it was this other not-so-close girlfriend of mine and she (I thought) asked if I wanted to do something that weekend. I was like "sure" and I guess I started to realize something was up, I think my guests started giggling or something, so I asked "wait, who is this?" Turned out, it was a very popular BOY from my class, not the GIRL I thought I was talking to. The whole thing was a prank. (Nice that a cute and popular boy asking me out was too funny to be true!) Anyway, I turned red as a tomato and we all had a nice laugh. So yes, I've been "punked."

4. What is your favorite theme park?
For sure Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando--Disneyworld and Epcot. I truly think Disney is the happiest place on earth! I think we're going to take the kids to Disneyland in August. Yea! Disneyland is great, but I think Disneyworld is just that much better, spread out on more land, and Epcot is so fun as well (haven't been there in ages, but it would take a lot of time and money to get to the other side of the country). Anyway, Disney parks have a great variety of attractions as opposed to say Six Flags that is heavy on the roller coasters. Super fun!

5. Have you ever seen someone else give birth?

No, not in person. I've seen some "educational films" of women giving birth, but that is not something I would like to see in real life.

For more fun Q&As, visit My Little Life.

Just for Fun

Just stumbled on this clip of "Kurt" from Glee on the View. Isn't he adorable?! Had to share.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhrCvQeLaTw&feature=player_embedded

Darn, I tried to "embed it," but that didn't work so you'll just have to follow the link. Enjoy!

MPT--How I Got My Name

Finally, it's time for me to post my first "piggy tale." Heehee! This week's subject is "Details about your birth/How you got your name" but I thought I'd also include a little background info to "set the stage" for all my memories. I hope you enjoy!

I was born and raised in a suburb north of Chicago. When my parents met, my mom was an accountant and my dad was a consultant at a large accounting firm. Back in the day, this firm had a policy that if two employees got married, one would have to quit, presumably the woman. So my mom quit when they got married, but she continued to work elsewhere until my older sister was born. My parents got married in 1970, my older sister was born in '73, I came along in '74 and I have two younger sisters born in '77 and '80. My mom stayed at home with us all those years (she went back to work once we were all moved out). My parents are still married today, coming up on 40 years in August. My dad took early retirement from the big firm when I was in college and has worked off and on since then.

We grew up on a great little street; we were the house at the end of the cul-de-sac; we had lots of neighbor kids to play with. We actually didn't move into this house till I was 4, but I don't remember the previous house at all. Over the years, my parents built onto the house as we started to outgrow it, and only sold it a couple years ago when they downsized to a condo.

So that's my backstory--second of 4 girls, growing up on a quaint little street in the suburbs, mom stayed home, dad went to work in the big city. Now for my birth/name story.....

Apparently my parents wanted my older sister and I to be two years apart in age. It had taken them 5 months to conceive my sister so estimating a similar time frame, they went off the Pill. Oops, they got pregnant right away and therefore my sister and I are a mere 20 months apart. My mom says my sister never really got over my arrival. (She's kind of a b*tch--you can read a lovely anecdote about her here.) I was late--I think I was almost two weeks overdue when I finally was born. (3 out of my mom's 4 kids were overdue. I, however, have early kids. L was a preemie at 35 weeks, T made it one day short of 39 weeks.) And I weighed a whopping 9 pounds!

Now this is an anonymous blog so I don't use my real name. I love my name, it's unique but not weird, it's Irish, I love it. Sorry, I know that kind of takes some of the fun out of this story, but bear with me. We'll pretend my name is Charlotte Lee.

While my mom was pregnant with me, my parents went to some state fair type of event in Indiana. My mom's sister, Anjie, was in a beauty pageant. They were watching this pageant and there was a contestant named Charlotte. One parent said to the other, "that's a nice name" and the other agreed. Then my mom asked, "But what would her middle name be" and my dad replied "Lee." Just like that, totally random. Now the part of this story that I'm fuzzy on is either my aunt won the pageant and Charlotte was runner-up, or Charlotte won and Anjie came in second. Either way, my aunt and my namesake did well. ;-) There you have it--the story of how I got my name!

Now, go over to Mommy's Piggy Tales to read others' birth and name stories. And if this is your first time visiting Life with L&T, I'd love for you to take a look around, leave a comment (I'll return the visit) or become a follower. Thanks for stopping by!

Five Question Friday--June 4

1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?
I was a History major in college and I loved it, I wish I could've stayed more years so I could take all the classes in my department (that's an exaggeration, I was really most interested in American history). What I would change is what I did after college. I went to law school (and met my husband so I don't actually want a do-over) and part of me wishes I had gone to graduate school in History. I think I would've liked being an historian.

2. What do you love most about your home?
I love our living room. That's where we hang out most of the time. It's completely given over to the kids' toys, I rarely bother to clean up. It was designed to be a "great room" with a dining area, but we don't have a table in there and we raised the chandelier so it's just one big play room (plus tv and couch/chairs of course).

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?
Everything. Lately I like biographies. Jane Austen. Classics like those by Dickens that I've never read. Mysteries like Agatha Christie. Nonfiction. My home is filled with books and I have several piles of books I want to read. :-)

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?
Nothing too exotic. I spent 6 weeks in France during college and I had to eat what was placed in front of me. I was a little grossed out eating rabbit, since bunnies are pets here in America. But it actually (say it with me now) tasted like chicken. The hardest thing for me to choke down that summer was sorrel (similar to spinach)--that was too gross for me to finish, it made me gag. I can't think of anything weirder that I've eaten.

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

I loved Lorelai on the Gilmore Girls, she was a hip and cool mom, though I'm probably nothing like her. These days I'd like to be similar to Claire Huxtable (mom on the Cosby Show) or maybe Mrs. Cunnigham (from Happy Days), though I can't remember her parenting style, she was just funny. I'm a tv junkie, I could think of a million characters to be. You know who I think is a great tv mom? The mom on Little Bill on Nick Jr. (oddly enough she's also voiced by Phylicia Rashad aka Mrs. Huxtable)--she is so calm and has all the answers.

That's it for today. Check out others' answers over at My Little Life. Have a great weekend!

WFMW--"Mommy, I'm Bored" Edition

I'm looking forward to getting lots of ideas from this "I'm Bored" edition. I've already found great lists here and here --thank you, ladies! I only have a few ideas to contribute.

1. Sponge game. First, for outdoor water fun, we were introduced this game at a recent birthday party and we've adapted it at home. You put water in a bucket on one side of your yard/driveway/porch/park/whatever and you put an empty bucket/bowl on the other side of your yard/whatever. Using a big sponge (like for washing cars), you transport water from the first bucket over to the second bucket/bowl and squeeze the water out of the sponge to fill up the bowl. At parties, this is a competitive event--two teams race to fill up their bowl fastest. In our yard, L is the only one who plays and he's content to just get wet while going back and forth between buckets. (And T likes to mess things up by tipping over the buckets, but that's okay because L loves refilling the bucket with the hose.)

I spent less than $2 setting this game up in our backyard. We use a sand bucket we already owned as bucket #1. And we use the pink basin we got at the hospital when T was born as bucket #2. I did go out and buy an automotive sponge though, because the kitchen sponge we tried first just didn't cut it.

Easy, fun, cheap, wet for hot summer days.

2. Indoor hopscotch. Obviously, Phoenix summers are HOT so we'll be inside a lot and I'll need some boredom-busting ideas. We got this idea from commercials on Nick Jr. See their version here. Rather than printing their stuff and ironing on tranfers etc., I'm thinking of buying a cheap dropcloth (I saw one at Kmart for about $4, can I get it cheaper elsewhere?) and maybe just painting on the squares. Whatever we do, it will be cheap and easy and we'll be able to play hopscotch in our living room. (It would be even cheaper if you had an old sheet to use, the possibilities are endless!)

3. Deer Valley Airport. Hubby took L to this regional airport this weekend. Apparently, there's a restaurant with a great view of the runways. Hubby and L shared an ice cream sundae while watching planes take off, and L had a great time. We'll definitely do this throughout the summer, as a family or just daddy and L. Do you have a small local airport you can visit? I think this is a great, cheap idea.

For lots more boredom-busting ideas, check out We Are THAT Family. Thanks for stopping by!