Happy Birthday Zayn!

“Who is Zahn?” was the first thing I asked my 11-year-old when she asked if she could have a birthday party for Zayn Malik.  THAT question got me a look of “How don’t you know that mom” and I swear she was also rolling her eyes at the same time.

My daughter made some good reasons to why she NEEDED to have a party (a lawyer in the making) and I said yes.  I am so glad I did because it was a BLAST!  She invited 13 girls and they were all about his birthday too.  They decorated, blared One Direction music all night, played games, and even had a cake with candles and sang Happy Birthday (for the complete stranger that sings in a band).

Here are some other ideas we came up with for a One Direction Party-

*One Direction Memory – Just print up double of pictures of the boys and glue onto index cards.

*One Direction Pin the Tail on the Donkey – Get your favorite poster .. Pick somewhere on the poster where everyone must pin a specially cut out heart. Use Blu-tack to stick the heart on. The nearest to the spot wins the poster

*One Direction Identifier – Tape some audio of the guys.. Cover someone’s eyes and they have to guess which One Direction member is speaking or even singing. If they guess right.. they get another guess.. The person who answers the most questions correct wins a prize.

*One Direction Jigsaw Puzzles

*One Direction Musical Chairs – or I like to call it “Musical Rags.”  We never have enough chairs so we always use washcloths.

*One Direction 5 Corners – Put a One Direction band member’s name on each corner (or spot) in the house.  Let the girls pick a spot and then someone draws a name.  If they are in the drawn name’s spot – they are out.  Game keeps going until one girl is left.

*One Direction Dance Party

*One Direction Trivia

*One Direction Favorites – drink hot tea and eat Smarties

*One Direction Pictionary – have teams and first one to guess their teammates One Direction themed drawing gets a point

AND check out the cute invitation you could send (I found this AFTER we sent ours)

**************************************

Dear

You are invited to my One Direction birthday party../ sleepover

It will be heaps of fun with Zayney games

Fabulous Liamonade Punch &

One Direction cupcakes in different Styles

Harry up and RSVP me.. or you will Louis out big time..

Niall be looking forward to seeing you there.. xxxx

If you aren’t able to come it will Payne me..

Directioners to the Party:…
OR
There is only One Direction

**************************************

It definitely was a super night and so fun to see how these boys in a band can make 11-year-old girls go crazy and get absolutely silly.  It’s just fun to be a part of it even if I don’t know anything!  AND did I forget to mention that all the girls slept over.  Enough said.  Goodnight!

WHAT DID PUTIN SAY?

I saw this story on Good Morning America this morning and it totally cracked me up!

Here is a picture of the Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Mass at  Holy Trinity St. George Monastery.  The photographer captured a touching moment where Putin is bending down to say something to the little boy.  Cute right?

NOW this is where it gets funny!  Check out the next photo taken and look at the little boy’s eyes.

 

 

What do you think Putin said to this little guy?

MY MOM’S BUCKET LIST

The only thing my mom has had on her bucket list was – SKYDIVE.   Never one to monkey around and think about things too long, she booked a jump with me when she came to visit this Christmas.  I was excited and thought it would be a really cool thing to do with mom.  We went to Pacific Coast Skydiving  and they were fantastic!  I highly recommend them if you are in the San Diego area.

We had to first sign our lives away – literally.  Lots of signatures and initials.     The whole family came to watch.  I know, I know,…. it could have been a life-altering horrible shattering incident in their lives but I took the chance.  I am a glass half-full type of gal.

 When they strapped us in, it sure did not seem like we had very much on.  Not sure what else I expected but not a couple of straps.  NOW I GOT NERVOUS!  Plus – there was a sign saying ARCH or DIE and when we asked them about it – the response was “If you do not arch immediately out of the plane –  you go into a violent spin”.  Now from this point on, all I was thinking was- ARCH. ARCH. ARCH. ARCH.

My mom kissing dad goodbye!

Walking off to the plane – I love this picture.

 Here is a view from the plane.  We are not even halfway up.  The next picture below shows my face when I learn that we are only half-ways on our climb.  My face says it all!     AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

AND here is another reaction picture of myself – this one is a great picture of my mom and then look at her “about to puke” daughter in the background!

OKAY, we are ready to jump!  My mom is first.  (I am not kidding you, but my hands have now started to sweat when I am typing this).  This picture cracks me up because the guy is totally kicking my mom’s foot out.  She had put the brakes on our adventure for a second and her foot was NOT moving from the inside of the plane!   In a matter of a second, mom is out and has disappeared.  

WAY TO GO MOM!!!!

