Hannah Montana in Ohio

So, Madison turned the big 1-0 on the 9th of December. We wanted to get her something special to acknowledge how much we appreciate her being well behaved, wonderful in school, and such a help around the house and with the boys. She got straight A's for the first time at Redeemer and that is a wonderful accomplishment.

I searched high and low and found a pair of great seats for an okay price on ebay and snatched them up in October. The concert sold out in 8 minutes, so they were rather expensive anywhere I looked.

Why Hannah tickets? Well we watch her on Nick whenever it's on and I like the message of the show. It's usually on at night after the boys are in bed and Charlie's at work, so it's a Mommy and Me thing. Plus, Hannah's brother's name on the show is Jackson and we get a kick out of that.

Ma bought her a Hannah shirt for her birthday so she'd have the proper attire for the show. The show was the 3rd of January. Madison and I got ready for the show together. I curled her hair and even put a little makeup on her. The boys were SOOOO jealous, mostly of the makeup...Baby's still afraid of the curling iron after the...uhhhh...incident.

We drove up to Cleveland. Took some pictures outside of Hannah's Party Bus in the FREEEEEEZING cold. We might have even gotten on the news. Tons of cameramen were scrolling the crowd and we, in turn, were going NUTS to get their attention.

Inside we got a neon pen that goes around your neck, a Miley Cyrus shirt, and a Jonas Brothers shirt. Did I mention, the Jonas Brothers were the opening act.

Never have I seen more hyped up little girls in all my life. I didn't hear normally for hours after leaving the show.

The show, by the way, was Awesome. Both the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana.

On the way home, I wanted to take Madison to Fat Fish Blue a jazzy blues restaurant in Cleveland, for some deep fried pickles with cajun mayo dipping sauce. They are to die for and Madison LOVES pickles. She even has this ANNOYING saying lately, "I love pickle juice." And she asks everyone if they love pickle juice. Like I said, ANNOYING. Anyway, we get inside the restaurant after parking and they're closing. We had to leave, but we see on the menu posted on the outside of the building our beloved pickles. I was MAD.

The next night was her Cavs game, though, for getting Straight A's. I forgot to update the post on that contest. She sent in her report card and her name was chosen for two free tickets to a game, a Cavs book cover, and a tee-shirt. Is she lucky or what??? Anyways, I thought Charlie could take her for her pickles after the game. He did. And guess what! They were sold out of the deep fried pickles. I kid you not.

After telling this story to friends, we found out that a neighborhood bar and grill has deep fried pickles that are delish and it's less than two minutes from our house. We haven't gone yet, but plan to in the near future. We'll keep you posted on how they compare to Fat Fish Blue. In the end, Ma called FFB and told them the story and they're sending up some complimentary certificates to come back up and try to get some pickles.

All in all, I hope Madison remembers this first concert as a great one, I know I will treasure the experience. The boys, especially Jackson, are still jealous, but I promised them Naked Brothers Band if they come to town. Jackson said, "How are you gonna do that? Take just me one night and Baby the next since just you and Madison went for Hannah Montana? Adorable, but Foolish.

Follow the Leader

Got this from Shannon's blog, seemed interesting, so I did it too...

You are Mahogany

Stable and decisive, you lack the hyper energy of most orange colors.You're still energetic, but you tend to project a peaceful, relaxed vibe.You love to feel cozy. You often rather wrap up in a blanket than go out for the night.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolororangeareyouquiz/">What Color Orange Are You?

There Shall Be Showers of Blessings

My little sister's baby shower was Saturday at the Erie Station Grill. We dined in the train car out back of the restaurant. It was very elegant and unique.

Before the shower, Baby asked what a shower was. I began to tell him when Big Charlie interrupted and told him, "Basically because girls stank, they all need to go shower." Madison and I tried to argue but he just kept saying that's why only girls go to showers.

Anywho

The shower had a star theme because Jessica likes stars. Shannon made the invitations, which had tiny feet pearlized as a border. A poem read:

Precious boy, so small, so sweet

Dancing in on Angel feet

Sent from Heaven's brightest Star

How beautiful you are

I loved the invitations. However, all the info had to be changed because I let other people get involved in the planning process. I know, I know...so unlike me. The new place was a million times better anyway. So glad we had to change it.

