My 40th Birthday

Big Sister's artwork greeted me as I entered the kitchen this morning. I was really impressed with the feminine color scheme. Usually, the "Over the Hill" paraphernalia is depicted in black and grey colors. I really like the pink bow in the top corner.

I have to admit, I enjoy celebrating the birthday's of others rather than my own. Being the center of attention and having a day scheduled to my wants seems rather indulgent. Hubby and the munchkins did an excellent job of making "my" day special with all of their preparations and personal touches.

Big Sister asked me what kind of themed cookie cake I wanted for my birthday. Without hesitation, I stated I wanted a cake wreck. This term, "cake wreck" was coined by a married couple who have a blog in which they feature cakes that are damaged, have misspelled words, adorned with unidentifiable frosting creations, and are just simply a mess. If you are in the mood for a hearty laugh , check out the following website http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/.

Big Sister and the Little Dudes decorated my cookie cake without any adult supervision or assistance and created a wonderful wreck...I am so proud!

My personal cake wreck

My favorite wreckerators

It was a wonderful Birthday!

Semi Aquatic Mammal

A platypus to me is a peculiar mammal. It is an odd looking creature and not overly abundant in North America. Somehow this has become the mammal of choice amongst the Moloko siblings, especially Big Sister.

No doubt in my mind that this fascination was fostered by Hubby's introduction to the New Year's Platypus. You see, the New Year's Platypus arrives on New Year's Eve and distributes York Peppermint Patties and hides them in the children's bedrooms as they sleep. He leaves exactly the amount of patties representative of the child's age. The Moloko munchkins love this holiday and Big Sister swears she actually saw the platypus last December. Because she did. Really.

Big Sister is quite knowledgeable on the subject of this semi-aquatic mammal. She has written many stories in which the main character is a platypus. The Little Dudes have followed Big Sister in her obsession and Little Dude B makes an incredible noise that uncannily is reminiscent of a platypus. If having a platypus for a pet was possible, the munchkins would reach Nirvana. In the interim, they have managed to settle for the Webkinz versions.

Penelope, Pete and Perry

Gotta love pastel platypuses

Ninja Platypus?

This is the latest platypus to join the collection. It was a gift from some old neighbors of ours in Okinawa. They were traveling on mainland Japan, saw this colorful character, remembered the kids fascination, and purchased it for them. Who would have ever thought to put a platypus in ninja wear?

The TV show "Phineas and Ferb" is a favorite cartoon around this house. Namely due in part to the character "Perry the Platypus." He has validated the appeal of a platypus.

It was decided we needed a family mascot, yep you guessed it, a platypus!

Zerxes

Zerxes. This is the name Hubby gave the frog I found lounging under the lawn mower. Poor guy was trying to avoid the sweltering temps plaguing Northern Virginia. I quickly gathered the munchkins and Big Sister decided that Hubby was the guy to catch Zerxes and put him in our handy dandy plastic reptile habitat.

Zerxes was none to pleased to be contained, but, I figured we would let him go a couple of hours later. Big Sister and I gathered some grass, dirt, and filled the habitat with water. I placed him on our deck and partially shaded his new home with a tarp. I came back inside and busied myself with chores. After lunch, I had Big Sister go outside and check on Zerxes, he was motionless, not the active guy we placed inside just hours earlier. It seems, I had inadvertently "fried" our four legged friend.

Yep, I am now a frog murderer. I felt wretched, I really LIKE frogs, as a matter of fact, they adorn my checks. I was extremely proud when the munchkins came and asked if we could "dissect" Zerxes. I hesitated and quickly looked to Hubby, his lack of a negative response had the kids so excited. Hubby gathered the appropriate tools, I googled "frog dissection," and we had three eager students.

Teaching Little Dude B the art of dissection
Definitely a unique smell!

Little Dude B was all about retrieving the heart and labeling! The miscellaneous pieces about the plate were the contents found in Zerxes stomach. Seems he liked crickets, grasshoppers, and flies.

