But I don't want to dance on a pole

This morning I was folding laundry while watching TV. On comes a commercial for this. It took me a minute to realize this wasn't just any workout video. My train of thought went something like this "Oh, dancing to work out. That looks fun." "She sure is shaking various body parts a lot." "Why did she just put both hands on her bottom?" "Is she pretending to lasso?" "Where did that pole come from? Pole dancing?!?" "What the heck is 'chair dancing'?"

So, yeah. I don't think I'll be ordering that anytime soon. The good news for people who order it, not only will they supposedly be more fit, they may also have trained for a new job at the same time.

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The mosquitos were out in full force on our camping trip. They always seem to like me best, and my mosquito bites get very puffy. Hubby hardly got any bug bites, my son got quite a few, but they stayed nice and small, at least. One or more mosquitos apparently had a party on my right ankle, because I have about a half dozen swollen mosquito bites that actually completely encircle my ankle. I can't decide if I should call it a temporary tattoo or an ankle bracelet. Sounds nice, eh?

Unintentional nuisance

We camped with some friends this weekend. In spite of it being the first summer camping trip hubby and I have been on in years, and the first summer camping trip ever for our son (we generally prefer early or late season), we had a blast. The temps were in the upper 80s all weekend, but not humid.

The kids had fun riding bikes and telling ghost stories around the fire. The grown ups were apparently troublemakers.

The first night, the kids went to bed around 11:00. After that, the four adults sat around the campfire, discussing random topics. All was well until we got into a heated topic about urinals. The guys find them functional and appropriate, while the ladies found them, in theory, to be not private enough and dirty...Especially when the guys brought up a "trough" version of the urinal that apparently exists. All of a sudden, the ranger showed up with a flashlight and scared the heck out of us to tell us that our voices travel, and could we please lower our voices. So we did, and all was well again.

The second night, the kids again went to bed around 11:00. After that, the adults sat at a picnic table playing euchre, and again discussing random topics. I brought up the fact that I am terrible at history, and that hubby once said "Are you kidding me?" when I asked if the Revolutionary War was after the Civil War. The other lady in our group asked why that was so funny, which turned into the guys showing off their history knowledge, and us showing off our lack thereof. Then along came the ranger again, with the same warning as the night before. She shone her flashlight on our picnic table, which had a deck of cards, bug spray, a coffee mug, some doritos, some Fiddle Faddle, a diet Mountain Dew and a liter bottle of birch beer (which is a wintergreen soda), which my mom always brings us by the case when she comes to visit, because we love it and it isn't readily (and inexpensively) available here. The ranger asked "Are you drinking alcohol?", to which we laughed and said we weren't, then identifying the items on our table. This state campground is alcohol free.

Granted, our site was across from the bathroom, and they probably were hearing us when they cleaned, we weren't that loud, no louder than any other time we've camped, and no one has ever complained. The funny part was, every night, after they left the bathrooms, their vehicle beeped 5 times as it backed up...Louder than we ever were.

So, yeah...It turns out we're campground nuisances. Urinal debating, history discussing, soda drinking, card playing, dorito munching nuisances. Yet our own children weren't awakened by our antics. Go figure.

Nothing about bunnies this time

First post this week where I have nothing to say about bunnies. To avoid complete withdrawal, I still included them in the title. :-)

Hubby's doing a 5k this weekend while my son and I do a mile fun run. Running in 90 degree weather...Doesn't it sound fun? :-) Even if it's hot, it will still be a blast.

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I may have someone interested in signing up to do Avon. That's awesome. I don't regret having done it for a moment. When I signed up, basically I figured it was a $10 gamble. I feel as though I've had some success with it, considering the short time I've been involved, and I am actually enjoying it, though I never fancied myself as a salesperson before. Anyone want to join me? Great discounts, a little extra cash? :-)

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I can't believe the 4th of July is almost here. It doesn't seem possible that it can be summer already. Time just moves more and more quickly...I can never decide if that's a good thing. :-) I enjoy every moment with my son, as he learns and grows and changes...But he's getting so big so fast. In some ways, it seems that time might need to slow down, just a tad. If 5 years went this quickly, will the next 5 be quicker? And the next 5? And then after the next five he will be all grown? I try to cherish every moment...But it's the tiniest bit sad to think that I may not be that far away from the day when my son doesn't give me a huge hug when I drop him off to school, or randomly tell me how much he loves me, or call me into his room at bedtime for one more butterfly kiss to giggle at. Don't go too fast, childhood.

