A technicolor loony.

Sparkling Blueberry Juice from Trader Joe's is nummy. Beautiful color too.

~~~

Realized I didn't do a Birthday Report for my bratling. So, I'm going to steal a chunk of the note I sent to my mom, since the present opening didn't change or anything.

Sammy had a *Great* birthday. We were going to take her to the movies, but found out that the Drive-In is opening the weekend with both Curious George (aka "George da Monkey") and Ice Age 2. Since these are the movies she wanted to see, going on Saturday seems the best idea. :)

We stayed home and she got to do whatever she liked. The presents were a *huge* hit. She wasn't quite sure the stamps {from Photostamp.com with her picture on them} were real, but I assured her that when she puts them on an envelope and mails it, it'll get there with no problem. She'll be testing this hypothesis quite soon now. *Grin**

I think she's played with every blessed thing she's gotten, twice. The {LazyTown} dance mat causes her great joy, and if she could play with it while watching The Corpse Bride, she would. (Well, she *could* but her mean ol' mama said no.). When she opened the mat, she kept repeating "OH, no way!", which is what she said about the pony amusement park thingie too. I was right. She loves it *so* much...and it came with four ponies! I thought it only came with two. I also gave her the Birthstone pony (called March Mischief! *grin*), and when I added them up, I said "You know what? Since you've got five, I'm going to owe you another pony, so you can say you got six ponies for your sixth birthday!" 'cause I'm just that nuts. *Grin*

She also got a new pair of sneakers...they don't have a character on them, but she's very pleased. And two Storybook dolls which look like a cross between Barbie and Bratz (in that they've got big heads, not that they're raging sluts). Oh, and the bag of stuff {mostly princess themed things} was a hit as well. She *loved* the tiara. I've got a couple shots of her right after she "put it on herself". The bangs sticking straight up behind it are amusing.:)

The dolls were my special present to her. Jeff got her a root beer kit. It makes two 2 liter bottles of root beer, and they're going to do it together. I love that.:)

She also got the rest of the Read with me DVDs (except The Little Engine That Could, 'cause it's a step or two below her abilities, kind of like Miss Spider, but she loves that char, so it doesn't bore her as quickly as I think Little Engine would.) 'cause they were on sale for ten dollars each...that and the fact that there were only five titles she didn't have worked out well for her. Especially since they were fifteen dollars each at Yulemas.

Oh! I blew up the balloons {that she'd sent} and Jeff stuck 'em to the ceiling in our room, which has become the traditional place to do birthday presents...I'm not sure why, but it has. She thought it was hilarious.

So, after the presents, I took a nap while she and Jeff went downstairs to play with her new stuff. I got up and we played with different stuff for a while and let her pick dinner. She couldn't decide between macaroni and cheese or pizza. When she found out she could pick any toppings she liked for her personal-sized pizza, she went with that. (Pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives and tomatoes) While we ate, we watched the Laurie Berkner Band dvd (We first saw her videos on Noggin...Sammy's loved her for a couple years now) and then one of her new Big Comfy Couch dvds. We had Ben & Jerry's ice cream cones for her birthday cake substitute (best pre-made ice-cream cone I've ever had. And as a Nutty Buddy fan, that's saying something. ;) , I read the new Pigeon book and the Angelina Ballerina book that came with the Angelina doll I found (it's the *very* first AB book. I was hoping that's what it was, but couldn't quite tell from the description), she brushed her teeth, took her new Puppy Surprise and Care Bear cub and went to bed.

She's been telling me today how much fun she had yesterday and how much she loves her presents. And that she's going to take very good care of her new cds (we've had some terrible causalities over the year and a half that she's had her cd player. I was able to rescue some, but others were gone for good). And that her puppy is pregnant again, with various things from a horse to a teacup. Being Sammy's puppy isn't always a bed of roses. *grin* (There's a pouch in the dog's abdomen where the two puppies were. And where they go back to from time to time.)

~~~

The Puppy Surprise still kind of freaks me out.

~~~

Sam and I finished The Mouse & the Motorcycle tonight. I've ordered the other two books in the series from Paperback Swap. While we're waiting for those, we'll finish Stuart Little and begin A Cricket in Times Square.

I think, when that's done, we'll be finished with all the books she got for her birthday. Wow. :)

Any chapter books a six year old shouldn't live without? Wrt the "usual suspects", we've got Narnia, Avonlea, The Magic Tollbooth and the Little House books (my set...if she takes to them, I'll get her *her own* set. The yellow books were my first box set and they are *MINE*. She can look at 'em though.;). I've also got a four book set of Ramona, the rest are wishlisted.:) Oh, and we'll probably be rereading the Catwings series in the very near future.

Yes, I'm *very* excited that her attention span will now allow her to listen to stories that don't have (many) pictures.

~~~

Remember the Saturday Morning Specials? I *Really* wish those were on dvd...they had such good stories, including The Mouse & The Motorcycle (I think they did the sequels as well, but I'm not sure). They've got the After School Specials on dvd, but those weren't nearly as much fun.

~~~

Still no luck finding the series I've been thinking about. livsmama, good idea about the Mitford Series. I thought those were the books too...but after flipping through a couple, they're not. And it definitely wasn't Maeve Binchey...logical idea though.:). I guess I'll just come across them in a used bookstore or something.

This means I'm going to have to leave the Sci/Fantasy section to do more than check the drama section, doesn't it?

~~~

I read A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kikiri Hoffman. It was gorgeous and delicious. She's been in my top ten for a while now and this book is just *so* good and so interesting.

I also read Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton. It was interesting and we get some good backstory on Micah (which was probably a given), but I'm not sure why it's a book rather than something that's part of the next novel. It doesn't really seem to have a life of it's own...

~~~

I've decided to introduce Samantha to Shakespeare with a viewing of A Midsummer Night's Dream. If *anything* can hold her interest, it's fairies. So, we'll see.

Oh! dporowski, we saw that in Boston together, remember?

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I really hate being shy.

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I love this shirt. And Jinx shirts in general. I mean, really, where else could I get AdventureQuest shirts?

*looks down* Oh right. I'm wearing a a Jinx shirt right now. 'Cause it's true...and the graphic is *perfect* for my grumpy days.

How odd. I don't seem to have a special shirt for my non-grumpy days.;)
~~~

I'm quite pleased with the Autosave feature in the LJ Web Client.

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I'm actually far less grumpy than my journal would lead one to believe. Life is pretty good. I have a lot of fun. And I have a great house, great SO, great kid, great Family, great friends, my very own computer, my very own kitchen, my very own mixer, lots of books and I'm not dead. Woo. :)

~~~

I think that's everything.