The favors were small tins of cut out stars that when poured in the bath turn into bubble bath. It had blue ribbon and a blue pacifier since she is having a boy. Another favor was a glass star-shaped tealight and holder in a blue organza bag with a tag stating a Star is Born.

We also wrapped silver and baby blue Hershey's Kisses in blue netting and tied with baby blue ribbon and personalized tags that had either a star or a baby boy looking up at a star saying either Welcome Baby Josiah or A Bright Future For Jessica's Baby. The blue Hershey's kisses said It's a Boy on the plume. We also tied a metal star to dangle from the ribbon.

The table cloths were white. The linens were baby blue.

The meal was a choice of

turkey

ham

chicken salad

on a croissant

with a cup of the most delicious vegetable beef soup I have ever had.

Mom made star shaped shower cakes for everyone with baby blue whipped cream icing. They were delicious as usual.

We had a photo mat that everyone could sign upon entering with well wishes for Jessica and the Baby.

We played a candy bar game, whose b-day is closest to the due date, My water broke, and lottery scratch offs. The ice cube game was hilarious. You had people licking the cube, biting the cube, sticking the cube in soup, and stabbing the cube with their knives. Mind you, while a precious little baby is inside the cube waiting to be born.

Jessica got a wonderful start with all the gifts she received. She seemed very happy.

Why did I go through this ridiculous detail? For my retarded sister that couldn't be there. We all missed you very much, Shannon. And it wasn't the same without your neurotic self. No wonder plans had to be changed. We didn't have our little planner there. You need to come home soon. This is getting irritating. ENJOY THE PICS AND LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT BLOGGING FOR A COUPLE WEEKS NOW!

Little LeBron

Madison's first game was Saturday in Westlake at Messiah Lutheran.

Little LeBron, as we like to call her now, scored 6 or the 12 points for her team. She even almost sunk a three at the buzzer. She is soooooo much better than I was at her age. I had to use both hands and granny it to even get the rim. She shoots like a pro. The girl guarding Madison kept moving her arms crazily like a windmill. You should've seen Madison's face. She looked angry and confused and annoyed all at once. Later she said, I felt like stopping and saying what are you doing?

Her team lost, but they played so well for this being their first game in a real gym with a whole team to play. We only have 7 girls, so when we scrimmage, me and the other coach play on one of the teams.

The night before the game I took Madison to Dick's to get shoes and a gym bag to carry her ball, shoes, water bottle, and clothes in. She was so excited. Baby kept saying we were at Dick because he leaves off endings and especially s's. Jack kept telling Baby it's "DIX, " in his own speech-delayed lispy way. Me and Madison were cracking up. You had to be there.

Resolutions Schmezolutions

Happy New Year!

So here they are...or at least the ones I am willing to share...
1. Go to church REGULARLY. Not just when we happen to wake up on time, but actually set an alarm clock or two. The kids love it and we all benefit from it.
2. Watch my mouth. I have inherited my mom's language, what can I say? I don't like to hear other's talk that way, so why do I?
3. Cook. Nough said.
4. Exercise. Find something I enjoy and can stick with. If I can't, then do something I don't enjoy and complain about it relentlessly. Talking burns calories.
5. Organize. My house, my mind, my car, schedules. It's nuts around here.
6. Simplify. Stop pack-ratting. Really, if I haven't seen something in 10 years, why am I holding on to it? Stop hoarding those stinking precious moments. Declutter. Reduce the amount of time I spend away from my kids. And enjoy the time I gain back with them.
7. Spend more time and energy on Alyssa. I speak to her about two times a year...and that is sooo sad. Larry wanted his family to make his presence known with her and I have done a poor job of keeping that promise. Plus, I benefit so much in seeing her. It's like getting to be near him again, and why have I avoided that?
8. Create a realistic budget and involve Charlie sticking to it. In the past, I have created these, but it doesn't really work unless everyone isibs on the same page. I would like to teach my children to be responsible with their finances and that's hard to do unless they see it in action.
9. Finish projects the house. I am a master procrastinator and a list maker, which equals guilt. I have a million things I would like to finish around the house and I think I would feel marvelous having finished them.
10. Sand down the beast of a china closet on my porch that I bought from Goodwill and repaint it in a color of my liking just to say that I did it. Who knows? Maybe I've found a hobby.

The rest, folks, are private....so butt out!!!!