Bunnies and lipstick

Bunnies and lipstick are completely unrelated in this post. There were not bunnies wearing lipstick in our yard last night, though I do believe that could be another Bugs Bunny reference.

Bushy the bunny is doing well, in spite of the neighbor's efforts. As a matter of fact, he now has a friend. There were two bunnies wandering around our yard last night, both unable to get in our garden. I love that there are two now. I envision Bushy going out and finding this friend after the neighbor incident, and they are now plotting against the neighbor. I don't wish for them to eat the neighbor's garden, but I giggle at the thought of two conspiring bunnies.

We ate dinner outside last night and watched the bunnies. Our 15 year old beagle walked within about three feet of one before he even realized the bunny was there. I think the bunny and the dog are a little friendly, since the rabbit even let him get that close. Once the dog saw the bunny, he ran about two feet toward it, until the bunny ran under a tree, and then the dog moved on to something else. He didn't even seem to want to chase it; it was just something he was genetically required to show interest in, apparently. He used to go nuts about rabbits in the yard, but now they all cohabitate happily.

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I got my Avon SpectraColor lipstick yesterday and I love it! I got mine in "the roses". It's a lipstick that has two tubes of color in it, and a dial so you can adjust it to blend to become any of seven different shades. On first use, you give a single pump at the lightest and darkest setting and wipe that off the tube to get the initial somewhat oily pump of color off, then it's ready to use. A half pump provides plenty of color, and it leaves my lips feeling moist, and it even has a bit of a pleasant scent to it - It reminds me of sunscreen, in a way.

It's currently on sale for $7.99, regularly $9.50. I looked at a tube of L'oreal in my medicine cabinet this morning, and it still had its $7.99 price tag on it, so it's really quite reasonable on sale.

If you want to try it out for yourself in one of the 10 color schemes available, you can buy it on my Avon site. Free shipping anywhere in the continental US!

A bikini, a bunny and a BB gun

The title sounds like a short description of a Bugs Bunny sketch. I only wish.

A 90 year old woman lives next door to us with her daughter, who I can only assume is in her mid sixties. The daughter likes to wear a bikini to sun herself in the yard and to do yard work (even in the front yard).

I'm going to do a quick segue to talk about our garden. Hubby put a lot of effort into our garden this year. He even went so far as to build a little frame and attach a mesh fence to it to keep the dog out of the garden, as well as the rabbit who always seems to be in our yard, in spite of the fact that we have a beagle (a 15 year old beagle who has diminshed hearing and sight, and possibly even smell, since he doesn't get worked up about the bunnies anymore).

Hubby spotted the rabbit, who our son has affectionately named "Bushy" in the garden various times. Hubby would go out there and approach the garden, thus startling the rabbit, who would leave the garden. After the rabbit chewed a couple holes the mesh fence and dined on our corn plants one too many times, hubby bought some chicken wire and built a stronger garden fence.

So, our newly reinforced garden is successfully keeping the rabbit out.

Yesterday Bushy made the mistake of moving on under our 6 foot wood privacy fence to the immaculate yard and garden of our elderly neighbor and her bikini clad daughter.

Yesterday evening we (hubby and I, but not our son, thankfully) looked through the window and spotted the neighbor in the backyard, in her bikini, with a BB gun, taking aim at the bunny in their garden. She started off halfway across the yard and gradually got closer, and closer. She ended up at a point where we could no longer see the bunny, but she appeared to be shooting from very close range.

We live in the suburbs. Our gardens are small. Our yards are small. Our houses are close. I am really bothered by this woman's reaction to a bunny. I'm bothered by seeing someone wandering through a yard next to mine with a gun that's not of the squirting water variety. Yes, they eat plants. In spite of that, we enjoy seeing them in our yard and around the neighborhood. We decided to take other steps to protect our plants.

Before you say they can't do such things because they're elderly, the 90 year old one is out shoveling snow at 5AM when it snows. They're both surprisingly able, and there is a grandson who comes over and does all sorts of projects.

Of course, we caught three mice last week in traps, so maybe I am just the pot calling the kettle black.

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By the way, I'm sponsoring another Avon giveaway, so go check it out!

Race for a ring

Remember the saga of my son and his future plans to marry "Lucy"? Well, apparently there is a third boy in the mix who wants to marry Lucy. Many more and we'll have another season of The Bachelorette to be aired in about 20 years.

