Birthday Party Prep

We went to Jacksonville, FL on Saturday, March 10 for Roger's "Aunt" Carolyn's 70th birthday party.  The party was a lot of fun.  When I am older, I am going to go to line dancing class. Not the country music kind but the kind of dances that people do at black parties.  There were two older ladies doing all the dances because they go to a line dancing class once a week.

Cleo, Sidney and Kaelin were babysat by Roger's cousin Tiffany, her two daughters and her husband Deacon.  They played, watched movies, ate pizza and fruit snacks, and had a really good time.  We picked them up around 12:30am. We dropped them off around 7pm.

Sunday, we left FL around 2pm.  We encountered some traffic when we got closer to Atlanta and that prolonged the return trip some.  Sidney napped a little during the trip home.  Both Cleo and Sidney watched movies and ate snacks during the trip home.

During the trip home Sidney announced that he was Princess Sidney.  Roger and I told him that he is Prince Sidney because girls are princesses and boys are princes.  Sidney replied, "No, I am Princess Sidney."  We dropped the issue because he is 3 and adores Cleo and wants to be like her.  Sidney has not brought it up again and this week has demanded to be called either Sidney W. or Diesel 10, the super villainous train in Sidney's favorite movie, "Day of the Diesels" featuring Thomas the Train and a whole host of other trains.

Monday morning was hard because of daylight savings and setting the clocks ahead. We got them to bed around 9:45pm and they both acted like vampire babies in the morning complaining that the light hurt their eyes. In response to their pleas, I turned off the light that's directly above the kitchen table. Tuesday and Wednesday morning they asked me to turn off the light - Sidney asks before Cleo and it's her that complained the loudest on Monday morning.  We have been working to get them to bed on time this week so that their bodies can adjust to the time change.

Last night and tonight Cleo and Roger have assembled the goody bags for Cleo's in-class birthday party on Friday, March 16.  Cleo selected Transformer goody bags for the boys (there are 10 in her class) and Disney Princess goody bags for the 11 girls in her class (counting Cleo).  She and Roger prepared a boy goody bag for Sidney for her birthday party on Saturday.

Cleo and Sidney get to wear green shirts on Friday.  Cleo is wearing a plain, kelly green colored t-shirt. Sidney is wearing a dark green t-shirt that says, "Daddy's Caddy."

Tomorrow, I am going to buy 24 St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. There are usually ones with yellow cake and some have white frosting and some have green frosting. I am going to look for the ones with shamrock rings stuck in the top.   Today, Cleo told me that I did not have to get the boys cupcakes with rings in them but I think it will be cute for everyone to have a shamrock ring.  Roger will bring the cupcakes and goody bags into school Friday morning.

We are all set for Saturday. We have not assembled the goody bags for the Saturday party but will do that Friday night.  Friday evening we are picking up Cleo's cake.  She selected a really pretty Disney Princess cake.  For food, we are ordering Chick Fil A chicken nuggets and fruit.  Her party is from 10am-11:30am.  A few weekends ago we bought bead and string and fasteners to attach the string.  The girls should have a great time.  I found a pretty Rapunzel dress on sale at Target. I got her accessories too - purse, tiara and necklace with an amulet that plays music when you hit a particular button on it.  She has some gold sandals to go with the dress but we may buy her some gold maryjanes from Target.

Today, I went to Ross, Toys R Us, Marshalls and TJ Maxx and got Cleo some great birthday gifts. I got her a lot of little things that I know she will like instead of a few expensive items she will neglect and ignore. I got her two little bead and thread sets, some Disney Squinkies (don't ask - little rubber things that sort of look like characters in Disney movies), purple frilly tutu, Rapunzel pjs, Disney Princess pjs, Merliah Mermaid Barbie, Disney Princess t-shirt, tiny porcelain Disney Princess tea set, tiara/necklace set with purple gems (she has a set with pink gems), Rosie train (compatible with Sidney's train set), display thing for the Squinkies and a carrying case for the Squinkies. Most things were around $6 and the most were $13 - the Barbie and the tutu. A long time ago I got a Hello Kitty alarm clock from Target on super sale, so we are giving her that.  She likes Hello Kitty but she does not have much Hello Kitty stuff.  We have some Old Navy pjs that we did not give her for xmas and we are giving her those.  There are some Barbie outfits we didn't give her for xmas and we are giving her those too.  She should be happy with everything.

Ahnya and my dad arrive tomorrow at 4:32pm.  Kaelin and Robin arrive tomorrow too. I do not know when they arrive.  Ahnya and my dad are staying with us. Kaelin and Robin are not staying with us.   I don't have anything planned for dinner for tomorrow.  I will come up with something. Friday, we are going to Sunflower Cafe to celebrate Ahnya's birthday.  Saturday is Cleo's party.  Not sure what we are doing for dinner - maybe make your own pizzas.  Sunday for dinner, we are going to the Cheesecake Factory at my dad's suggestion. He's funny!  I do enjoy that place because the menu is so vast.

I plan on getting Ahnya a free 3 day pass to my gym so we can work out Saturday and Sunday while the kids nap. We need to earn Points Plus Activity Points to balance out the cake we will be eating all weekend. I ordered her a vegan cupcake from Whole Foods which she will eat at Cleo's party on Saturday. I ordered 2 because one is for Cleo's classmate Zariya who is allergic to foods in normal cakes. She's not a vegetarian like me or vegan like Ahnya.

Cleo is quite excited about her party and every day conducts a countdown to Saturday, March 17.

Cleo is co-valedictorian of her graduating class from daycare.  She and her co-valedictorian, Brayden, will give a speech at their May 24 graduation.  Robin, Linda and Kaelin are going to try to come.  The parents have to raise money to help fund the graduation festivities by buying spaghetti dinners and selling America's Finest chocolate bars. I love that chocolate.

Have a good week!