Baby Shower & Family BBQ

Saturday was a big day, and a long one. Krissy and I had run up to Albany the night before to get everything we needed for the baby shower and family BBQ - I didn't get home until midnight! I also had a great time - my sister-in-law is hilarious when she drinks Mtn. Dew!

Saturday morning I was over to her and Eli's house to help get the baby shower all set up. Things got cooking about 1:30 when Dad and Dina finally showed up.

The shower itself went well. We had plenty of food, and there were a ton of really cool baby presents. Dina made Dad sit in on the gift opening with her.

And of course it wouldn't be a baby shower without a ribbon hat! Krissy's mom did such a great job putting that together, it was the prettiest ribbon hat I ever saw. :)

Once the shower guests had gone, it was time to get the family BBQ underway. Uncle Andy had brought Meme's coleslaw and some ribs covered in a spicy new sauce he found in a magazine. Aunt Marge's contributions (able to feed at least 100 people, LOL!) were ten pounds of Meme's potato salad, a huge pot of fruit salad, and a crock pot full of baked beans. Not to mention two cakes. I made a big bowl of macaroni salad and a tray of brownies.

It was fun getting to hang out with everyone! Even Dad got into the act, running the kids around the yard in their wagon.

And the kids had a blast all day, playing out on the trampoline and with the wagon. Even though Andrew is 14 now, he hung with the younger kids all day. What a guy! They all played outside until after dark.

I had a really great weekend, but I sure was happy to go home at the end of the day!

Doin' the Hippy Hippy Shake!

My boy has some moves! At the birthday party he attended this weekend, there was a hula hoop contest. Xander vs. three girls. And my boy won! Yeah, baby! I didn't know he could hula hoop that well! Glad to know he's picking up useful skills in gym class, LOL! Check out these moves!

Of Easter and Informal Gatherings

It was a pretty busy weekend for the Brunos. On Saturday we hosted an "informal gathering", which was in fact a party for my birthday. A few select friends and family joined us for some food, some cake, and lots of talking! Because my birthday is the same day as Angie's, we shared a cake.

Destiny, his wife Janine, and two of their children - baby Spanny and Mo - came over for their first visit to the Big Blue Barn. They brought Rufus with them, the worlds cutest little puppy. (He's a chihuahua/yorkie mix, just FYI!) The kids loved him, and I thought he was adorable.

At the end of the evening, only Andy, Angie and Josh remained. And though I was exhausted, we still had to do Easter eggs. Josh and Angie got in on the action and Xander had fun as always, though he hates waiting for the colors to get good and dark.

Easter morning my beloved offspring was up at 6am. (Gaaa!!) He was amazed to discover that the carrots he'd left for the Easter bunny were gone. Then I played sherpa while he followed the map to each egg in turn, and finally to his basket. Kid made out like a bandit - lots of candy, two new packs of Playmobile action figures, a coloring, two story books, and a superhero puzzle cube. Not to mention that some of his plastic eggs coughed up $6, some chapstick, and a new eyeglass cleaning cloth.

I cooked a delicious leg of lamb for dinner. Which is about all I did yesterday, because I was just worn out! I've decided that if I have another birthday party ever, it's going to have to be at someone else's house!

So, thanks to my hubby for throwing the party (even if he didn't do any housecleaning) and thanks to everyone who came! Hope y'all had as much fun as me!

Bowling Party

Xander has his first schoolmate birthday party this weekend, at the bowling alley in Stamford. (This was his second bowling party; the first one was for Josh's birthday and Joe never took any pictures.) So even though I'd been suffering a migraine all day, I pulled myself together and took Xander to the party.

Controlled chaos. That's my best description. Before the bowling actually got organized into teams, the kids were fighting for turns and clustering around the ball return, randomly pushing the reset button until the alley manager shut it down. Once the kids were organized, it went a little better. Although Xander isn't the best at waiting his turn.

It was fun watching Xander bowl. He would kind of fling the ball down the lane, not bothering to see if he knocked any pins down. Most of the kids were the same. I'm happy to report that Xander was the #2 scorer on his team.

Of course, there was other party stuff. Pizza and cake and presents. (And in case you're wondering, I'm not posting pics of the other kids because I don't have permission from their parents.) There were quite a few kids from Xander's class, though, and he seemed to enjoy hanging out with them.

Makes me wonder how many kids we'll be able to get for Xander's birthday in July. Hmmm...

Graduation Party

Xander attended his first graduation party this weekend. Gilly helps out at his daycare sometimes, and so all the daycare kids were invited to the party. And boy did they have fun! There was a blow-up pool, and I can tell you that had the kids going for hours. When it was time to leave, Xander cried and cried!

So big congrats to Gilly for graduating, and for getting so many great awards! Good luck in college!!

My Pampered Chef Party

Well, it was mine and Joe's really. I'd booked it from Angie's party at the end of April, because I know how much Joe likes kitchen gadgets and this way he'd get to try some out. Of course, for me having these parties is very nerve-wracking. I have to get my house nice and clean (and then pretend it's like that all the time!), and I have to obsess over whether or not anyone will actually come. That's why I don't have these things too often.

But it worked out just fine! We had five guests for the party, and Amanda (the consultant) made a tasty Jerk Chicken Nacho dish for us all to share. With orders at the party, and orders from work, Joe and I were able to get our hands on some free stuff, which is why it's so good to have a party!

And I'm happy to report that Joe was on pretty good behavior, even though some of his gal pals were there that he likes to torment. And Xander was happy that his cousins came to play with him while the grownups did their thing. He greeted our guests at the door with a potato chip and dip, it was so cute!

Now, how so I get Joe to become a Pampered Chef consultant so we get even more free stuff? LOL!