Anyway, out of the blue, my son told me "If I want to marry Lucy, I need to give her a ring." I told him that the boy usually does give the girl a ring when he asks her to marry him, and asked where he heard that. "Lucy told me." Oh. She's giving direction now. He went on to say "'Robert' wants to marry her now, too. She said she'll marry whoever gives her a ring first when we're grown up."

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My son has his first job! Our neighbors are on vacation, and have offered him $2 to check their mail. He's quite excited about it and "practiced" by checking our mail the day before.

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I think the mouse saga is done. We finished cleaning the basement. Found a small pile of birdseed in the corner. We don't keep birdseed in our basement. Apparently the crafty little guy carried birdseed in. Weird. Glad they're gone, and there are no more fun hiding spots in the basement, thank you very much. It looks great it that storage area!

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New contest on my Avon site!
All orders of $15 or more placed between now and July 1st will receive an entry for a chance to win a tube of Perfect Wear Extralasting Lipstick in your choice of color.

The last contest I held on there was won by a blogger!

I saw red and then I stopped the mix tape

This is a Stefanie safe post! No new graphic mouse information to report!

The storage area of the basement is about 80% organized (a few more Rubbermaid tubs to be purchased at lunchtime). The things you find in cardboard boxes in the basement. A lot of it is baby gear, baby clothes and toys, but some are little gems from long ago.

1. A mysterious mix tape, which was found to contain only two songs: Warrant "I Saw Red" and Terrence Trent D'Arby "Let Her Down Easy". I believe that puts the mix tape circa 1993. Why I stopped at 2 songs, I'm not sure. Should I add to it? Also - Warrant - One of many early 90s hair bands who lured the teenage girls in with their ballads, only to leave them with a tape full of music they didn't want to listen to.

2. A photo of my dad wearing a military type hat that his ex-father in law gave him, and a photograph of me sitting on a couch in the apartment of the ex, looking thoroughly annoyed at being photographed. The fact that it was taken in that apartment makes it circa 1992, making me barely 18 years old. I'll be 35 in a month and a half. I don't think I look old by any means now, but in that photo? So young looking. Also so cranky looking. Smile, for crying out loud.

3. An entire box of crafting things relating to making wreaths. I was on a real wreath making thing for a while, around 1998. I no longer have an interest in wreaths. Anyone need a bunch of wreaths and wreath making accessories? I'm keeping the glue gun, though.

4. A Salt N Pepa cassette. Push it good.

What did we not find down there? A mouse. Nor have any traps been sprung in the last 24 hours. It's too late to get too excited but maybe...

Also, while cleaning the basement? An unusual water sound occured, and some water had leaked on the floor of the furnace room as a result of the water softener regenerating and it splashing a bit of water out of the PVC pipe that the hose sprays into. It wasn't much water, and we actually intentionally did not wipe it up, and it was evaporated by morning. This leads me to believe that maybe it always happens, but doesn't leave a trace? Or it was a freak thing? Hoping it's not a problem, but we'll see, I suppose.

Meanwhile? The basement is looking awesome. Hubby has been wanting to organize it for a couple years, and I've been lazy. I told him he didn't have to hire a group of mice to invade us in order to get me moving on the project...Or maybe he did.

These mice, by the way? They must be the neatest mice in the world. No "evidence" of them being there except some shredded paper. Thank you mice. If any of you are remaining in our home, please go now.

Minus three

I will begin this post with things that Stefanie can comfortably read, and then give warning when I am moving into a territory with which she is uncomfortable (starts with "m" and ends with "ouse").

We went to lunch (or rather breakfast foods for lunch) on Sunday. The hostess asked for a name. I gave our last name. If you've been to my AVON site (And if not, why? Don't you need some SpectraColor lipstick? Seriously - Seven colors in one lipstick. Brilliant.), you realize that our last name has two syllables and can be easily pronounced. Her response? "Do you have something that's easier to say?" I probably gave her a bit of a look, then I gave her my first name, which has three syllables. She was satisfied with that, thankfully, or I may have had to just tell her a letter. The funniest part was there was no one else waiting. So, when our table was ready, she came back to the hostess station, very official, and said "Three syllable first name, party of three." Yep. That's us.

Okay, now is when you will want to stop reading, Stefanie. We put out six traps for the four mice hubby saw above the drop ceiling. While we have no food in the basement, there is plenty of cluttered storage in the back corner (where we saw the shredded paper), so we decided it was time to unclutter and get rid of the comfy potential hiding places.

