The Search for Miss Direction: Ninja Turtles and Girly Indulgences

Ever since I told him last weekend that he'd be going to his friend, Jonathan's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party today Noah has been counting down the days. And hounding Grant and I for TMNT knowledge and background. I swear the theme song has been running through my head on a continuous loop (and now it will be running through yours because I guarantee you are humming it right now)

So you can only imagine that it was a challenge to contain his enthusiasm until the party actually started this afternoon. Fortunately they had Home Depot to look forward to this morning. And there were all kinds of exciting food celebrations today which we mostly had with lunch. Happy National Mustard Day! (We had honey mustard pretzel chicken) Happy National Watermelon Day! (We had spiced watermelon which is a dish from Latin America. Watermelon is sprinkled with a combination of cayenne pepper, ground corriander, cumin, chili powder and salt and then sprinkled with lime juice. Noah LOVED it. He says he's never eating watermelon plain again. I also made Watermelon Ices for dessert tonight.) And Happy National "Grab Some Nuts Day" (I whipped together a trail mix with cashews and pistachios from lots of fun stuff I had in the cupboard after I finished posting last night. I was lost for another idea and everyone liked it, so it worked ;-) )

So after all that celebrating, Grant and Noah headed off to the party leaving Kayla and I have to some quality girl time. As you may know from my ramblings here, I am not 'girly' by any stretch of the imagination. I wouldn't know a pair of manolo blahniks if they jumped up and bit me. Make-up is kind of a foreign concept. I have one purse; that seems like plenty. But my Bean has shown great interest in being girly and I am trying to nurture that in her. For lack of being around her Aunts who I know will indulge and foster her female education, she's stuck with me at the moment so I am determined to give it my best shot. One 'girly' thing I do enjoy is getting my nails done. I am especially fond of pedicures but a good manicure can make my day, too. And Mikayla adores having her fingers and toes done. So today as an extra special treat she and I went to a nail salon and while I had a mani she had a polish change. Yes, I realize this might be seen as overkill for a three year old but she was SO HAPPY. Will I take her with me all the time, no. But as a treat, she loved it. And I was so happy to see her so delighted.

The boys came back RAVING about how awesome the party was. My friend, Jen, apparently went ALL OUT. Grant says he wishes he had gone to such a cool party as a kid. There was an area for the kids to go through to 'transform' in the turtles and they all got their own 'shells' (spray painted veggie trays from the dollar store - how creative!) and masks. Then the Dads that were at the party dressed up and play Ninjas from Shredder's gang and 'attacked' the kids/turtles. There were so many cool things they told me about, but I can't remember them all. Regardless, huge kudos to Jen who I say gets a Super Mom star for her efforts. In addition, I have to side note that I think she gets an extra star because she also 1) sent home a goody bag for Mikayla and 2) the goody bag had the SAME stuff as Noah's did AND it was all in different colors ensuring that they each know which one of which items belongs to them. Oh Jen if only you knew how many arguments you nipped in the bud this way!

After dinner we decided to let Noah take his bike skills on the open road. With Mikayla in the trailer (she was making up songs about how cool it is that she now has the whole trailer to herself, lol) the three of us took to the streets of the neighborhood. It took him a little bit (we did have one brief run-in with the ditch) but he did it! He is already asking about going again tomorrow. We are just doing the small loop right now and I've told him once he gets good at that we can venture through more of the neighborhood. He can stop growing up whenever...

Heading to the zoo with my Mama tomorrow to see the Australia exhibit before it heads out. And rumor has it you may see a chocolate chip or two around here. Until then...