and just like that - - Josu is five

Josu is five. He tells me that he can run faster and jump higher; and he wonders if there is a problem because he still can't read. He expected five to bring literacy, apparently. (I would have liked that for him too)

I had all sorts of fantastic birthday party ideas for him

"How about a fishing party!? We could have magnetic fishing poles and fish for prizes!"

"nope. Star Wars"

"How about a space party!? we could make a gigantic rocket out of a refrigerator box!"

"nope. Star Wars"

. . . and this mama, who says no to so many other things (um, like that horrendous Star Wars backpack, and every Star Wars t-shirt that we pass in every store) decided to say yes to a Star Wars birthday party.

sometimes it's nice to say yes.

he didn't even notice that the Star Wars cake was pretty much the ugliest cake ever made)

I'll do better, I promise.

I called my Spanish friend Trini this morning.
In true Spanish fashion,
she scolded me for not responding to the email
that she sent me 3 months ago.
She told me that the kids had been checking for a reply
every single day.

I deserved a scolding.

in celebration of the bride

This is the post in which I document the dinner we had for Rachel's bridal shower - - where Rachel tells us about her first kiss with Brett,
Gabrielle tells a funny story,
and I'm pretty sure that the people behind us wish that they were at our table:

Selma is three (and has a party to prove it)

goodness.
that was fun.
and more work than I anticipated. (Parties are always that way for me; I never seem to be quite prepared enough)

We had "run with a button in your spoon" races. I thought this would be a really good idea - - simple enough for the three year olds at the party . . . and fun enough for the five year olds there. But somehow it went all wrong; one of the five year olds kept cheating, and one of the three year olds kept insisting on getting a different colored button to put in her spoon. There was one four year old who did everything perfectly but she didn't get any credit because everyone else was crying because their buttons kept falling out.

so the race was a tremendous failure; but golly! look how cute all those little ladies are!:

some things I loved about this party:

1. my neighbors came!

2. my friend Catherine was there, and was not just a delightful participant . . . she was a trusty helper so that when I realized "AAAAHHHH! I forgot to cut the quesadillas into button shapes!!!" I could ask her to take over while I ran into the kitchen to do the necessary quesadilla shaping. thanks Catherine!

3. there were little girls running everywhere; that never happens at my house!

4. my neighbor Deanne grabbed my camera so that me and my three year old girly could be in the same picture!

(Selma getting her new earrings put in - - look at her face! her hands! her toe! she loved it)

cake and bbq; but not together.

Tomorrow we have a little birthday party for Selma.
we invited some old friends
and some new friends.
"my girls" Selma calls them.
we're both excited.

So we baked her birthday cake today.
And since I had the oven going already, I decided it was the right time to cook the ribs I had in the fridge.
I bought them last week to make these:
six hours later, when I pulled those bad boys out of the oven
it was too hot in my kitchen to eat them in my kitchen,
so we all carried our plates to the front yard and dined under the stars.
Not that we could see the stars,
but I'm sure they were there; and that was nice.

p.s. I discovered that if I reduced my bbq sauce way, way too much
it turns into a caramel of sorts,

I think I could probably pour it into a buttered 8x8 pan,

cut it into cubes,

wrap it in wax paper

and sell it to someone.

there must be a niche market out there for bbq caramels. I've just got to find it.