Happy Birthday Emily! (several weeks ago...)

Emily's birthday is the tenth of October.  That means this year her birthday was all sorts of awesome because it was 10-10-10.  Naturally, there is only one thing you can do with such an awesome birthday: throw a Binary Birthday Bash.  Emily and I put our heads together to come up with some ways we could incorporate 1s and 0s into her birthday party (along with my sister Kate who was around to help plan).  We used the food to highlight the date.

All the food was paired in shapes of 1s and 0s.

Carrots and cucumber slices, apple slices and grapes, round and straight pretzels...

Meatballs and Lil' Smokies...

Onion rings and french fries, and the condiments in appropriately shaped dishes.

And instead of cake, cupcakes with appropriate decorations.

Hope you had a Happy Binary Birthday, Emily.

P.S. During the party Lizzie joined a toddler herd, which was also fantastic:

The Surprising Side of Santa

coauthored by Joe and his sister Kate

You may think its a little too early to be talking about Santa, and it really is. BUT this just could not wait.  Last week we took a trip to Frankenmuth,  a German town in MI, while my parents were in town.   We stopped by Bronner's--the world's largest mega huge massive Christmas store. Open 361 days of the year. Closed: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Good Friday, New Year's.

Due to our discoveries there, I bring to you the October Christmas post.

It's just not every day that you see a lawn mower weaving through a Nativity Scene. 

These pics just don't do it justice. But this store was MASSIVE! There were 16 sections, which were then divided into even more sections. So you ended up wandering through 10C and found yourself completely lost in a magical Christmas wonderland. (Slight disappointment did occur when we walked out and realized, it's still only October.) 

Lizzie learned a new word there: Santa. She did get a little tired while there walking through the vast expanse of Christmas merchandise. 

 It had all the typical things you might expect a Christmas store to have, ornaments, Nativity sets, Christmas Trees (artificial), Christmas books, stuffed animals, outdoor decorations....the list is endless.

There were some unique surprises...
Scary Polar Bear, Lazy Tiger, and Gigantic Santa Claus.

However,
No one expected to find this.

Flirty Santa 

 

Please note the ridiculous manner in which he is laying on his belly, with a foot cocked into the air, and he is coyly lifting his glasses off of his nose. All in all it is an inappropriately flirtatious position in which to find a beloved Christmas icon.

But, no judgment here, if this happens to be your cup of tea, you yourself can have your very own flirty Santa for only $2,000. I believe Bronner's offers free shipping and no sales tax on purchases over $100.

This was shocking to find once in the store. Little did we know how enamored Bronner's was with this interpretation of Santa.





After exiting the store we came upon a display window dedicated to Flirty Santa.  

  And then, we discovered that Bronner's has chosen to seduce passing motorists with a Flirty Santa perched atop the store sign, offering come hither glances to vehicles. 

  As a final surprise we turned a corner and saw a brand new model of Flirty Santa. 

  We call him Coquettish Santa.
Price: unknown.

More Picture Collages

What Lizzie is doing these days:
Lizzie is officially in the toddler zone.  She's a petite creature, but she does not lack in energy.  Her vocabulary is increasing like crazy.  She knows important things like distinguishing between Superman and Batman.  She knows how to ask for chocolate (now look here, don't judge;  I admire parents who have kept sugar a secret from their kids; however, I have not).  Her favorite friend right now is her stuffed monkey, "George".  She loves playing outside or "side" and taking walks in the stroller or "loller".  She loves to draw and play with stickers.  At night when we put her to bed, I always close the routine with singing.  Right now she's on a "Wheels on the Bus" kick.  I start singing out the traditional song and then she calls out what is on the bus.  These call-outs range from Mommy and Daddy to monkey to babies to sheep to cars to bikes.  I have to be very creative.

Anyhow, Joe took Kate and Lizzie to campus last Friday to see the ducks on the river and to romp around in the woods.  Here are some of the pictures from their day.  Enjoy.

Here is Kate.  She took most of these pictures.  As she was trying to get cute pictures with Lizzie on the log, Lizzie kept scooting away.  Kate called her a punk jokingly and Lizzie said, "Punk," right back.  You just never know what word they're going to repeat.

Writer & Artist of the Future

Joe's sister Kate is visiting us to help watch Lizzie as Joe and I dissertate.  I took the following from her blog.  (Yeah, I pretty much just plagiarized your blog Kate.  Although, it was our camera, so I guess we're even.)

Kate says, "One day last week we went out to play in the backyard. Lizzie was good with playing on her own so I had brought out a book and notebook. Lizzie promptly stole my notebook and pen and started drawing. And then things got adorable. I quickly grabbed the camera. You must now brace yourself for the cutest pictures. EVER."

She said it not me.  "Cutest pictures. EVER."  You'll understand.