Eye Candy

Quite literally. I remember Heather trying to explain about the Premium M&Ms a while back, but until you see them, you really can't understand. But I'll try to help:



Aren't they pretty? This picture is pretty good, but seriously, you have to see them. You don't have to buy them! Just go find them in the store and look at them. They are beautiful. I don't think I've ever said that about food before, but it really is true in this case. They taste quite good, too. Not enough to justify the price, IMO (I had a coupon, and they were still expensive), but I'll certainly eat them now that I have them. The "shell" isn't the hard candy shell you're used to. I'm not really sure how to explain it. It's almost like you don't even know it's there. It's fairly soft, about the same firmness as the chocolate itself, and very smooth. And iridescent metallic! They truly look like gemstones of some sort. The ones above are the triple chocolate (purple) and almond (blue). I think there are three others: raspberry, mocha, and mint (I think). And yes, they're all this pretty! I almost don't want to eat them so I can keep looking at them.

Currently feeling: lovely yummies

Boost me up!

I stuck this in my monthly round-up for September, but I know not everyone reads those. So to Glenda's question about has he tried the "I'm a big boy now, I don't need a baby seat," we nipped that one in the bud. The weekend before his party, we moved him from a carseat to a backless booster, now referred to as "the big boy seat."



Not the best picture, sorry. It was taken with my phone. And yes, for anyone who read the recent article or saw the thing on TV about many of the boosters not meeting the safety criteria, this was one of the ones in their "best bets" category, so we're good. (News report here; seat recommendations here.) We got the Graco TurboBooster in the Chatter color scheme. Used "Ship to Store" at Wal-Mart, so we ordered online and shipping was free. We just had to go pick it up at the store, and they emailed us when they arrived. Up to the point of picking them up, it worked great! The in-store part I was not impressed with. I don't know if we were the first people to use it at our store or what, but no one seemed to have any clue what was going on. It was still worth it to save the $20 on shipping (we bought three of them), but it just reminded me once again why we almost never shop at Wal-Mart.

The only bad thing about using the booster is that, in our car, the center seatbelt does not lock, so if you lean forward, the shoulder strap goes with you. For the side seats, it locks. Once you pull it out to buckle and let it retract, you cannot pull it out again without unbuckling and letting it roll all the way up. I didn't think it was good for a 4-year-old to be able to move the strap that much in the middle position, so I moved him to the side. I know that is less safe than the center, but I feel safer that he can't get out of the seatbelt once it is put on him. Unless he clicks the button to release the seatbelt. We had trouble with that the first time we put him in the seat, but once we explained that he was not to unbuckle until we stopped the car and told him it was okay, he's been fine. He even asks first, "Mommy, I push the button now?"

It did mean that I had to flip the child locks on the back door that he sits by, though, and that has taken more getting used to than anything. He likes getting in and out of the car himself, so to suddenly have one of the back doors "not working" is frustrating for him. But he definitely likes his new "big boy seat."

Currently feeling: he's growing so fast!

Abbreviated

Apparently, DH and I are now "Mom" and "Dad." Not sure exactly when that happened. It's been coming over the last couple of weeks, I guess. It is now almost exclusively Mom and Dad, though. I miss being Mommy! He sounds way too grown up saying "Mom."

Currently feeling: missing Mommy

Happy 4th Birthday to Luke

Hard to believe it's been 4 years already. He's changed so much in the last year. Here are some pictures from his birthday party on Saturday. Can you guess the theme?



[Updated with better picture. Much less grainy than the previous version.] How about this one?



Mom did her usual fabulous job on the cake. And for those who know about such things, be prepared to be impressed. We made our own red and black icing! And it tasted great and looked fabulous. Much better than the red we bought because people convinced us that red was too hard to make. Theirs was like canned icing, and not very good canned icing either. Yes, we were very proud of ourselves! Luke liked it, too.



We got to meet our niece for the very first time. Luke had absolutely no idea what to make of her. I don't think he's ever really been around a baby before. I do think he was happy to return to being the center of attention once she left. He didn't get upset or anything, he was just very unsure of himself around her.



But there were plenty of smiles



and lots of silly fun.



Everything pretty much went off without a hitch, and I think everyone had a great time. Yay!

Currently feeling: partied out

4th Birthday Party a Success

The party and the weekend all went really really well. And I am utterly exhausted. More later.

Currently feeling: in need of a very long nap

My Five Year Blog-iversary

Today is the 5th anniversary of my first ever blog post. Wow, I really can't believe it has been that long. I can't believe I have actually kept it up that long! I never was able to keep a journal via paper and pen for more than a month or two. I guess maybe it was because I didn't have an audience, besides myself? Or maybe it is as simple as I prefer to type. Who knows, but it has been a really great experience for me, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading along. Here's to another 5 years!
Currently feeling: celebratory

A quick drive-by post

Been really busy this week. The only reason the round up got posted is because I had already written most of it (I try to at least make notes as the month goes along). Work has been busy, but thankfully not insane. Been running a bunch of errands. Had a doctor's appointment (routine 6 month BP check; it was good). No luck on getting the desktop cleaned up yet, but I honestly haven't even looked at it in 3 days now. The laptops work fine, so I've been using those. I just got fed up, and I have way too many other things to do right now.

Like party! Today is Party Prep Day #1 for Luke's birthday party this weekend. Mom should be here this afternoon/evening. I'll be making the cake (so it can cool and be ready to go for decorating tomorrow) and some of the snacks that will keep in air tight containers (like the turtle pretzels). Tomorrow will be Party Prep Day #2, where we'll do things that need to sit overnight (ham and swiss rolls, chicken salad), make up the casseroles so we just have to pop them in the oven tomorrow for lunch, decorating, etc. Should hopefully make Saturday go pretty smoothly. We're expecting 10-15 folks, besides the three of us. BIL and SIL will be staying with us over the weekend, and we get to meet our niece for the first time. Can't wait!

Wish me luck! I hope I can get it all pulled off. I probably won't post again until after the party, so I'll go on and wish you all a fabulous weekend!
Currently feeling: ready to party!