Gotta love teachable moments!

Uniform of the Day

POOL...that 4 letter word uttered almost daily around here. It has been a scorcher of a summer in which lots of sunscreen has been applied and pool time logged. The Little Dudes decided to pose for me one afternoon prior to our departure. They had both removed their rash guard shirts and immediately the laughter ensued.

Quite the tans on these two...

Little Dude M's fierce lookLittle Dude B working the camera

Justice for Whom?

Shopping, not high on the list of activities for the Little Dudes. If it involves a toy department, namely one with Legos sold, I can coerce them into errands. Unfortunately last week, they had to venture into unfriendly male territory and they were less than thrilled.

Big Sister was invited to a birthday party of a classmate, known to be fond of the store *JUSTICE.* So, on our quest for the perfect gift, I promised her I would stop by this "pre-teen" haven. Upon entering the store, Big Sister was quickly sucked into this girly vortex and immediately began flitting about. The Little Dudes hung close to me and started commenting when they saw a shirt that said "GIRLS RULE" and "GIRLS ARE #1." They quickly asked "What is wrong with boys?" and "Is there a store for just dudes?" Not being a huge fan of this store -too teeny bopper for me, I had to agree with their outrage.

Luckily, I had my camera on hand to document the Little Dudes discontent.

Hurry Up Big Sister!

You have got to be kidding me!

The Color of the Band Says It All

Swim 25M and tread water for 1 minute.

Big Sister has been working all summer to become a proficient swimmer. This requirement is prescribed by the pool we frequent. Last week, on a whim, I said you want to give the test a try today? She confidently looked at me and said "Yes, yes I will."

Well, she passed the test! Now, on every subsequent visit she gets a lovely orange band indicating to all that she is free to swim anywhere from 4-12ft as well as utilize the diving boards. I have to admit I am most excited about her latest accomplishment as I am now one step closer to being poolside with a book in hand vs. in the pool within arms length of a munchkin...come on Little Dudes.

She did it!!!

Ready for the low dive

No fear!

Flying High!

Suffice it to say, she now spends the majority of her pool time going off the boards!

Words to Live By

"Man who catch fly with chopsticks can accomplish anything!"

Several weeks ago, I took the Munchkins to Blockbuster to rent movies. I was so excited to find the original "Karate Kid" movie on display. With the recent remake (which we have yet to see), I thought I would give them the opportunity to see the "old school" version before we trek to the theater for the latest release. It definitely is the epitome of a *classic movie* from the 1980's that can be applicable to present day. Mr. Miyagi's character is so wise and so enjoyable. Little Dude B made the analogy that Mr. Miyagi was Daniel-san's Yoda...love it!

As I watched to movie, I truly thought about the statements Mr. Miyagi uses to teach Daniel Karate and life in general. I did a google search and decided to share my favorites.

Other Miyagisms:

1. No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.

2. Lies only become true if person choose to believe.

3. Never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.

4. Sometimes what heart know, head forget.

5. OK to lose to opponent, never OK to lose to fear.

6. Things could be worse.

This imovie that will definitely be added to our video collection!

Rainy Day Creations

Today proved to be a really crummy summer Saturday! Although the rain is needed and welcomed, it put a damper on heading to the pool or playground. Little Dude M decided a day of chilling on the couch while watching movies was in order. I immediately vetoed that suggestion. Without much arm twisting, I was persuaded to trek out to the Michael's store down the road.

Nothing beats a trip to Michael's! The kids and I can go four separate ways, exist in the same space, be content, and not worry about finding each other for at least 20 minutes. That does not even happen at home! With an indoor day on the horizon, I was all for some time to myself browsing the bead aisle. The kids ventured off, but, eventually found me burrowed in a pile of beads. After receiving their input on my bead strand choices, we headed out to see what craft they had decided to tackle.

