Party On, Garth!
So even though there were to be no guests, it was party on time Saturday. They both were importuning me to let them open presents pretty much from the moment they woke up. It was explained to them that we would open presents after lunch/naptime. This was met with little enthusiasm, but the decree had been issued. (Side note, using the line "If you go take your nap now, you'll get to open presents when you get up" is suprisingly effective persuasion.) More
As they napped, I ran out to pick up the cake. Got back, hubby produced the presents that arrived from Ohio, and I added a few things from us. These were artfully arranged on the battered coffee table with joint presents ( a set of Alphabet books and a pile of batteries ) between their "zones." I bracketed the cake with a plate of cookies and a cheese/crackers plate, and had out 4 little party cups. With the table and packages carefully arranged, we went up to wakey the small people. We brought them downstairs after getting them chivvied out of beds (for people who claim to not need naps, they sure sleep well once you finally get them into bed). Rachel saw the packages and exclaimed in one of those moments you wish you had on tape "This is wonderful!"
Before letting them tear into their presents, we brought them to see the cake...and OMG! One of the cats apparently jumped up on the table while we were upstairs and licked Rachel's R off the message "Happy Birthday Ryan and Rachel!" So the cake now said Happy Birthday Ryan and achel. Note to self: Do not leave cakes unattended in the future. We cut that section out (the children were horrified that we didn't let them eat that part, lol). They wanted presents first, so we turned them loose on the pile.
They had a ball! Ryan and Rachel both love Ryan's new dinosaurs. He was also greatly pleased with himself when he did one of the puzzles in his new continent book all by himself. Rachel immediately decked herself out in all her play jewelry. One of her presents came in a talking Cinderella gift bag, and she has been playing with *that* all weekend too! Presents: Hit!
They each had two slices of cake, a cookie, milk, and some crackers and then they were off to play with their new aquisitions. We later went upstairs with them and got on the computer to register Ryan's new Webkin. It's a cute site, games with a dash of The Sims. Your pet starts off with a room, fairly bare, and you have some starter money. You can buy food, furnishings, more rooms, etc. You earn more $ playing games. Ryan and Daddy set off on a game playing spree while Rachel and I observed. Ryan named his black cat "Turquoise" which amused me greatly. (Any other Blue's Clues watchers out there pick up on why he chose that?)
We gave them Shrek 3 jointly, and had movie night Saturday night. It was good to finally see how it ended after the fiasco when we tried to go to the theatre to see it ;-) I enjoyed it - if you liked 1 & 2, you'll like 3. And if you have kids, you will appreciate the final scene ;-)
We've Tivo'd the Sci-Fi miniseries "Tin Man" and have been watching it. It's enjoyable so far, we are about 3 of 6 hours into it. It's a alternate universe spin on The Wizard of Oz, and it's definately different!
Ryan gave me one of his Princess drawings to take to work. I'm calling it the Winter Princesses because they are all wearing outfits in blues, purples, and black. It's proudly hung on my cube wall :-)
Rachel's still resisting bedtime. They both win gold stars for "creative ways of stalling." But that's OK, cause they are sweet enough to make up for it!
As they napped, I ran out to pick up the cake. Got back, hubby produced the presents that arrived from Ohio, and I added a few things from us. These were artfully arranged on the battered coffee table with joint presents ( a set of Alphabet books and a pile of batteries ) between their "zones." I bracketed the cake with a plate of cookies and a cheese/crackers plate, and had out 4 little party cups. With the table and packages carefully arranged, we went up to wakey the small people. We brought them downstairs after getting them chivvied out of beds (for people who claim to not need naps, they sure sleep well once you finally get them into bed). Rachel saw the packages and exclaimed in one of those moments you wish you had on tape "This is wonderful!"
Before letting them tear into their presents, we brought them to see the cake...and OMG! One of the cats apparently jumped up on the table while we were upstairs and licked Rachel's R off the message "Happy Birthday Ryan and Rachel!" So the cake now said Happy Birthday Ryan and achel. Note to self: Do not leave cakes unattended in the future. We cut that section out (the children were horrified that we didn't let them eat that part, lol). They wanted presents first, so we turned them loose on the pile.
They had a ball! Ryan and Rachel both love Ryan's new dinosaurs. He was also greatly pleased with himself when he did one of the puzzles in his new continent book all by himself. Rachel immediately decked herself out in all her play jewelry. One of her presents came in a talking Cinderella gift bag, and she has been playing with *that* all weekend too! Presents: Hit!
They each had two slices of cake, a cookie, milk, and some crackers and then they were off to play with their new aquisitions. We later went upstairs with them and got on the computer to register Ryan's new Webkin. It's a cute site, games with a dash of The Sims. Your pet starts off with a room, fairly bare, and you have some starter money. You can buy food, furnishings, more rooms, etc. You earn more $ playing games. Ryan and Daddy set off on a game playing spree while Rachel and I observed. Ryan named his black cat "Turquoise" which amused me greatly. (Any other Blue's Clues watchers out there pick up on why he chose that?)
We gave them Shrek 3 jointly, and had movie night Saturday night. It was good to finally see how it ended after the fiasco when we tried to go to the theatre to see it ;-) I enjoyed it - if you liked 1 & 2, you'll like 3. And if you have kids, you will appreciate the final scene ;-)
We've Tivo'd the Sci-Fi miniseries "Tin Man" and have been watching it. It's enjoyable so far, we are about 3 of 6 hours into it. It's a alternate universe spin on The Wizard of Oz, and it's definately different!
Ryan gave me one of his Princess drawings to take to work. I'm calling it the Winter Princesses because they are all wearing outfits in blues, purples, and black. It's proudly hung on my cube wall :-)
Rachel's still resisting bedtime. They both win gold stars for "creative ways of stalling." But that's OK, cause they are sweet enough to make up for it!