All In Good Fun

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We had some friends over Sunday for a BBQ and had a great time. G-ram had a some allergy-related issues (more on that another day) but otherwise all went off without a hitch. We were worried that it would rain, but the rain held off until after dinner, giving both kids and adults alike some much needed relaxation outdoors.

Once the rain started, we all headed indoors. Many of the kids headed upstairs to play, leaving the adults to gather and enjoy the evening. We started out playing a bit of "Scene It" on the XBox 360 which is a game I really enjoy. I like watching movies and this game is a good outlet for all that great movie trivia and knowledge stored in my head. Unfortunately, it also highlights my need to expand into other movie genres. I tend to stick to "chick flicks," dramas, and suspense movies with the occasional comedy thrown in so my knowledge on many other movie types is sadly lacking. A-Rand and I were not winners, but had a lot of fun losing!

We then moved on to playing the game "Rock Band" (thanks to some kind friends for bringing it over!). For those of you unfamiliar with the game, each person takes control of a part of a music band (lead guitar, base guitar, drums, and vocals) so that you play along, forming a "band." It really is quite a lot of fun (especially when you've enjoyed a margarita or two!).

If you're going to hang out and have fun with friends, you might as well go all out and just do it. I am normally one who shies away from a game like this. I don't feel that I am very musically inclined, but once you play it you realize you don't need to have musical talent to play, just a willingness to have fun, an ability to follow a beat and some hand-eye coordination. I will happily admit that I tried out all of the band parts but was least comfortable on the drum set (it's harder than it seems!). I even sang (which I wouldn't have done without the margaritas because I am NO singer, but hey, it was a Bon Jovi song and we all know they're my favorite band ever!). As my friend Sam put it, "if you can't have fun and make a fool of yourself in front of friends, then who can you do it in front of?" I thought that was well put. So in the spirit of that good fun, I thought I'd go ahead and share a few pictures and video of our "talents." Many apologies for the bad video quality (especially on the last one) but they were taken on my camera and in poor lighting. I did promise I would post these though, so here you go! ;)

Our own little Buffett

I think G-Ram might be a budding Warren Buffett. Or something like that, anyhow. This morning, as we're enjoying the day off and having coffee, he comes in from the living room. Looks at us. And says: "Can I have some money please?"

I looked at H and asked, "Did he just say what I think he said?"

And sure enough, the little guy (or "big guy" as he would say) wanted to add to his piggy bank.

(For the record, yes, H gave him some change)

P to the B

Last night I had the great pleasure of stopping by Old Chicago to pick up pizza for the family. Since we were only getting one, the type defaults to the G-Ram Special, a.k.a. one large pepperoni pizza, please. We are blessed with three great pizza places here: Wig & Pen, Leaning Tower and Old Chicago, so we try to spread out our pizza budget across all three.

So when I brought the pizza home - as previously described - G-Ram was quite ecstatic to indulge. I think pizza would probably top then Rankeny Life poll of favorite foods.

However, the best moment was right after that. CTR is still working on his ever-expanding vocabulary (see also the Bacon = B incident). So once he realized I brought pizza home, we found that he had a new word.

You guessed it, he found out there was pizza in the room and darted to his chair, his little voice saying with great gusto: "P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Let the games begin!

G-ram started Blast-ball Saturday, a program through our local parks and rec department that is essentially a precursor to t-ball. It was a lot of fun, both for G-ram playing and for those of us watching! Basically, one team hits a large ball off of a t, and the other team tries to field it. The batter has to run to a base (there's only the one to keep it simple) and whoever fields the ball has to yell "Blast," ideally before the runner makes it to the base.

G-ram did a great job hitting the ball (thanks to many evenings of practice at home in the evenings with A-rand). He had a lot of fun trying to field the ball too, at one point grabbing the ball and running to the coaches yelling "I got the ball!" so excitedly that he forgot to yell the requisite "blast." It was quite a site and incredibly fun.

A-rand and I came to the realization that our fold-up chairs are going to be making a permanent summer home in the trunk. C-man was content to sit in his stroller, but with several Saturdays coming up of the same, having some portable seating will be a good thing. We also have G-ram signed up for a couple of other parks and rec programs this summer: Little Rembrandts, Mini Tennis, and Preschool Swimming lessons. Let the (summer) games begin!

