Another Thursday Night Dinner

Thursday night dinners are still happening but I always seem to forget to take a picture.

Tonight's dinner was at Zio's - a local Italian restaurant. Violet, Melissa and Ashley joined me, Dad and Michael. It's still hard to get Violet to look at the camera and smile. I don't blame her. No one wants to get their picture taken ALL the time.

Happy Birthday Violet!

I'm not sure who had the most fun today. Violet, Melissa, Jamie, Michael, Ashley or me.
Violet, Jamie, Melissa and I started at Toys R Us, then Slim Chickens, then Build a Bear, then a train ride, then looking at the new puppies (at the store, of course), finishing at Red Robin where Michael and Ashley joined us. Oh yeah, in between shopping and dinner Violet had a quick nap. I don't blame her, I needed a nap too.

We needed to exchange a birthday gift from Josh so we headed to Toys R Us. Josh's tent gift turned into a new Minnie tricycle. Violet's legs are just a bit short but as fast as she grows and as quick as she learns she'll probably be doing wheelies by the end of the week.

Build A Bear was fun for me when Violet was first born and I built her a newborn bear. Gosh was that already 2 years ago? But nothing compares to watching her build her own bear. This is Birthday Bear II. Violet picked out the "Bear" name, Melissa and Jamie added the "Birthday" and I picked the "II" to commemorate her 2nd birthday.

Since no one really wanted to go to the traditional birthday restaurant - Chucky Cheese - (I'm not really sure you can even call it a restaurant) we went to Red Robin.

Violet got her favorite dessert, ice cream, and the wait staff gave her a big birthday shout out. She's giving us her cheesy grin in this picture. Time flies so fast. As Grandpa would say "Only 364 more days until she's 3!" Happy Birthday Violet. "Ma" loves you!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

Violet turns 2 on the 18th and today was her birthday party with a Minnie Mouse theme.

Minnie Mouse was on the front porch and greeted everyone as they came in. I think every gift Violet received was also Minnie Mouse. Even the cupcakes had miniature oreos for ears and pink ring bows.

The highlight of a birthday party for a 2 year old is a bounce house. The kids just loved it. I'm not sure what's in store for her 3rd birthday party but Melissa had better start thinking now.

Money Booth

Harrah's has different events happening almost every week. This weekend it was the money booth.

I've done the money booth before and this event wasn't as good as the one before. There wasn't much money in there and most of it was $1 bills. The idea is to push as much money as you can through the slot into the outside box in 15 seconds. I did walk away with $55. Not much but I took my winnings and tripled it on the casino floor.

Mobile Mechanic

I got in my car this morning to run to the grocery store and had a hard time getting it started. Not typical for my car. The car finally started and as I drove out of the garage I thought "what if the car doesn't start when I get out of the store?" So I turned off the car in the driveway to try and start it again. I had the same trouble. So I thought what was the worst thing that could happen? If it didn't start when I left Hy-Vee then I could just call Dad and have him come and get me. So I risked it. Luckily the car started. But I called Jamie to tell him about it. He said my battery was going bad. I never thought about the battery. Even Melissa knew it was the battery.

So this evening I met Jamie in O'Reilly's parking lot and visited with Melissa, Violet, Khloe and Lola while Jamie changed out my battery. Much better service and price compared to taking it to the dealer for replacement. Thanks again Jamie!

Like Mother Like Daughter.....Like Father Like Daughter???

I can't decide if Violet is more like her mother or her father. Although she's spends most of her time with Melissa, she takes after her daddy quite a bit. Melissa, Jamie, Violet and I spent the morning doing some birthday shopping. Violet was quite good at picking out items she wanted and putting them in the basket - just like her mother.

But when we got back to the house, Jamie cleaned up my garage floor and Violet was right beside him doing her fair share. I guess a little of both is the best.

Bedroom Afghan

The weather had better warm up quick or my house is going to be filled with crocheted afghans, ponchos and doll clothes.

The quilt on my bed has a red, yellow and burnt orange flower pattern with the green leaves for accent. So I've designed this off white lazy wave pattern. The red lines are repeated after each color because the drapes in my room are red.

This is a closer look at the stitch. Come on Spring - my fingers are getting cramped!

Puppysitting

Last Thursday Jamie, Melissa and Violet went to Big Cedar Lodge near Branson for a firefighter conference. Guess who had the privilege of watching Khloe and Lola? Today my legs ache from the many walks we took around the block. I'm not sure whether or not I'm that out of shape or the bitter cold winds sunk into my old bones. After the first trip around the block I couldn't even take the leashes off the dogs without running my fingers under cold water to get the feeling back into them. But by the last day I was pretty good at bundling up even though it took me about 5 minutes to get all the layers on.

Khloe and Lola loved to sit by the front door and watch to see if their old pals would come strolling by. In the 3 days they were at my house not one dog went by nor did we see any other dogs on the walks. I must be the only stupid one in the neighborhood to take the dogs out for walks on cold February days.

Children's Playdate - Bowling???

I was stunned when Melissa sent me a picture of Violet having a "play date" with her friends at the bowling alley.

Who would think about taking a bunch of 2 year olds to a bowling alley. Only today's young mothers.

These boys will be in Violet's class when she starts school which could be in just a few months - they grow up so fast.

Crocheted Poncho for Khloe

After spending several hours creating a baby poncho and afghan for Violet's baby doll, Jamie sends me a picture of Khloe modeling the poncho.

Not only is she modeling the poncho specifically made for Violet's baby dolls, she's napping on the afghan. I refuse - REFUSE - to crochet ponchos for the puppies. Well maybe I've got a bit of spare yarn lying around!