Now it is my turn and look at how terrified I was NOT to arch!  I am arching well before the jump.  Poor George, the skydiving instructor, had to drag my fully arched body to the door!!  I am lucky I did not pull back muscles!

We did 2 somersaults!  This was my favorite part of the whole experience – the free fall.   We got to free fall for 45 seconds.  It was AWESOME!!

My daughter took this cool shot of both of us free-falling.

Mom is steering the parachute.  This was her favorite part of the jump.

WE DID IT!!!

Such a cool experience to share with your mom.  I mean really, how cool is it that my mom talked me into skydiving!  I am one lucky kid –   Thanks  mom-you are the best!

PERFECT TIMING

My daughter and I recently attended the LA Women’s Expo.  It had a lot of vendors and celebrity speakers.  We were part of  the vendor club – if anyone was confused.  It was a pretty cool event.  We could listen to each celebrity and walk up to them, ask questions, and take pictures.  Each one of them had something they were trying to sell or promote, mostly books or a skin care line.  After pictures they would go to their booths and “work” a little.

Holly Robinson Peete was fantastic – super personable and down to earth.  Regis was funny and shorter than I thought he would be.  Another person that stood out as nice and “real” was Tia Mowry –  Sister Sister for any of you guys that remember that show.  I even smacked into Dog the Bounty Hunter as I was walking around.  Bottom line, very fun and interactive event with some celebrities.

Here is what brings me to my blog today.  My daughter and I were walking around and saw Deidre Hall, aka Marlena Evans from Days of Our Lives.  I used to watch this show when I was in college and thought it was cool to see her at the Expo.  Marlena was behind her booth selling her skincare line.  I told my daughter, “Look, there is Marlena!  I want to get a picture of her.” So we stopped and I got this picture –

I was totally happy with my picture and this is what happened next – Marlena gave me serious attitude.  She put up her hand and said “Do NOT do that!”  I looked behind me ( like all the cool kids do in situations like that) then said “Me?” and she just shook her head like a very disapproving teacher.  I was ready for her to spin her head all the way around and levitate like she did on Days when she was possessed by the devil.   YIKES!   My daughter and I walked away and we both were embarrassed.  We were still walking and talking about how weird and awkward that was when I looked at the picture I had taken.  I must have snapped another one just as she scolded me for taking her picture.  Here it is –

THEN we started to laugh!  Sometimes my timing is PERFECT.

Here is a clip of the great possession of Marlena Evans (1995) that I totally remember watching on my lunch break at school.  Enjoy.

MY 40TH BIRTHDAY

I recently just turned the big 4 – 0.  My sister mailed me a package with a little collection of things we grew up with and it completely defines the 80’s for me.  No, she is not a hoarder.  She is a master garage saler.  Actually… they sound quite similar.  Hmmm, we might have to talk to her when I get home.  Anyways,  here is the picture of the items she sent minus the R2D2 figurine.  My 5-year-old swiped it and I could not find it again.

All the Judy Blume books were a staple growing up.  I mean seriously, if you were a girl growing up and said you NEVER EVER chanted “We must, we must, we must increase our bust,”  – you, my friend, are a liar!  I LOVED Footloose and yes kids, that is a cassette tape and yes, it would sometimes get all twisted in the player.  I did have a Fonzi comb in my back pocket growing up because I was cool.  I can’t quite remember what fast food place we would go to get the Porky Pig and all the other Looney Tune glasses but I remember how exciting it was to get Porky – my favorite.  St. Elmo’s Fire was such a good movie and how cute was Rob Lowe?!  The shorts really cracked me up.  Our PE teacher would ALWAYS wear these short, tight, Spaulding shorts.  He was a very no-nonsense guy yet he wore these shorts EVERY SINGLE DAY and we were in Northern Minnesota!  I did put the rabbit tail on my key chain and my kids think it is gross.

AND if you can not remember this commercial growing up – I am not sure we can be friends.

     She finished the gift with the biggest bang – 40 dimes!  My great-aunt and uncle would always tape dimes that equaled your age.  So when I was 18, I was able to take the $1.80 in dimes and buy 3 pops and 30 pieces of Pal bubble gum!  Oh my word!  When I went to find a picture of Pal Gum, it actually came up on the Candy Wrapper Museum!  YIKES!

Thanks for such fun present Kel!!!!

Hi Stac.

HOW FAST CAN YOU FIND US?

How long does it take you to find ALL 6 faces of my family?  Now show it to some kids and see how long it takes them?  Which age group is the fastest?