We accomplished about 10 percent of this task last night, and I will be buying more storage tubs at Target at lunchtime. When we finished for the evening, I headed upstairs to put something away. I went back to the basement just as hubby was heading out to the garage with some trash. That's when I saw mouse #1 scurry from beneath the futon that serves as a couch down there. I squealed like the scared-of-a-mouse-in-the-house girl that I am and rushed upstairs and caught hubby before he went outside. We both watched kind of helplessly as the mouse scurried past, into the furnace room, up the wall, toward the drop ceiling and then, snap. One mouse gone.

I freaked. I was pretty uncomfortable with the idea of a mouse in the ceiling, but seeing one in our actual finished basement. Freaked. Me. Out. I felt tense and uncomfortable, and oh my gosh I had just been working in that area...As hubby took care of the trap, he asked if I wanted to "see the enemy". I did not.

We went back upstairs, ready to forget about mice for the night when suddenly we heard another snap. It seemed awfully loud for us not actually being in the room, so we thought maybe something fell. It was #2, caught in the fluorescent light area of the ceiling.

This morning number 3 was caught in the same area as number 2.

Hubby thought #1 looked a little different than 2 and 3, so we don't know if he was part of the original 4.

Tonight we get back to cleaning the storage corner. We will be approaching the area where the shredded paper was originally found. I really hope I have little more to blog about tomorrow on this topic than #4 being caught, and a happy end to our mouse saga.

Because right now...I don't want to go in the basement by myself.

Because of the downstairs neighbors, I had to go to the store at 6AM

Downstairs neighbors? "Wait", you say. "I thought she said she lived in a house. Have we finally caught her in a web of internet lies and is she really some creepy dude typing a blog from his second floor studio apartment?"

No, you have not caught me in a web of lies. My downstairs neighbors are 4 mice who have taken up residence above the drop ceiling in our basement.

After the "isolated" mouse incident, life went back to normal for a month. Then last week, I went in the back corner of our finished basement, where things are stored, and found some shredded paper. Hubby looked through the area, and found nothing unusual but shredded paper. We hoped it was some freak isolated incident, and never really got it out of our minds.

Hubby was working out in the basement this morning, and apparently a mouse ran through the fluorescent light fixture. Our furnace room has an area where you can peek under the drop ceiling, and using a flashlight, hubby was able to see four mice under there "having a good old time".

I went to our 24 hour superstore and bought several traps (please don't talk to me about being humane, I just want 4 mice out of our house). Hubby set them, and hopefully they will be full of mice soon.

I read that mice dislike the scent of peppermint oil, so I may buy some of that and soak a cotton ball in it an leave it in that ceiling to deter future visitors.

I am told by my coworkers that mice can always find a way in, and it's probably nothing we need to remedy (other than getting rid of the current residents). A coworker also told me that his parents once had a cat find its way in through a tiny opening. So...While a cat would probably be easier to get rid of, I would definitely be freaked out by something that big entering without permission.Not that I'm not freaked about this.

You must go

This morning I flipped on the TV and saw an ad for some sort of foreclosure auction. Suddenly in huge letters, across the bottom of the screen, it said "You must go!" That may have been the pushiest commercial I have ever seen. "Don't miss it!" or "You've got to see it to believe it", maybe. But "You must go!"? I think not. To prove my independence, I will not go. That will show them. Heh.

Speaking of commercials, there is a Cottonelle commercial that really bothers me. There is a cute little white puppy who is being pampered in various ways, and after every activity, the dog "makes a comment" of some sort. One of the comments is "Looking sexy". That bothers me for a couple of reasons. What does that have to do with toilet paper? What does that have to do with a dog? I've noticed there is a second version that does not have that statement, so maybe it depends on the time slot, or something.

I had to drop off a required health form at my son's soon-to-be-elementary-school yesterday. They took out his file to insert the form. His file. My little boy has a file at an elementary school. Sigh. Oh how time flies. Next week he starts a new "big kid" class at daycare, as well. Every new class is a big kid class, but the difference here is that this is a school age kid class, rather than a preschool age class. Wow. It's amazing how quickly he has grown.

On Thursdays, it's a holiday!

