Happy Birthday to me! ;) 33 is Geeky Chic!

Congratulations, I'm a full grown geek!!!

Yesterday was my birthday...it was just a big birthday weekend! Not only did Red Three have her birthday on Friday, but then she and Red Two both had friend birthday parties to go to on Saturday, and then mine was Sunday. Busy, busy, busy!

My birthday outfit...I didn't get a full pic of me, so here's a piecemeal look ;)

Even though I'm supposedly a grown up, I still LOVE birthdays!!! I could care less that I'm another year older, I just love to celebrate! But go figure, David is terrible at planning for birthdays, lol...luckily Rachel took over party duties this year. After church we went out to eat at Bonefish Grill. It was the first time we'd been...this one just opened up in town. Even though the menfolk were grousing about the lack of fried options, the food was delicious!!! I even had some raw oysters...last time I had those were a year ago...and before that, years!!! I love them though! Rachel tried one...she just about puked! HAHAHAHA It was awesome! They had this appetizer called Bang Bang Shrimp...so good! The service was great...Red Three and I even got some chocolate dipped strawberries and a birthday message written in chocolate. Thankfully it was too high class to do a ridiculous birthday song! Whew, sidestepped that one ;) I had a total ditz moment though...I specifically brought the camera in so I could get pictures...and then promptly forgot I had it with me. I even took some pics with David's phone! LOL! Of course, I realized when we were leaving that it was with me the whole time! :/ sigh

 Buddy's started this new thing where he tries to cover his face when I'm taking his pic...silly boy!

After lunch we had to stop by Munson's Chocolate, so David could get me something for my birthday. hahaha! That man!

When we got home, David fragged out on his game for a bit while Rachel and the girls went on the porch to wrap, and then came inside and started decorating the cake.

 "Thas so cool Daddy!"

Freckles likes to lay under the computer chair...lol

Red One made the cake, chocolate with vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache on top. It came out pretty good for the first time. A little lopsided and not the smoothest ganache, but she's 11!

They surprised me with a T.A.R.D.I.S. on top! I've managed to get Rachel addicted to Doctor Who too...it's nice to geek out together! Anyways, it came out super cute! (even if it did take forever! :P) Definitely reminds me of the Starry Nights T.A.R.D.I.S.!

 While we were waiting on the cake to be ready, David was disassembling his shotgun...lol...seems like the thing to do. ;) Buddy was very interested. Actually, David was trading stocks with Dad.

 A man, his dog, and his gun! lol

Look at those awesome earrings Sarah gave me! Love them!

But first, to open presents...we generally do it out of the traditional order. We're usually too full from dinner to have cake right away, so we typically do presents first. It's kinda a funny tradition, but someone always has to ask "What comes first, cake or presents?" And then we all chime in, "presents!"

They tried to fake me out with one box, make me think that's all I had...but it was full of wrapped presents ;)

 Be still my geeky heart! It's a Sonic Screwdriver!!! and not just any sonic screwdriver, it's 10's sonic screwdriver!!!! He's my favorite Doctor...sigh ;) ...ok, snap out of it! Plus, it makes sound effects! I was sonicing everything!

And seriously, if you don't know what a sonic screwdriver is, or the T.A.R.D.I.S., you need to reexamine your life choices! Bwahaha, but really! It's from this little show called Doctor Who that is completely amazing and nuts and hilarious and gut wrenching...I'm so in love with it! I'm a SuperWhoLock fan with a little Loki thrown in...and LOTR is just a given. That's Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock, along with the Marvel movies thrown in, as well as Lord of the Rings for all you uncool people ;) lol Hey, I've warned you many times...I'm the biggest geek out there! If anyone follows me on Pinterest, they already know...they're inundated with all my Geeky Chic pins! hahaha

And now, a montage of the 10th Doctor and his sonic screwdriver, brought to you by the devoted (and slightly nuts) fandom.

 And then there's me...

Bwahahaha!

Rachel also made me some really cool jewelry, a necklace that's extra cool, and some really neat feather hairbands. Plus some other jewelry she didn't make, but almost as cool ;) Some books that I wanted and some sweet stuff from the kids...I made out! Good birthday!

It was so funny, Dad didn't think I'd like the sonic screwdriver as much as I did...guess he didn't realize what a big, fat nerd I really am!!! HAHAHAHA

MMMM, cake!

 Happy birthday to me....

How'd that selfie get in there?? Guess we can see who was manning the camera ;)

Thanks sis!

 Dontcha just love the awesome, geeky, excited faces we have!

And then, to top it off, Rachel cleaned up everything! WOW, hard to know which gift is better. The girls were supposed to be helping, but of course, they mostly just stood around. They get no credit, as Rachel told them!!! lol...NO CREDIT! I got your back, Rach!

Glad I'm not the Silence!

Gotta be careful though, Buddy keeps trying to steal my sonic screwdriver! haha It is pretty sweet!

Then, I'm gonna go out with my gfs tomorrow night to celebrate with them. All in all, it's been an awesome birthday! Thanks everyone!

OH, oh, oh, I totally forgot! Even Google wished me happy birthday! :D

This was my Google Doodle on my birthday, and if you moused over it, it said Happy Birthday Mary Cate! and if you clicked it, it brought you to my Google Plus page. Pretty sweet!

