Mad to Target!

I am mad to Target! (That's how my cousin Mike used to say it when he was a kid, now a dad of three..."I am mad to ___" when he felt he was wronged...)

I've thrown 5 birthday parties for Elizabeth. Five (sometimes over-the-top) themed parties:

1. Baby Einstein
2. Cupcake*
3. Candyland
4. Sesame Street*
5. Dr. Seuss*

I've thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of these parties, with the exception of the party favors for the Cupcake party coming late (3 days after the party). Reid has had a ridiculous amount of patience as I have really lost my mind with going over-the-top with a two-sheet-cake game board of Candyland or the Sesame Street-themed party...or going full-out complete with green eggs and ham for a Dr. Seuss party...especially since these parties have only had, in addition to the birthday girl, two other children in attendance... I love going whole-hog-over-the-top on this sort of thing...such wonderful memories I have of these events.

But now Target has foiled me again! I am mad to Target!

As you may have noted from the above listing of the birthday party themes, there are 3 themes with an asterisk (*) next to them. This is where me being mad to Target comes into play...

2nd Birthday Party - Cupcake theme: Two weeks, literally two weeks after I had procured all of the cupcake stuff I could get my hands on via eBay and other internet sites, Target released their cupcake line of "stuff" for Valentine's Day. Grrr!

4th Birthday Party - Sesame Street theme: A few months after I ordered everything from SesameStreet.org, eBay, etc. for this party, Target comes out with a bunch of Sesame Street stuff in their "Dollar Bins" right in the front of the store. Grrr!

5th Birthday Party - Dr. Seuss theme: For this one, I had to shop online as well at the Imperial Teacher's Store here in Wheeling for stuff... What did I find this evening when I ran into Target -- in the freaking "Dollar Bins" right in the front of the store -- rubbing my nose in this but Dr. Freakin' Seuss stuff! All sorts of it...cheap. Adorable stuff like awesome party bags, too...

I am mad to Target!


But not mad enough to start shopping at Wal-Mart - that's for sure!

Merry Christmas!

As usual, our Christmas has seemed like a whirl-wind affair. However, we are most lucky to be able to see both Reid's and my families on Christmas!

With Rikki & Doug in from D.C., we started off the holiday by celebrating Rick & Carol's (aka Nana & Papa) 42nd wedding anniversary on the 23rd. Elizabeth did a beautiful job setting the table - and I am a horrible mother for not capturing it in pictures. Reid and Doug went to the College Lunch afterwards so their "bro-mance" could continue to blossom.

My antibiotics finally kicked in for my ear infection and sore throat, so I was able to start enjoying the holiday so Christmas Eve was pretty uneventful - which is never a bad thing. Just enjoyed spending time with the Amoses...and I got the special treat of getting to watch my favorite Christmas movie, "Christmas Vacation" while successfully avoiding my least favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story." :-)

Santa came (as did Santa Mouse -- since the cheese had a few nibbles taken out of it!) on Christmas. Elizabeth made out quite well (no surprise there!). I'm still miffed at the Disney Store for crappy merchandise...as the only thing Elizabeth asked Santa for was a doll with brown hair. Santa procured her doll with brown hair (Belle) from the Disney Store, which in a lot of ways goes against every fiber of my being as I'm not-so-much a fan of anything involving the three-effing-fingered-rat...she was gently playing with the Belle doll (no kidding)...and her freaking arm came off! Grrr! I've contacted the online Disney Store, which says they can't do anything for me since Santa procured the item in a store...so now I'm going to be calling the customer service for Disney Store...and if they can't resolve the issue, it looks like after I get the pleasure of driving to freaking Pittsburgh, someone misfortunate soul in the Disney Store in Pittsburgh will get to deal with me - and as the Mortons like to say (usually in reference to my Mom), "Don't poke the bear!"

Elizabeth really likes the Vtech KidiJamz Studio that Santa brought - complete with its 10 musical instrument sounds, 20 songs, a turntable to make the scratching sound, microphone and voice changing effects, and a detachable music device that records the little songs you make, which can then be played in the car via an audio mp3 tape jack - just like an iPod. The biggest hit of the KidiJamz Studio is the ability to plug in the kid-safe headphones so that Elizabeth can hear all of the musical stylings, and, unless she is singing along, we are saved from it!

I'm still trying to figure out the best settings for my external flash for my camera, but am looking forward to playing. I am looking forward to playing with some other toys, too...and Reid is already playing with a few of his surprises.

A visit to the Mortons involved, as it always does, a trip over the river and through the woods - to CaCa's House we go. Again I was a bad girl and didn't snap that many pictures, mainly just ones of the kiddos opening gifts. As always, we had a yummy dinner - thanks Aunt Cathy (and surprisingly Aunt Sarah for not screwing up the sweet potato casserole, yes, we set the bar that low for her...baby steps!) Mmmm...oyster casserole...

The Mountaineers hung on for a nice win on the road yesterday. We're looking forward to watching the bowl game...and Reid will be doing his gumbo dance for new year's day. If you're in our neck of the woods for new year's day, we'll be watching lots of football and eating gumbo (and a few other things like home-made pepperoni rolls, if you're not a fan of gumbo)...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

The Ultimate How To Guide & Sox Gear (what not to wear)

I've been telling myself for a while now that I want to learn how to knit. I get that I could ask my Aunt Cathy...or my Aunt Sarah to teach me this, but it seems that when I am "home" with the Mortons, we are too busy BSing to stop long enough for me to learn how to knit. Anyway, I stumbled upon this website that is a how to for nearly everything: http://www.quamut.com/. There are pictures with the knitting instructions, but there is all sorts of other good stuff on this site like how to sell you home (something I'll be doing more research on in the coming months), recipes, how to wrap a gift, how to organize your home, information on baseball (if you don't know the basics to MLB stats)...and it's in Wiki format, so if you can contribute your knowledge, all the better. Pretty cool!!!

Now, if you are wanting a sweater wrapped up (Quamut has instructions on wrapping, too) for Christmas next year, I strongly recommend you tell someone to purchase the sweater for you rather than wait for me to learn how to knit one for you...maybe someday though...

I am still "mad to" mlb.com's shop. I don't think I will ever order anything from them again, I recommend you steer clear of them as well if you are interested in actually possessing anything for your favorite MLB team. (Go Sox!) Despite placing an order for items (hats and shirts) of Boston Red Sox goodies for Christmas at least 3 weeks prior to when I needed them, I have still not received the shirt for Mom and the WS hat for Daddy. (When a box arrived at my house two weeks ago, I was all aflutter thinking their stuff had finally arrived. Alas, it was a shirt I ordered for myself, at the same time as their orders and Reid's hat and Anne's Manny shirt that arrived in time for Christmas - barely...anyway, I got my shirt that I ordered for myself so that I could save a sum total of $5 and get free S&H.) MLB's online shop sucks out loud - purchase elsewhere!!!