THE Star Wars Party!!

EVAN TURNED 5!!!

We have had a blast celebrating his 5th birthday this weekend! I am worn out!
Friday night, my mom wanted to make him his birthday dinner, so she did, and WHAT A FEAST!! She and my dad made his cake! Evan wanted Spder-man, so that's what they made!! We then opened presents, and EVERYONE had fun playing with EVAN'S birthday presents! (You'll see what I mean in the pictures below!!)
On Saturday, we played video games at "Grammy's" and then we (Eric, Emily, Evan, and I) all went to see the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" movie that is in the theater right now. Evan LOVED IT! Emily didn't like it, so we went to the bathroom about 6 times... Oh well! Then we spent the remainder fo teh day getting ready for Sunday! (Sunday was his party with FRIENDS!!)

Several months ago, Evan told me that for his birthday party everyone was going to come and they were all going to put on a show of "Star Wars." He was always talking about it, and telling me who was going to be what character, etc. So, I decided to make his idea reality...
I called up my sweet friend, Ian, whom I used to be in shows with long ago, and asked him if he could be Obi One Can obi. He said yes, but we really needed to practice to make sure everything went okay and no one got hurt. So, we had rehearsal. (I have never heard of a rehearsal for a birthday party, but we did, and had FUN!!) Ryan ended up agreeing to be Darth Vader, and we had everything in place. I bought costumes online, found the "Imperial March" in "funk" style, and we were good to go! I made light sabers out of pipe insulation by wrapping them in neon colored duct tape, and then spray painting them with neon paint, so that they would glow under a black light. I had a strobe light, lots of black light setups, and a fog machine. We were ready to go!
We had the party at Pump it Up! Everyone got there (we were late as usual!), and played in the bounce houses, climbed up the 9 or 10 foot slide, and then trickled down, and ran till they could run no more. The last 15 minutes of our time in the bounce rooms was spent with Obi One giving Jedi lessons to the kids there, and then for the finale, told the children that they were going to get to see a fight!
So, the music started, the lights went out (black lights on), the door opened, and Darth Vader marched in and had a mighty duo with Obi One. After a long and tedious fight, and Vader chasing Obi One up the slide, and Obi One crashing to the bottom, we needed reinforcements, so here came YODA (also known as EVAN!!), and he fought a courageous battle against Darth Vader, and Vader was defeated!!!
Then, after several photo opps, we all went into the party room and ate cake! (Which I forgot, but thankfully, my dad ran to the store to pick up!! I also forgot all the plates, and decorations... BUT I DIDN'T forget the party favors or the stuff for the "show!!" Heather had to go to my house and get everything I forgot! --You're awesome, my friend!)
Our sweet friends Glen and Lydia came with their son, Drew, and they filmed the whole thing!!! I am sooo glad they were there!! I thought that my mom wasn't going to get to come, but she was very brave and MADE IT!! I was shocked to see her! But, I am still glad that we have this whole fiasco recorded!!
Due to the fact that I didn't take into account that the bounce rooms had skylights, so the whole BLACK LIGHT thing wouldn't work... We ended up plugging in the black lights in the party room, and the kids could see their light sabers "glow!"
Everyone left with their light saber and a bag of candy!! As all the children were leaving, my dad had a Clone Trooper helmet on, and poked the kids with a light saber before leaving! (Evan told him to do that...)
I have already described myself as ridiculous, but Evan got the party he dreamed up in his head, and that's what matters most!

Eric's BIRTHDAY!!

Today was Eric's Birthday! Don't ask me how old he is because I always get it wrong.
We had a fun day! The kids and I all went to the office and took him a big balloon that sang about having a "Rockin' Birthday...Shoop Shoop Di Doop!" We also gave him one of his presents at the office. From my mom and dad he got a custom tailored suit that he looks great in!! So, we gave him a new black belt...(we are boring).
Then, the office had a breakfast party for him!!
After a long, hard day of work for everyone, we all settled down and went to the Harbor in Rockwall, and went on a sunset sail around the lake, and then ate dinner on the patio at Gloria's!! It was perfect! We had a great time!

Funny story, if you have your sound on right now, you could be listening to the song, "Love Boat." Well, a few years ago I was autioning to be in the cast of a show here in Dallas, and after I did my thing, the guys holding the audtions saw Eric sitting there and asked him shy HE wasn't auditioning. He gave several lame answers, and then without any preparation at all stood up and sang "The Love Boat." He had everyone, the producer, director, accompianist, EVERYONE laughing histarically (mainly because he is a huge HAM...)
Well, he was cast in a LEAD ROLE, while I was left to be the "town floosie and chorus girl." Need I say more? Now every time we hear that song, it brings back those bitter-sweet memories of how I got "out cast" by my own husband! (We love laughing about it!

Here are the pictures!

ON THE HUNT!

Why didn't anyone ever tell me that buying things like cars is CRAZY!! The last car that I sort of bought was in 1997, and my parents bought it for me, so that doesn't really count.
We have been shopping for a car for over 40 hours this weekend... We have had a babysitter for 25 of those hours... I need a vacation with my kids!!! I am so tired of test driving. We think that we may have narrowed our search down to an Infiniti FX35, Honda Accord, Honda Pilot, Buick, BMW, Ford Explorer, or a helicopter. Hopefully by January we will be able to let my mom have her car back, and have our OWN car!
On an honest note, we aren't trying to rush this whole process. We really want the car that the Lord has for us, but in the process, Eric is making me research every single car that has been made since 2005. I have learned SO MUCH! And, I think that I may have test driven one of each car that has been made since 2005. My next job is going to be a car salesperson. (I have worked in a dealership before, but I worked the free prize counter...) If you go with us to the State Fair of Texas this year, we may end up selling YOU your NEXT CAR! Well, I'd better get back to the research. Eric thinks that I am still "doing my homework..."