My mom didn't teach me that kind of behaviour. Also, Happy Birthday Sebastian!

On the docket while my sister, Erin, was visiting was to get ready for Sebastian's third birthday party.  Being an October baby means that there is always a plethora (Heffy.  Do you know what a plethora is?  Am I the only one who thinks about the The Three Amigos every time she hears the word plethora?) of pumpkin and or Halloween paraphernalia.  What better time of year for a pumpkin party for my little pumpkin?

One of the mornings Tristan and Ava were in school Erin and I dedicated to getting everything I needed for pumpkin-themed goody bags and pumpkin shaped cupcakes.  First stop, Starbucks.  Second stop, dollar store right across from Starbucks.  Wasn't that convenient?  What better way to browse through overwhelming amounts of things made in China than with coffee in hand?  We even got Sebastian a hot chocolate hoping it would keep him happy and occupied while he sat in the cart.  We walked into the dollar store with our drinks and an employee came over to us and told us they had a no food or drinks policy in their store and that we would have to take our coffees outside.  What???  No food or drinks in a dollar store?  I can understand it in a clothing store but even Winners lets you shop with your coffee.  Come on! I was very indignant and I must admit a little rude when I said, "Are you serious?  We can't bring our coffees in here?  Why?  Most stores let you bring drinks in."  And then, just to really get my point across and really make them sorry they had that stupid policy, I said very coldly, "Well. I guess we'll be taking our business elsewhere then."

Which is the exact moment Sebastian dropped his hot chocolate.  While I watched the dark liquid ooze into an ever-widening puddle on the floor I had a revelation.  It is impossible to maintain any kind of self-righteous indignation when you are completely mortified.  Heh heh. Ummm. Right. So, I guess that's why you don't allow drinks. Right. Okay. We'll just go then.

The next dollar store we tried didn't have that same policy so we shopped and sipped and picked up everything I needed for the party.  Somehow, though, it wasn't quite as satisfying as I thought it would be.  Humble pie anyone? 

Here's a picture of the jack o' lantern cakes I made for the party. In theory they're dead easy - just two cupcakes stuck together with icing and then iced all over - but I've never really mastered the art of icing a cake.  The perfectionist in me is cringing that I'm about to show you these but they were made with love and that has to count for something.

Happy Third Birthday Beesh!  There is nothing that makes me smile wider than watching the way you run when you're excited.  It's somewhere between a run and a skip and ends up looking like a prance. It is truly delightful to behold - as are you.  Your joy makes our home a brighter, happier place to be. I feel so blessed that God entrusted you to us.

6 Degrees of Separation, sort of.

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the little blog hiatus.  My sister, Erin came for a week and then I was rereading Harry Potter.  Need I say more?  I can barely get dressed and feed my children when I'm reading nevermind trying to pull my brain away from Hogwarts long enough to string coherent sentences together.  I do have a few posts up my sleeve though so stick around.

As I said my sister, Erin came to visit for a week.  While she was here we went to go see The Town.  (This is not a movie review.  We enjoyed it.)  If you've seen the movie, or even the previews, you will know it's a movie about a group of bank robbers and how the bank robber falls for the girl they use as a hostage.  At one point during the movie I found myself harking back to Beverly Hills, 90210.

Huh? you say. 
I know.  Stay with me.  

In the good old days of 90210 - not the dismal 90210 of today which I've only seen five minutes of- Donna got herself a stalker or something.  I can't really remember the details, just that there was a guy and he was bad.  This bad guy was at Donna's and he was going to rape her then David knocked on the door.  David and Donna had gotten into a fight earlier in the episode and he had come back to apologize but she wouldn't let him in and just kept telling "Dave" to go away.  He, who was only ever called David, thought the Dave thing was weird so he stormed in with a baseball bat (of course), knocked the guy out and saved Donna.

This episode prompted my 17-year old self and my 15- and 13-year old sisters to come up with our own "danger names".  We couldn't use nicknames we actually called each other by so Jane's, Janie became Jan-ey (rhymes with fanny), Erin was Wren - or as she later became jokingly known, L'il Wren Wren, and I was Helga - something only my Mom ever called me, who knows why.  If we were ever in a situation where say one of us had a stalker who came over to rape us we were supposed to use our danger names.  This would then cue the other sister(s) to GET HELP NOW!  Or at least a baseball bat. Not surprisingly - our small hometown being somewhat low on stalkers - life did not reflect art and we never needed to use our danger names.

I hadn't thought about these names in many years and then Erin and I went to see The Town and, ready for it?  I'm about to finally make the connection between Ben Affleck and David Silver.  We're watching away and (Spoiler alert): we're at a part where it looks like the FBI are finally going to get the robbers and the main girl in the story is on the phone with Ben Affleck's character and she uses a phrase that means something other than what she's saying and it tips him off and he escapes.  Which is when I thought of 90210 and Donna Martin and "Dave" Silver.  It's a totally unrelated, random connection, I know.  That episode of 90210 aired in 1995 and I can't really remember ever thinking about it since.  I was lost in the randomness of my brain processes thinking Erin would get a kick out of it on the car ride home when she leaned over and asked if Helga could pass her some more Nibs.

Would I have made the same connection if I had watched that movie with anyone other than my sister?  Who knows.  What I do know is no one else (with the exception of my other sister) would have taken the same path with me down the rabbit hole.  And isn't that what makes family so special, so unique?  I may be somewhat random, but I'm not alone.