I was a They May Be Giants fan way back in the Birdhouse in Your Soul days, but I especially love their kid's albums. My son borrowed Here Come the 123s from the library yesterday, and I have been listening to one song, which we'd heard before, even in the car by myself. Catchiest lyrics ever:

On Mondays, I never go to work
On Tuesdays, I stay at home
On Wednesdays, I never feel inclined
Work is the last thing on my mind

On Thursdays, it's a holiday!
And Fridays I detest
Oh it's much too late on a Saturday
And Sunday is the day of rest

Speaking of the library, how about a shout out to interlibrary loans - My son was looking for a book called Space Cats, which our library does not have, but it's on its way here from across the state. How cool.

My son had his five year old doctor's appointment yesterday. In addition to checking my son physically, the doctor also asked things to check that he knows things he needs to know, like the names of his parents and where he lives. I loved this particular line of questioning: He asked my son if he had a bike, and if it had training wheels. He asked what color it was, then asked him what color his helmet is. I love that! He could have asked us if our son wears a helmet, but any parent would say yes, even if it was untrue. But to ask a child the color of his helmet? Easy to find out if the kid doesn't have a helmet that way, when he simply answers "I don't have one." For the record, my son's helmet is red.

Hubby and I have had an ongoing debate about licking the spoon after mixing a cake mix or something. Hubby is all "Stop! Salmonella alert!" and I say we all did it when we were kids, why shouldn't our son? For a final answer, we asked the doctor. He said "I did it...My kids do it..." So bring on the spoons! Thank goodness. I felt like we were depriving him. One of my favorite parts of my mom baking was getting to lick the spoon. Of course the doctor did say not to go nuts and give him a whole bowl of batter. Heh.

Random

I don't really have something to post about today...but that won't keep me from posting. I'm sure I can come up with plenty of randomness, and hardly anyone commented on yesterday's post anyway...

1. I got my first Avon referral! A customer forwarded my info to her mom. Yay!

2. Someone took down my Avon flyer from the community board at the grocery store. There is another Avon flyer there; I blame her. There is no first come first served thing there, so I figure mine has as much of a right to be there as hers. People can choose who they want to contact. I plan to put up another one.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a really nice movie.

4. We finally have a date set for a camping trip this summer. Hopefully we will get two in, but one is a good start!

5. ETW has an Avon contest going. There are few entries - Check it out!

What happens at home, stays out of Denny's

My son's birthday party was a huge success. The weatherman and his radar played tricks on us by basically telling us all day "It is going to rain at the exact moment your guests arrive", but it did not.

Hubby and I spent a couple hours getting the yard and house ready, respectively, while my son attended another birthday and then played at a friend's house.

The weather stayed beautiful, and the guest of honor and eight guests all had a wonderful time.

Yesterday morning we celebrated the end of birthday extravaganza week by going out to breakfast, and our son got to choose the venue. His choice? Denny's.

We generally like Denny's well enough, but this was a particular adventure.

1. Minor issue, but put it with the rest, and it certainly causes a chuckle. My son ordered the kid's french toast, which normally comes with one sausage link and one piece of bacon. We requested two slices of bacon and no sausage. We received two sausage links and no bacon. When I reminded our server of this he said "Really?" and looked at me as though I were pulling some type of pork scam. Trust me guy, we don't want the sausage. As a matter of fact, we left it on a plate on the table.

2. Another server actually delivered our food. Upon doing it, she nearly spilled my water when she accidentally dipped her hand up to the knuckle in it. Luckily the water did not spill. She said she would bring me a new glass of water. She did not. We requested it some time later.

3. There was a group at the table next to us with three women and a boy of about 10 years old. He repeated something that was not supposed to be repeated, apparently, because one of the women reprimanded him: "You are never supposed to repeat things that get said at home." Um, yeah. At our house, we do it differently. We don't say things in front of our son that we don't want repeated, rather than place the burden on him. I'm just sayin'.

4. I've saved the best (or worst) for last. I asked for a to go box for my leftover pancakes. Their to go containers are black. When I opened it to put my food in, it looked shiny, like something greasy had been in there. I said to hubby "I think this already had food in it." Looking closer, I saw crumbs in it. I brought it up for a new one, which I inspected very carefully. The person who gave me a new one didn't seem sufficiently grossed out by the fact that I had received a dirty to go box. Whatever. I'm just glad I noticed.

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After you leave me a comment, please go check out ETW's Avon Skin So Soft giveaway. :-)

Strawberry + Lime = Love

Hubby was less than impressed with our first visit to Sonic, and we hadn't been back.

