He's THREE!

Look out world, we have a three-year-old. :)
He talks, he dances, he sings, AND he does not need diapers! YAY!

S's actual birthday was pretty laid back. The party was another matter entirely. 15 kids 3 and under. 7ish mommies, the DH and I were SUPPOSED to party hard at the park. Due to the rainy weather, we ended up at our house, instead. WooHoo!
I made this:

and this:

for toddler consumption, along with vanilla ice cream. The mommies munched on the leftover candy, so I didn't have to eat it all after the party. (Thank you, mommies!)
Here's the Little Man of the Hour, blowing out his candles.

Since we hardly ever have birthday parties (this was our first) we thought we'd go all out and rent a bouncer.

Obviously a stock photo, since we don't live downtown ANYWHERE.

Somehow, I thought he'd go for the dragon.

Ah well. They had fun anyway. Promise.

I love that he has to hold up his pants to bounce. Maybe I should feed him more cake?

I didn't ask any other mommy's permission to use their kids pictures, so you'll have to take my word on the number of babies that were at my house for this shin-dig and content yourself with photos of my two little munch-kins.
This was a no-present party because: A) nobody has money B) it's just after Christmas C) We have to many toys that make noise and I really didn't want more of it. Yuk.

SO, on the invites we asked that instead of presents, people bring a donation for our favorite charities: Ronald McDonald House and St. Vincent De Paul. (I included a list of their needs.) Everyone followed some of these instructions, and some people followed all of them. Nobody showed up with a present. Almost nobody showed up with a donation. Oh well. Maybe I wasn't as clear as I thought I was.
We all had fun anyway, and there wasn't much leftover cake, so I was happy.
There were quite a few leftover loot bags. If you want one, call me.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Can I just say, I wish I was 4 again? Not just because someone else pays the bills, fixes the food and bathes me. Oh No! It's because of THIS:
(I kifed the photo from the museum's website. Hopefully they don't mind.)

The Children's Museum of Phoenix, housed in what used to be The Monroe School. This place is all about interactive fun for kids from age one to about 10. And the best part? It's FREE the first Friday of every month. Which is good, because otherwise it's $9 a person, even kids as young as one. So for my whole family it's $36. No Thank You. The only drawbacks to going on First Fridays are the crowds and the fact that it doesn't start until 6pm.
Here are some pics of my kids enjoying the exhibits.

The noodle forest was a big hit with kids and parents alike. SUPER FUN!

I don't think I ever got a picture of V's face, because the kid was having so much fun, she never wanted to look at me!

Notice I also had a hard time getting S's face. At least we know they had a good time!

The interactive kitchen was a big hit, as was the gravity room (that's what I call it). You could make your own tube track for the balls to travel, using gravity. Super fun! The DH had more fun than the kids with some parts, I think. :) Way worth the drive, especially because it was free. LOVE LOVE LOVE free stuff!

An Ankle Anecdote

I've been neglecting the blog of late and here's why.

I realize that ankle surgery does not, in any way, inhibit my ability to type. What it DID do was make it impossible to exercise, which in turn threw me into a funk. I'm still there a little bit, but at least I can see the hope/light at the end of the tunnel that is getting the cast removed! Only two weeks and two days to go.

These pictures are from when I went in to get my cast changed. The old one was cracking and gross. You can't really tell from the pictures, but my leg hair is a good inch long (hey, it had been a month since a razor had been anywhere near it). I was NOT expecting the scar to be so huge. I was also not expecting to still have bruising and swelling. It's been a difficult time, BUT it's almost over! I hope the scar fades to nothingness, because my legs really are my best feature. :)
And I can not WAIT to run without pain. Look out famous runner people (I don't know any famous running people, insert their names here) I'm right behind you!

V's Favorite Things

I did a post like this for S when he turned one, but I neglected to do it for V. Partly because I didn't know her as well as I knew S.

Here's The Favorites List

Favorite Person: Her Big Brother. Followed by Daddy as a close second. (don't ask me how I feel about this, you don't want to know)
Favorite Food: Peas and cinnamon graham crackers. Maybe it's because she hasn't had cheesecake yet.
Favorite Toy: Anything S is playing with at the time (S's favorite toy happens to be whatever she has)
Favorite Animal: Kitties, or in V-speak, "kkeeee"
Favorite Word: DaDaDaDa
Favorite Activity: being held, then being put down, repeat ad nauseum
Favorite Day of the Week: Sunday (church people ooh and ah and beg to hold her)
Favorite Noise: kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk