Count down to the Princess Party

The Occasion: Ms. Beans 4th Birthday

The Date: Less then 3 weeks from now.

Activities:

Have purchased everything that we need to make wands and rings. Will paint nails. Dress up clothes will be provided.
Will try and make a version of musical chairs with pictures on the floor.
Perhaps a game of Hot Potato with a dress up shoe?
Sifting for Gems?
Need 1 more games:

The Food:

Cookie Cutters acquired for sandwich shapes. Peanut Butter/Jelly Cream Cheese/Jelly and Bologna/Cheese.
Chocolate covered strawberries
Cheese and Cracker Tray
Lemonade
Carrots and Dip
Fruit Salad

The Cake:

WHO THINKS I CAN MAKE THIS?

Party favors:

Were complete until Ms. Bean decided to invite 3 boys to her all girls party?

The Tudors - Fact or Fiction

In preparation for tomorrows season finale of The Tudors - I thought that I would point out a few "liberties" taken by the writers. These are probably of NO interest to any casual watcher and these small historical deviations were probably done to make the plot flow better (after all the Tudors is a TV show and not a historic documentary). However, since they make me crazy ....................... here we go:

1) Henry Fitzroy did NOT die in childhood, he died as a young, married adult. According to the Autobiography of Henry the VIII, Henry believed that Anne Bolyne cursed him because he was a potential heir to the thrown (at this point, Henry also believed that Anne was a witch).

2) Henry's sister Mary married Charles Brandon, not Margaret. Mary was also married to the King of France, not the King of Portugal. Margaret was married to the King of Scotland and was the mother of Mary Queen of Scots. I can also find no evidence that either Margaret or Mary killed the King of Portugal or any other King in Europe.

3) Providing that Margaret is Mary, the timing of her death is wrong. Mary died after Henry was married to Anne Bolyne. Anne supposedly put a curse on her because Mary refused to attend Anne's coronation. She died several weeks following. Charles Brandon appears to be very similar to the slime ball that is portrayed in the series. Just days after Marys death, he broke his sons engagement to Catherine Willoughby and married her himself. Catherine was fourteen-years-old, Brandon was almost fifty.

4) The liturgical composer Thomas Talliss re-imaging as a sensitive pop star beset by 16th century groupies is a little bizarre. But, Shakespeare took similar liberties, and I guess this is all in fun.

Well, that's all I know. However, since I am a Government Bureaucrat and not a historian, I strongly recommend that you take a trip to the library if you have more interest in this topic. And check out my other posts on the Tudors.

The Tudors 1, The Tudors 2, The Tudors 3, The Tudors 4, The Tudors 5, The Tudors 6, The Tudors 7, The Tudors 8

Peace.

Mr. Whipples Potty

Remember Mr. Whipple, the Grocery Clerk who spent most of his career trying to stop horny, closeted housewives from getting off by squeezing Charmin toilet paper? At the end of every commercial we would catch Mr. Whipple squeezing the package himself, and there would be a bonding moment when we all learn that everyone loves Charmin? I have been thinking about Mr. Whipple lately because I discovered something about him that few probably realize .................. he DID NOT have a low flow toilet.

How do I know this little fact about the good Grocer? Because a couple of years ago we moved to a new house. This house has plenty of room for the 4 of us, great location and great neighbors. With the good comes the bad .............. it is new construction and therefore has a set of HIDEOUS low flow pottys (I will be getting to Mr. Whipple in a moment).

A family of 4 living in Washington's high cost area needs to save money where we can, and therefore we have chosen to purchase our staples in bulk at the local Costco (and we can now store them in our larger, new construction home .................but, I digress). So, when the COSTCO coupon for a lifetime supply of Charmin showed up in the mail a few months ago, we put the kids in minivan and ventured off to COSTCO to stock up!

A few days later, we were sitting in our large home, with 4 bathrooms, and 4 substandard cans, and they ALL began to stop up, one after the other. Tom blamed me, I blamed the girls, no one knew how the very little bulk in our diets was creating such a surge in plunger visits to the toilets. This situation was further complicated by the fact that both girls are potty training, and we have had a parade of company. Yuck.

We have finally figured out that the combination of thick, soft and quilted TP and low flow potties was NEVER meant to occur. I have called a plumber, and IF I can find someone to replace my toilets (there is some CODE ISSUE) and IF I can find a decent set of Potties, I will be so broke I can not pay the mortgage in our lovely home. There is only one solution, anyone with a high flow toilet need some Charmin?

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of my loved ones! Despite the fact that Baby Bee spent a good part of the day with a fever/somach flu and Ms. Bean appears to be coming down with the same, this was a great day! Becoming a mom was the very best thing that ever happened to me! A bad day with the girls is better then ANY day without them!

And, a special "thank you" to Susie, who is the best Mother / Grandmother any of us could EVER ask for.

Motherhood

Today I felt horribly guilty about not saying goodbye to Ms. Bean twice when I dropped her off at daycare (generally I stop into her classroom for the second time after dropping off baby-bee to give her a "second kiss goodbye"). When I peeked in on her she was laughing with her friends and I couldn't stand the idea of tears, so I went on my way.

I spent the day trying to concentrate on the general BS of the hour, but really thinking about making sure that I got the "the right" teachers appreciation week gifts and writing out lovely cards to 10 teachers, letting them know how special they are. I hope that making them feel they are part of our family will make then show the girls patience and kindness.

I spent my lunch hour talking to friends about Potty training, development, the "right schools" and weekend birthday party plans.

I looked at photos on my desk and watched the clock wishing that it would move faster so that I could get the girls and see their smiles. I cringed when SHE called a late meeting because she wanted to change everything that was done in the 1030 meeting that she was too busy to attend.

I got to the kids late, feeling sick because baby bean was the last one there and was sitting in a corner playing by herself.

Drove home listening to Sesame Street.

Got stuck in traffic which translated to an "accident" since I forget to remind Ms. Bean to go potty before we left the daycare.

Baths as soon as we got home (Tom took care of this piece), cooking dinner, putting on pajamas, getting screamed at because I dared to try and comb hair, looking for princess shoes to go with nightgown, opppps, a POOP (Tom got this fun piece also), Papa and Susie's Power Visit, Tom does dishes, I run around getting everything ready for daycare tom arrow, the girls fight over the TV, wrestle, cry, and tell me they want to live with Susie.

I go to my room, sit for a moment and remember the two smiling faces that I only have 20 minutes with before bedtime. I go down wanting to snuggle.

Ms. Bean approaches with her arms out, looks me in the eyes, smiles, looks down, and deliberately steps on my foot with her high heal princess slipper. For some reason, I will miss them just as much and feel just as guilty tomorrow.

Sarah's Blog - Part 3

Mommy I love you. Mommy is pretty, nice and comfortale. Daddy uses paper to get his e-mail. He likes his gooey stickey things on his computer. Mommy likes to sit with me and daddy likes to sit with me. Susie and Papa are very nice. It is almost my birthday. Susie and Papa love me. Susie and Papa are very nice and I love them. Papa uses his glasses to see. Susie uses her nighttime shirt to sleep in. I am happy they are home ..................

(Blogging cut short because sister was getting a story, didn't want to miss it. We are all glad that mom and Dad are home. D)

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam .......................

Miss me? Sorry for my absents. April was a very busy month. At any rate, onward ...................

I DID successfully complete the Country Music 1/2 Marathon despite recovering from a HORRIBLE stomach problem and having a nasty case of Bronchitis! Fortunately my good friend Lee was willing to meet me on miles 3 and 7 with an inhaler which kept me going. I placed 17990, aren't you impressed? My friend Patty definitely could have gotten a much better time if my hacking hadn't held her back. There is something about Country Music that brings out the best in her. Carolyn finished in under 4 hours (beat her goal) and did awesome for her first race. I am trying to talk her into doing Baltimore but to date, she is not committing.

Carolyn and Lee were the perfect hosts and we had a great time! If any of you are going to be in Nashville let me know and I will put you in touch with them. You MUST gets Carolyn's tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame. It rocks!

I did suffer a small stress injury to the foot that seems to be controlled with an ace bandage.

Trying to recover, Patty and I took a VERY slow walk around the Tidal Basin to stretch out our joints, and we came across this guy swimming around. I thought he was a beaver, a tourist said a rat (which made me run) but Patty seemed to know it was a Muskrat.

Now, anyone who knows me, knows that Rats are like my Kriptonite. Just the mere thought of them makes me run shaking in horror. Therefore, I was extremely relieved to learn that he was not a rat. I'm not sure why since Wikipedia describes a Maskrat as a Rodent which is 4 times bigger then the brown rat! My life really is all about rationalizations.

Anyway, Muskrats aside be looking for me at the Tidal Basin this summer training for Baltimore in October. I am, again, addicted and looking forward to the next 13.1.