Mariposa' birthday party

Since I haven't uploaded any January pictures yet, these from "last year" will have to do for now.

Mariposa had her birthday party on Sunday the 30th after Mass.  For those of you who don't know (or haven't caught on after 2 years of blog posts), we don't have kid-friend birthday parties, we just have family parties.  No, it's not because we homeschoolers don't have any friends!  It's because #1, the cousins ARE friends and #2 kid parties are a lot of work for a poor hardworking mom!  Luckily the kids are cool with that.  (And we have their friends over for other occasions so it's just as well).

Bunny ran the bingo game
(bought at Harbor Freight, yay!)

Mariposa was SOOO concerned that the other kids would
blow out her candles

Her concern was well-founded.  Luckily Uncle Brian took
pity on her (he has had many a candle blown out by my
own children) and had them lit again

Success!

lots of presents

and lots of dishes, but it was all worth it

And the Oscar goes to...

Ok, can I just say how super-excited I am about this year's Oscar nominees??

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

With "Frankenweenie" and "Life of Pi,"  our party menu is set!!  Well, actually I do more ideas other than just hot dogs and pie.  The menu is in development but it is looking good, pretty well balanced.  Having a animated short with the title "Fresh Guacamole" helps.  I'm also working on a special Red Carpet drink for the gala event--yum!

Still looking for a main dish for the adults, preferably a plain-ish meat that I can roast or grill.  Any ideas??

Mariposa's Birthday

Our little orange-haired girl turned 6 on December 27th.  She woke up to a decorated dining room and a festive birthday parade.  This year, her birthday was extra-special because grandma and grandpa were here!!  On our way to the airport (they were leaving for Colorado on a 6:50pm flight) we stopped at Red Robin for a special birthday dinner:

A special card from James

Bunny and James made these for Mariposa

 After dropping grandma and grandpa off at the airport terminal, and after a trip to Target (post-Christmas sales!) we used some Turkey Trot coupons at the YoCream store...all 4 got a treat for less than $2 total!!  And we found a new fun place to go when we need to go to the airport.

I hope Mariposa had a very happy birthday.  A special day for a special girl!

Boxing Day

Our last full day with grandma and grandpa last week (last year!).

A stop at Uwajimaya for lunch

good job with the chopsticks, Posa!

Grandpa was not to impressed...not his type of store
(he likes when the free newspapers are in English)

Of course we had to wear our new Ninjago shirts to the
Asian grocery store....  (thanks Auntie Erica!!)

Gemma was intrigued by the fish

Bunny thought the duck was a little gross

Back at home...putting together a puzzle

new T-shirt...thank you CCs!

As soon as Marcus opened his gift from
Stephanie, he just had to try it out...
(set of chili powders)  Thank you!!

Christmas day--the food!

found an awesome recipe in the Oregonian for Brussels
sprouts gratin--my new favorite way to eat B.sprouts!

Casa Ritas = Christmas

"Set it and forget it!"

A good time to open our most expensive
bottle of wine (bought at the St. Matthew
auction...worth about $250+)

We thought it was a red, but actually it was an
interesting dark brown carmel color
(and more of a sipping wine than a dinner wine)

RonCo, you did it again!  Sausage stuffed pork loin, the
same as served at the Fall Festival

We ordered a chocolate mousse tart for
dessert (yes Gemma was still in her pajamas
for dinner... and so was I!!)

Christmas Day--the gifts!

Just minutes after coming downstairs Christmas morning

Gemma got dry-erase markers and books

Seddy loves his Playmobil set

Mariposa got a "Brave" playset

A new friend for Minerva the hen
(she named him Bruce the Rooster)

The Kennedy girls made beautiful earrings

She got her wedding ring!!! from grandma
and grandpa :o)

Every year they get more DK Eyewitness books
that reflect their current favorite topics

Nice vest grandma!

Marcus gave me 4 cookbooks and one home-management
book...maybe he thinks I need improvement in these areas??  ;o)

James got....Legos of course

New exersaucer from gma and gpa

Some new additions to our display shelves

So cute!! Thank you Aunt Jenny and Aunt Christine!!!

James' latest Lego creations

(none of these are kits...just made with what he had on hand)