Sunday fun

Last night was the Golden Globes. John and Sarah & Jason came over and we had a little Golden Globes party. You know...any excuse to drink and make spinach queso and order fajitas. We had a good time. We had lots of laughs...mainly at other people's expense. We got to test the truly absorbent powers of the sham-wow when the cup that Chad was drinking his cape cod out of "fell" over and spilled on the carpet. The ladies on the Golden Globes looked very nice. And the gentlemen who bothered to shave and wash their hair before the show looked good too. We couldn't help but notice, however, that SEVERAL men at the show needed to shave and needed to wash and/or cut their dang hair. It's an award show people!!!! You need to shave. You need to wash your hair. And you need to get a friggin hair cut. If you look like that for a role then I'm going to need a note from the director explaining why you look dirty. Otherwise, dress the part of an award show attendee.

On another note, Disney World trip planning has commenced. We are planning a November trip. I figure that will give me plenty of time to save. Or not......

Tardy

I'm a little tardy with a Christmas and New Year's post. Sorry.

Let's start with Christmas.....

We are terrible parents. We took very few pictures on Christmas day. We've got video....but very few pictures. And that's pretty sad because they were pretty cute in their matching PJs. But if you got our Christmas card then you know what that looks like. Anyway, here is a picture of the bugs with the Dragon World Fortress. I'm lucky to have 2 bugs that play so well together - whether they are playing with a girl toy or a boy toy. I'm sure that won't always be the case but I can always hope right? I'm not going to bore you with a list of everything they got. Just know that they were very spoiled by Santa, grandparents, aunts and uncles. VERY spoiled.

New Year's Eve.....

We resurrected the "Potluck and PJs" party this year. The attendees were: Us, Michelle & Royce, John, Chuck & Melissa, Jason & Kristi, Chris & Elizabeth, Andrew, Jason & Sarah (sort of). Everyone is supposed to bring a snack and a cocktail of their choice. You are also required to wear PJs. Two reasons for this: 1 - you don't have to fret about finding the perfect dressy outfit for a new year's party. 2 - you are ready for bed at any point in the evening - just lay down and pass out; we'll put a blanket over you. Plus, PJs are just plain comfortable. We played blackjack and LCR. We played "Just Dance" on the Wii. We had an awesome time!!!! But once again, no pictures to share. They are either blurry or they would be an embarrassment to at least one person in the picture. It was a long, fun evening. Chad went to bed at 2:30 (bad move on his part). We had a lot of fun at his expense shortly after the went to bed. He vaguely remembers that. The rest of us stayed up until 4. Even Chuck!!! He's usually the first to start jelly-necking. What a trooper... It will be hard to top this year's party but I'm sure we will give it our best effort.

Freezing

Things I'm thankful for in freezing temperatures:

• Garages - I couldn't imagine getting into Eve this morning if she had been sitting outside all night long
• Seat heaters in Eve
• Drive thru's - so I don't have to get out of Eve to get my large, ice cold coke...ha!
• Scarves that Melissa has made for me
• Mittens
• Lunch duty
• The fact that I don't live in Topeka - Carrie and John are much colder than I am.
• A roof over my head with a heater that works
• A husband to snuggle with

Things I'm not thankful for in freezing temperatures:

• Taking kids to buses
• Wind
• Leg shaving
• Having to run into Kroger for 2 items
• Not having garages at work for Eve to sit in

Ladybug Party

In all of the sadness of the last few days, I've neglected to update everyone on the Ladybug turning 1. Can you believe it??!! She's ONE already! We had a....wait for it...a Ladybug themed party. Do you know how difficult it is to find red and black ladybug party supplies? They don't exist. There are party supplies with hot pink ladybugs but last time I checked, ladybugs were red and black, not hot pink. So a lot of our decorations were hand made by the one and only Chad Flora. You thought I was going to say Melissa, didn't you? I'll have to do a whole separate post on the decorations. Anyway, below is a picture of the Ladybug and the Doodlebug on the party day. She's sitting in her new red chair that she got from Granny and Granddaddy.
We got a bouncy house. Here she is with Maddie in the bouncy house - John in the background. Oh yes, even the adults get to jump. The Doodlebug got to invite a couple of friends over so he wouldn't be surrounded by girls and babies. I think he had more fun than anyone

My friend Lynn made the cake and the cupcakes. They were SOOOOOO good and the cake was so cute. Below is a picture of it. (And yes, the poster board it is sitting on was made by Chad). I highly recommend Lynn for all of your cake/cupcakes/cookie needs. She is fantastic! She even made the little ladybug candies that are sitting on top of the cupcakes. So yummy!
I could barely get the cake in front of the Ladybug before she started poking it.
The weather was great for the party. Everyone had a great time - kids and adults. The party lasted into the evening so we could celebrate Chuck's birthday too. He and the Ladybug share the same birthday. Me & Chad, John, Chuck & Melissa and the Nichols' all ordered fajitas and partied into the evening. Royce had to do a blindfolded taste test to prove he could tell the difference between a cupcake and a piece of cake. He's right - he can tell the difference.

We didn't get a separate cake for Chuck so I just took one of the Ladybug's cupcakes and put candles on it. I bought 40 candles and used all but one of them. You do the math.....