Yesterday we took the day off for our son's birthday, and in the middle of the flurry of fun birthday activities, hubby turned the car into Sonic, as it was between 2:00-4:00, so I could get a half off Slushie as a tiny little celebration of my whole involvement in the birth process.

My son got an orange slushie (which he loved) and I ordered a Strawberry Limeade, which I didn't realize until hours after drinking it was not actually a slushie. You know why I didn't notice? Because I was too busy drooling. That was SO DELICIOUS. Strawberry limeade is my new favorite drink. It's such a unique flavor, and little chunks of actual fruit - Yum! I told hubby if he ever wants to surprise me with a treat, that would be perfect!

My son had a great birthday. He was thrilled with his gifts, and he even got to go to Build A Bear as a treat to build his first ever stuffed animal. He chose a dog, and a Batman costume for it. The costume seems to be already pulling at the seams, so I am probably going to exchange it for another. It had only been put on twice, and both times by me, so it was definitely used gently.

This weekend is the party. The weather is still taunting us. Rainy! Cloudy! Storms in the afternoon! Sunny! It's as though the weatherman is spinning a roulette wheel every time they show the seven day forecast. Tomorrow we'll know for sure!

Four once more

Today is the last day I can claim to have a four year old son. Tomorrow he will be five. Five! Goodness. It certainly doesn't seem like five years could already have gone by since he was born.

I have one more set of cupcakes to make before the great cupcake event of 2009 is over.

The weather is taunting us by switching from sunny/rainy/cloudy for the Saturday forecast. Whatever. Bring it on. If we end up with 9 kids in the house for two hours, no problem. Although I am pretty excited to use the new outdoor table I got for our anniversary. I'm also excited to eventually get the matching chairs...Or unmatching chairs, if they no longer carry that style by the time I am able to acquire them.

My mom came to visit for the past couple of days for my son's birthday. Last night we had a Grandma gathering with my mom and hubby's mom and we all made our own pizzas - Mine was feta, tomato, green pepper, onion and minced garlic. Yum!

My 90 year old neighbor is unfriendly and likes to stare. Normally she can be seen with her face pressed up against a window (literally) staring out. Yesterday she was working in the yard when we came home with my mom, and she stood, not 15 feet away from us, staring with her mouth hanging open. I would have waved to her, but she doesn't wave back, so we just endured the awkward staring and went inside.

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Today is the last day of my first Avon campaign, so to celebrate, I have set it up on my Avon site that online orders placed today (Wednesday) will get a 5% discount! Also, if I get 5 orders by midnight, one of the orderers is getting a free Papaya Kiwi Shower Gel! You can also use the code shown on there for free shipping! So, if you think you could use any Avon products (maybe some of the Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus bug spray/sunscreen combo? I'll be ordering some!), please visit my site! Please visit it anyway - Just come look around! :-)

Turning one is more exciting than a wedding

We went to a one year old's birthday party this weekend that had 50-ish guests. I believe our wedding had 43 guests. Granted, our wedding was pretty small by a lot of standards, but still. Our son's first birthday party was the only one that we invited all immediate extended family to (hubby's siblings, mom, my mom, nieces, nephews, etc.). I thought ours was a little out of hand, and it ended up being 20-ish guests.

The party was fun, but so over the top. Especially for a little guest of honor who we really saw very little of because there were so many other people. And a pinata. Because one year olds love pinatas.

The parents said this was a one time only thing, and next year they were celebrating alone, and after that they would do "friend" parties for the little girl. Good plan.

I'm not dissing the parents at all, because they are the sweetest people, but I just about went into shock when we pulled into the driveway and there were tents set up, and so many tables and so many people and oh my gosh so much food (but so much food was really a good thing). It was fun, though, and the birthday girl didn't have any meltdowns.

We're up for our own crowd this weekend at my son's party. He invited 8 friends and they are all coming. If it's good weather, we'll be outside. If it rains, we'll see what it's like having 9 kids in the house. :-)

I posted a giveaway on my Avon site. There is a minimum purchase required for an entry, but it's a pretty nice prize package. :-)

If you haven't seen the list already, please check the below post to see if you are a winner in the Made in the U.S.A. giveaway.

Made in the U.S.A. winner

A contest with 5 winners and only barely double that many entries! Wacky.

The winners are Fivemonkiesreview, Elise, Renee, Madly59 and Lizgwiz. I do not have email addresses for Elise or Liz, so please contact me in the next 48 hours with your address to pass along to my sponsor.

Thanks and congrats!