YOU can be the star of your very own Find Me Book.  Your family’s faces will be hidden in 11 scenes of your choosing!  CLICK HERE to ORDER!

FUNNY STUFF

Things just got REAL on subway!

MEETING JOSH HUTCHERSON

Check out her smile!!

My daughter LOVES Josh Hutcherson!  Yes, this is the same daughter who modge podged Justin Bieber on her desk but that was sooo yesterday.  Ever since she read the Hunger Games books and saw the movie, she is completely obsessed with Peeta!

THIS is just one part of her bedroom wall – just so you get the idea of what we are dealing with.

The other day I saw on Facebook that Josh Hutcherson was hosting a charity event at LA LIVE.  Apparently, my daughter liked his fb page so I also get to be informed of his whereabouts.  I saw that tickets were $25 BUT if you wanted to meet Josh, it would cost $100.  It was a lot dough but if she could actually meet Josh – OMG!  Plus, it was for a great charity that I had never heard of before.  Straight But Not Narrow  http://www.wearesbnn.com/  is a campaign that encourages everyone just to be themselves.   No matter if you are straight or gay, it does not matter.  JUST B U.

My daughter was all decked out in her Josh outfit.  She had one Hunger Game knee-high and one orange sock because it is a Hunger Game color.  She had on her Mocking Jay necklace, Josh buttons, and wrote sayings all over her shirt.  Some of the sayings included, “I LOVE JOSH,” “THE OFFICIAL #1 JOSH HUTCHERSON FAN,” I AM MRS. HUTCHERSON,” and so on and so on and so on.  She also brought a Hunger Game book and folder and sharpie marker.  She was a riot preparing for the meeting!

When we got to the event, she had a blast talking to other crazy fans while we waited to meet Josh.  There were two teens that had even flown from Kentucky to meet him.  Once we got to meet up with him, the first thing my daughter said was “Oh my gosh mom!  He has his Peeta hair on!”  She got to hug him and they took a few pictures and then he said “By the way, I like your shirt.”  Holy Cow!  You should have seen her-BEAMING!!  Then as we were heading to the basketball court, she kind of spazed out and started to cry.  She said “He smells like cologne, roses, and laundry detergent.”

Once we got to the basketball court, we were totally excited because we were courtside.  It was a celebrity basketball game and I recognized quite a few people – the older ones.  My daughter recognized the other people-the young ones.  One of the basketball player, Ben Carey-guitarist for Lifehouse, had my daughter walk on the court and shoot some baskets.  Super nice guy (with a great shot) and I thought it was cool to see him.  I love the song, Halfway Gone.  Here it is if you were wondering (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xodmwwNV18w

Instead of saying, “Thanks for letting me shoot” or even “Who are you?” The words out of my daughter’s mouth were, “Can you please have Josh Hutcherson come and talk to me.”  Oh jeez.  He just laughed and was really cute about it.  Anyways, the basketball game was very entertaining.  The celebrities could actually really play.  Everytime Josh came by my daughter would squeal and put her hands out.  Super funny to watch.

This was an experience that my daughter and I will never ever forget.  Just watching my daughter was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY.    Thanks Josh!

WHAT KIND OF MEAL IS THIS?!

We just had a family reunion and during lunch, my 5-year-old was in charge of getting his own plate.  This is exactly what he picked.  AND let me tell you, there was a large variety of food.  So he picks 1 carrot, a half of a strawberry, 1 chocolate chip bar, and a glob of whipped cream.  A perfectly balanced meal!

At least he ate everything he took! 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT AMERICA

1. Each of the colors on the America Flag is said to represent something: White: Purity and Innocence; Red: Hardiness and Valour; Blue: Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.
2.The state of Ohio was the birthplace of 8 American presidents, more than any other state.

3. The state of Louisiana has almost 2500 islands!

4. The USA has a number of towns which have an official population of just 1! The towns are Hibberts Gore, Maine; Ervings, New Hampshire; Lost Springs, Wyoming; and New Amsterdam, Indiana.

5. Although English is the most commonly spoken language used in the U.S. and is the language used in government, the country has no official language.
6. Each year, around 24,000 Americans are bitten by rats!

7. According to some estimates, Americans are sitting on $30 billion worth of unredeemed gift cards.

8. The first U.S. capital was New York City.

9. Montana has three times as many cows as it does people.

10. Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to have been born in a hospital.

11. Today, 66 percent of all Americans are considered to be overweight.

12. The Founding Fathers actually signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

13. Every 4th of July the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is tapped (not actually rung) thirteen times in honor of the original thirteen colonies.
14. Two U.S. presidents died on July 4th – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.