Truffles, Mother's Day, & More

I made a batch of cake truffles last week which were so easy and delicious I have to share. My recipe comes courtesy of another blog, Bakerella. They are red velvet cake truffles and they were so yummy I am vowing to make more soon! I made them for a moms group that I'm involved in. We were having a bake sale along with our annual auction. The batch I made ended up making about 75 truffles, so I packaged some up for the bake sale and packaged the rest up as Mother's Day gifts for a few of my close mom friends. Here are some pictures:
They were quite the hit at the bake sale (they all sold!) and I got several comments on how professional they looked. This definitely inspires me to try my hand at making other kinds of truffles.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday and so I want to thank my family for treating me to such a nice day. I got to sleep in a bit, which is always nice since C-man is an early riser, and I'm usually up around 6am with him. A-Rand treated me to a glorious breakfast, filled with everything from homemade crepes to bacon and fresh fruit. I was so full I felt like I could hardly eat the rest of the day! We did some light shopping (which I always enjoy) and had a great rest of the day spending time together, relaxing, and being with each other. It was a relaxing, happy, holiday and it is always nice to feel appreciated and loved.

I also had a nice conversation with my own mother. We wished each other a happy Mother's Day and had a nice chat. She was telling me how when she was a child, their family tradition was to go on a picnic for Mother's Day. I thought this sounded like a wonderful tradition to have and I'm thinking I would like to do this with our family in the future.

Wig & Pen

H and I both got home late on Friday, for a couple reasons. My new job is going quite well, and part of that is that it keeps me busy with interesting components. So now I actually don't mind when I have meetings on a late afternoon on Friday. H, on the other hand, was doing some weekend preparation and as such, out at our favorite store, Target, late.

So what better idea than to go out to eat to end a long week? And with the jubilant support of G-Ram, we tried out the new Wig & Pen Pub here. The conversation was something like this:

G-Ram: "Can we go to McDonald's for supper?"
A-Rand: "No, but would you like to go to the pizza man store?"
G-Ram: "Yay, yay, yay!!! I love pizza! I'm going to get pepperoni pizza!"

And so it was. Both of us parents, but me in particular, are big fans of Wig & Pen from our college days. Some of my favorite times as a T.A. were going to the original after spending four hours grading exams with my professor and fellow T.A.'s. They've opened a second location on my parents side of town and it is superb as well.

Well, they made it three-for-three. The ambiance was different, actually a bit cleaner than the original. That is well-suited, however, for the atmosphere here in Rankeny; more of a family style. We enjoyed a Union Jack Flying Tomato (sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms, I think), while the kids shared a small pepperoni, of course. Judging by the consumption factor, G-Ram and CTR both thought it was excellent.

Many excellent returns, too, as our freezer is now stocked with a couple partial pizzas that I am more than excited to take for lunch next week. It was nice to get away with the family and enjoy a couple hours just sitting together, relaxing, talking (G-Ram is quite a conversationalist), and enjoying each other's company. It's also good to know that we have our second great new pizza place this year (Old Chicago is the other). We're looking forward to a return trip. Perhaps with others from Iowa City who may be interested in checking out the latest installment of Wig & Pen. Perhaps with others from Rankeny who want to check out the latest and greatest place to eat!

Happy May Day!

Today is May Day. G-ram has been looking forward to today for about a week now. He has been very excited for this "special day in May" and has been looking forward to sharing it with his friends.

Yesterday we went shopping and we picked out ingredients: animal crackers, lollipops, jelly beans, pencils, spring erasers, and flowers. I spent last night after the boys were in bed assembling the May Day baskets. I took some spring-themed scrapbooking paper that I had picked up in Target's "one spot" a while ago and rolled them into cones. I then used some inexpensive ribbon to attach on the top as handles. They were really cute, and I'm sorry to say I forgot to snap a picture.

This morning we assembled our May Day baskets and headed out for delivery. G-ram was SO excited to make his special deliveries! We drove to the houses of friends who don't live in our neighborhood and G-ram made a quick dash up to the doors to drop off the baskets. It was so much fun! May Day is really such a great holiday...it is an inexpensive and fun way to do something nice for your friends. And I love that it is a holiday that doesn't feel Hallmark-driven or necessary, just something fun to involve yourselves in. :)

Our deliveries led to two impromptu playdates, which both boys greatly enjoyed (as did I!). The weather was breezy, but warm, so after supper we played in the backyard until bath and bedtime. It was a very enjoyable day and the boys both did a lot of playing today, so I'm sure they'll sleep well. Sweet dreams for a happy day.