While I was blissfully happy on my glass bead high, the three had agreed to making Melt Bead creations. Our Melt Bead supply at home had been depleted, so, after scouring the sale aisle and applying the Michael's coupons we headed back for some creativity. It was quickly decided that the usual butterflies, bugs, and insects provided in the directions were not what they wanted to build. They started throwing out ideas and before I know it, the characters from Disney's Phineas and Ferb were chosen.

This idea was was quite an undertaking. Big Sister and I quickly went to the computer to look for character templates. Sorting through thousands of beads to try to create the likeness of their favorite character was time consuming. It took several hours and I spent more time involved than I had planned. However, we ALL are content with the outcome.

Candace, Jeremy, Dr. Doof, Perry the Platypus x2, Ferb & Phineas

'Perry the Platypus" is revered here!

Freebies

Summer is always a challenge in trying to keep the munchkins happy and occupied without breaking the bank. I am a firm believer in finding activities and events in which a gimmick or freebie can be found. This first week of July was very fruitful.

Gotta love summer reading programs at the local library. This year the kids actually received the "FREE T-shirt" at the kick-off event. Unfortunately, for all the subsequent weekly activities we have been immersed in swimming lessons. However, we have gone back after planned activities and received all those "great" Oriental Trading trinkets kids love.

Latest summer reading T-shirt to add to collection

Legos are the toy de jour in our household. Fortunately for the munchkins, there is an official Lego store just 15 miles up the road. The store holds various events during the month and usually at prices I find ridiculous. However, once a month, they host at free "monthly build" of a designated item which you build in the store and then get to take home. So, we ventured up for the July event and after a brief wait, the kids were happy participants and owners of a cool new Lego design.

145 New Lego Pieces for FREE!!!

And now for the 2nd year in a row...Cow Appreciation Night at Chik-fil-A. Dress like a cow and receive a free entree. Add a tail, ears, and hooves and you get your drink, fries and dessert at no charge! This is definitely a favorite event for the Moloko siblings and Mom appreciates not having to cook and getting tasty food FREE!!

4th of July

Oh, say can you see, by my garage door's decor, what so proudly we display...

The munchkins all received "summer homework" packets. One of the 1st grade assignments was to make a banner in celebration of Independence Day. Well, Big Sister did not want to be left out; so, on Saturday all three were busy decorating and creating all things resembling the good ole' USA. Once completed, I had them hang them on the garage for maximum display opportunities.

Little Dude B's artwork

Big Sister's

Little Dude M's

After hanging the banners, we joined the neighbors at community cook-out. It was fun meeting new and old residents while eating picnic fare of burgers, dogs, corn on the cob. The desserts and sugary drinks were in abundance too. For the kids, there were many activities to include water balloons, bean bag toss, balloon blowing, snow cones, and bead making. The highlight was the dear lady (braving the sweltering temps)hired for face painting. She had a steady stream of patrons for the better part of 3 hours. Here is a small sampling of her work.

Little Dude B

Big Sister's Fireworks

The Moloko Trio armed with Silly String

Upon sunset, the fireworks were provided by neighbors who spent a good bit of time buying their pyrotechnics elsewhere (somewhere other than in Virginia). We certainly did not need to drive to see any *WOW* factor show. The munchkins declared it the BEST 4th of JULY EVER!

Pretzel Making

Look out Auntie Anne's...

You've got competition.


The Little Dudes were requesting Auntie Anne's tasty pretzels. Big Sister was off on an adventure to Kings Dominion (local amusement park) and they wanted to do something "cool" too. I was not about to drive the 15 miles north or gamble in the Northern Virginia traffic nightmare to frequent their favorite pretzel joint, so, I suggested we make our own. I resurrected a "Ball Park Pretzel" recipe I found five years ago, and although it was a time consuming process, as the dough had to rise and pretzels boiled prior to baking, it definitely was a thrill for both.

Little Dude M

Little Dude B

Making a variety of shapes

Infectious grins

Tasty Creations!