Happy Birthday Red Three!!!

My little baby girl turned 7 yesterday!!! Say it isn't so! How could this precious little thing

now be this big???

So after doing nothing but hang out in my pajamas all day Thursday...I had to get all of Red Three's birthday stuff done on Friday, her actual birthday. Thankfully I was feeling much better, if not quite a 100% :) I had let Red One make the cupcakes Thursday night. Red Three decided on Minion Cupcakes, from Despicable Me. She wanted lemon flavor, so I found a honey lemon cupcake with honey cream cheese frosting. I told Red One that if she did good with the cupcakes I might let her make my birthday cake. ;) She baked them up no problem, but I couldn't decorate them till the next day...I needed to pick up Twinkies for the minions. I hadn't even bought any presents yet! Luckily, the girls had VBS at our church, so I got all the grocery and present shopping done while they were there.

David had informed Red Three that she was having strawberry cheesecake for her birthday. So after the girls were out of VBS we stopped home for lunch before trekking off to Cheesecake Factory to pick one up. Sarah stopped by on her way to work and dropped off an early birthday present for me ;) some awesome earrings!!! Thanks Sarah!!! Anyways, I was going to surprise the kids by taking them to see Despicable Me 2 before the party. That meant we had to book it...The Cheesecake Factory is in West Hartford, about 20 min away...and the movie was at 1:40. I got an awesome parking spot, grabbed the cheesecake, which thankfully was frozen, so that meant it could stay in the car while we were at the movie without any worries. We were a few minutes late, but don't think we missed too much of importance. ;) They were super surprised and happy! I'd read some bad reviews on it, but it was plenty cute and funny.

After the movie we headed home to cook dinner and finish the cupcakes. I had already decorated with some streamers and yellow balloons that I made minion faces on with a sharpie. They came out super cute! I actually stopped at a party store, but they didn't have any Despicable Me stuff...oh well. Papa and Rachel were supposed to be over around 6:00 or so, so I had about an hour and a half to get the food done! Luckily Red Three had decided on fairly easy food...Meatloaf Muffins (just meatloaf cooked in a muffin tin) and Mac and Cheese Muffins (same thing, mac and cheese in a muffin tin). She didn't want any veggies, only fruit, so I had a big thing of strawberries for her. Can you tell this was a kid's birthday??? lol

Anyways, everything was just about done...I even made some strawberry punch for her. Big hit! 

I had some yellow cups and the kids made their own minions on them. 

That's Buddy's mad face in the bottom pic...he wanted to get his punch first! lol...Anyways, Papa showed up first. Rachel was actually on time ;) Red Three specifically told her not to be late...HAHAHAHA! She showed up with her friend Jason in tow. Guess a Minion party sounded like too much fun to miss! ;) David actually was late...guess he ran into traffic on the way home from work. Of course, presents were not wrapped, so the porch turned into the wrapping zone while Red Three hung out with Papa and Daddy. 

We took a break from wrapping to eat. 

 I think Buddy's favorite was the strawberries! We had to make him eat his mac and cheese and meatloaf...lol

Then back out to finish wrapping ;) The kids got into a wrapping paper tube war.

 Then we had to make crowns...I saw the cutest idea on Pinterest to make them out of pipe cleaners. Super easy and adorable! I loved them. Buddy made a dinosaur out of his pipe cleaners, at least, that's what he said it was. ;) Mine came out the coollest, IMO :D Okay, Red One's was pretty cool too.

 The menfolk patiently waiting for the girly stuff to end...

 Presents time!!! (Finally! thought the men) Before we get into the pictures, a small sampling of Red Three's wish list: real pony; real tiara; jewelry, especially clip-on earrings; her own dog, specifically, a dachshund; art supplies, canvases, paints, easel; clothes; shoes; dress-up stuff; books; coloring books; and other stuff I can't remember. ;) So, the pony was taken care of with the horseback riding we did last weekend. Papa decided that wasn't enough, and got her a bunch of the other stuff on her list...lol! Best Papa ever!

Her real tiara! (Papa)

Yes, she's my daughter! Getting excited about some shoes!

Papa got her a stuffed weiner dog and a book to go with it! Plus, lots of paint brushes, canvases and an easel!

She was super happy with everything!!!

Had to get a picture with the birthday girl!

Wearing some of her loot.

Thank you Papa!!!

Red One made Buddy a prince crown...lol

After the table was cleared, time for cupcakes and cheesecake! Didn't the Minions come out cute?!? It's just cupcakes frosted with blue frosting with a decorated Twinkie on top. The eyes are Smarties and black icing for the rest. 

Buddy helping blow out the candle.

For some reason, everyone kept trying to lick their elbows....weirdos! ahahahaha

And that, as they say, was that. Red Three was beyond pleased with her party, presents, and company. Success!

I shall leave you with a picture of BatBuddy, superhero extraordinaire! Ok, but seriously, isn't that the cutest??? The batman version of the superman shirt he already had went on clearance. I snagged this for 3.50 at H&M!!! He loves wearing these shirts!! Of course, the fun part is putting on and taking off the cape, by which I mean, getting mommy to put it back on for him...lol