Party City On Steroids!

We've been scoping out different party stores recently— an industry I've never really tapped into— in anticipation of Nui Nui's birthday, and this one, by far, blew me away. It was a huge mashup of a party store, halloween store, old school/'today school' toy and candy store. It was crazy.

Look at the Thomas train track that ran through a good portion of the game section and led you right to the back where they had all these Thomas toys and even a train track table! (...you know you're a mom when you get excited about a Thomas train track table...) Actually, now that I recall, they didn't just have a table but *like* 10 trains to play with. It was cray. Cray.

I even got to play Simon while I waited for Nui Nui to finish playing in the Thomas section. (She never finished though, I had to tell her I was leaving :>)

Sidewalk Chalk Artistas!

We went outside tonight and played with our neighbors. Nui Nui always loves to bring out her sidewalk chalk when we do. Her favorite thing to draw (or have me draw) is Thomas. I'm pretty bad but Nui Nui helped the image starting with the two lines about the '1' and the oval-shaped things tending toward her feet. I need to ask her what those are...

What A Typical After-Work Evening Looks Like: My After-Work Special

This ain't the fast life, thankfully nor is it furious. This is MY life.


Nui Nui shows me Thomas.



Nui Nui shows me the tunnels she's built for her train tracks because I can't afford a fancy train set but she has the creativity and know-how to make do with what she's got.



Nui Nui hands me my mail— it's a dentist appointment reminder for a dentist I will no longer use because I've moved.



Cheek-to-cheek. I LOVE CHEEK-TO-CHEEK!



I think I know how lucky I am.



Tickle sesh— Nui Nui does her best to tickle me. Her tickles are like she's trying to get flour off my clothing. I laugh hysterically anyway.



It's a blurry good time.

Thankful.



This is my life:>



Cheek-to-head. Really close to cheek-to-cheek, really close



She smiles, I smile.



We rock together outside.



This is my life. Any questions...?



Proper giggling. Maybe I burped? I taught her that if you burp, you say 'Excuse me', you cover your mouth and giggle like the Pillsbury Doughboy. You know, the basics of proper etiquette.

Thomas & Friends Plush Blanket!

I have this habit of shopping for my kid during my lunch break. Stuck seated in an office all day, it's nice to take a walk outside, breath fresh air, and then browse stuff we may or may not need :>

Today, out of the blue (pun intended— Nui Nui's favorite color is blue and it's all because Thomas is :>), I decided to get her a Thomas throw because character bedding was on sale at Target. The sale was a pathetic one— $23.74 marked down from $24.99— one that I normally wouldn't fall for but Mondays are the roughest, when I'm missing my kid the most.

When I picked Nui Nui up from school, I told her I had a surprise for her. So funny. She loves surprises and doesn't get them often. Midway asking/talking to her about her day at school, she went back to the surprise. 'Mama, where's the surprise?' I told her it was in the front seat.

Today ended up being a good day for a surprise too. Nui Nui did well in school today. Her daily note said that she was very polite and well-mannered: 'Can I have pizza please?'. Score! Love school days like that.

Anyway, I filmed her opening her surprise, so hopefully that'll be up sometime soon. Until then, I'm loving seeing how happy she is in these pics :> Now, her Thomas bedding set is complete!

One unsolicited piece of advice, especially after reading the recent article: 'An Elementary Class Studied 600 Lego Sets, What They Found Has Gotten LEGO’s Attention', is that we, too, like corporations, as parents, adults, and teachers, shouldn't feed into nor pass on engrained (useless) stereotypes that were and are still fed to us daily. Thankfully, this particular bedding wasn't marketed for boys, despite all its blue (though I would have bought it either way). It's just Thomas and Friends— James and Harold, to be exact— on a blanket, for anyone who cares for (or loves) the characters, including my daughter. No qualms, just excitement and smiles for all.

When was the last time you got a surprise? Share in the Comments below, we'd love to hear! :> xoxo