Heartbroken

I'm writing this post this morning with a broken heart. Last night while we were at dinner, Maxx got into the leftover goody bags from Carly's party. Those bags were filled with nothing but M&M's. He ingested anywhere from 1.5 to 2 cups of M&M's. I took him to the emergency clinic where they laid out a very detailed plan of what they were going to do to help him. Around step 3 he took a turn for the worse. He developed a severe case of pancreatitis. He's had this before but this case was so severe and came on so rapidly that his chances for survival were very low. He's also diabetic so that wasn't helping his case. Without going into all of the details, that I'm sure I'd get wrong anyway, we made the heartbreaking decision early this morning to let him go. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I've had Maxx since he was 6 weeks old - he was my first born. As hard as the decision was, I know it was the right thing to do. I didn't want him to suffer anymore than he had to. It was a decision Chad and I made together and I'm so incredibly thankful to have a such an awesomely strong husband. Maxx will be missed by so many people, no more than me, but I know he's in a much better place now. And I know his last couple of days here were good ones and I know one of the last things he did was something he really enjoyed - eating people food.

Bernice ma me na

That's right. "Bernice ma me na." Those are the new words to "Feliz Navidad." New words by the Doodlebug. Bernice ma me na. Just thought you might like to know.

Everyone sing!!!!!!

6 people went to Las Vegas....

Oh my!!! What a trip! There is so much to recap from this trip...it's hard to pick a starting point. I'll just take it day by day. And a lot of this may not make sense to anyone other than the people who were on the trip. And it's probably best that way.

Thursday -

• Started drinking in the airport.
• Continued drinking on the plane.
• Went to dinner at BB King's Blues Club (or something like that).
• Chad drank a 40.
• Me - bed. Everyone else stayed up. (Don't judge me - I need my sleep).

Friday -

• Breakfast at the Paris buffet - YUM!
• A little shopping at the shops at Planet Hollywood.
• Headed to the shops at Ceasar's Palace. Stopped off at Margaritaville first for 2 margs.
• Hit the Coach store - cleaned them out. (Not really but we all did make a purchase).
• Headed over to the IP for some blackjack with the Dealertainers. We were dealertained by Joan Jett, Jake (Blues Brothers), John Fogarty, and Bette Midler and her boobs. Mucho drinking whilest gambling. When we went in to the IP it was daylight. When we came out it was dark. And we were hammered. Good times.
• We went to Japonaise (in the Mirage) for happy hour. $7 drinks and appetizers - so good!!
• Before dinner we went to Carrie and John's room. They lied their way to a room on the 24th floor. You could see the dolphins from their room.
• Royce, "I love you dolphins."
• More drinks.
• Headed down the hall to the elevator, Chad decided to play kickball with an ice bucket with champagne glasses in it. Broken glass everywhere. Me, "Run!" Royce, "Lock it up."
• Burger place for dinner. More drinks.
• Chad was convinced there was a bathroom in the restaurant. There wasn't. Don't think he didn't check the kitchen for a bathroom though.
• On to the next bar.
• Royce, "I need a cigar." Michelle, "Go get one." He came back empty handed.
• Contest between the 4 sides on the bar - the loudest side got free shots. When they called on our side, Chad felt the need to throw a stack of napkins in the air. Nice effect.
• Royce, "I need a cigar." Michelle, "Go get one." He came back empty handed. Again.
• John does the Cha-Cha Slide.
• Royce, "I need a cigar." Michelle, "Go get one." He came back empty handed. Again. Claims he can't find them.
• We all leave and find cigars within 2 minutes. Don't know why that task was so difficult for Royce. Oh wait.....
• Back to the hotel to the Rhumbar. Boys smoke cigars.
• Corrie goes to bed. Don't judge.

Saturday -

• Royce doesn't feel good. He remains in bed.
• The rest of us head over to the Venetian for lunch.
• We get a call from Chad's mom, who has the bugs, with a bit of unsettling news. But I'm not going to go into that. I'm not going to go into the story about the idiot neighbor of mine that was doing something with a loaded gun in his house and how it went off and went through his kitchen window, through my fence, and hit the narrow column of bricks in between the 2 kitchen windows by the table that my mother-in-law and my 4 year old were sitting at working on a puzzle. No. I'm not going to go into that.
• Then we went to the wax museum - very touristy of us.
• Back to the room for a bit.
• Over to TI for some drinks - Royce attempted to make an appearance. But it didn't last long.
• Back to the hotel for some drinks.
• Saw "Love" at the Mirage that night - Royce did join us for that.
• Nice Italian dinner.
• Early to bed.

Sunday -

• Headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel for lunch at Pink Taco. Yum. Pitcher of margs with lunch. Royce had a diet coke.
• Then to New York New York - walked around there a little.
• Royce and Michelle went and did some touristy things.
• The Floras and the Havertys went to Diablo's and had 2 more pitchers of margs.
• We all met up at the Bellagio and went to a chocolate shop that had a 30 foot high chocolate fountain.
• Back to Margaritaville.
• We attempted to go back to the IP but there weren't any good tables open.
• Dinner that night at Red 8 at the Wynn. So good.

Monday -

• Home

Celebrity sightings:

• Lewis Black (I think that's right) at the Mirage.
• Jenna Jameson and her fighter boyfriend at the Wynn.

To sum up: lots of drinks, lots of laughs, lots of memories. 6 people went to Las Vegas....and had a blast.