Cool Contest... Even Cooler that my friends group could win!

Vote for my friends' theater group on Facebook! The Top 200 organizations can win $20,000 or more!

I'm trying to help some friends of mine win a grant for their theater company. They are located in Chicago and they do really fun, quirky shows. They did a live-action version of Scooby Doo two years before the movie hit theaters. Karate Kid the Musical, Evil Dead the Musical, and Cubicle - an Office Space Musical are just a few of the shows they have staged over the past 10 years. Chase bank is running a contest on Facebook to give small non-profits a shot at some big time money. The contest wraps up in 4 days. If you could take the time to read their story below, click on the link, and vote for them, it would mean a lot! All it takes is a couple of clicks and you could help them win more than $20,000! They need as many votes as possible to break into the top 200.

Their company is called New Millenium Theatre and it's located in Chicago. Check it out!

Click on this link to vote for them.
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/364230107-new-millennium-theatre-company?src=charity-details-wall-post-self

Happy Birthday Alex!

My big boy celebrated his golden birthday this year... turning 5 on July 5th! I can't believe Alex is 5. I can't believe how much like me he is... from his love of books, Legos, Star Wars and stuffed animals to his flair for the dramatic and tendency toward temper tantrums. I love this kid so much!

This year we went with a baseball cake (kind of hard to top last year's R2-D2 cake, but I tried!) which was really fun to make. I may have to invest in one of these ball-shaped cake pans. I got a lot of great ideas while making the baseball. And I'm sure once I make a couple, decorating will be a lot easier.
This was just one of the many fun, super cool presents he got. It was a very Star Wars / Iron Man / Toy Story Birthday!
This weekend we'll do the friend party... he's taking two friends to see Toy Story 3. FUN!

I think Adam's got the right idea...

Happy Friday! Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

This is what I'm thinking about right now...

Hurricane Alex.

I live with Hurricane Alex, but there's an actual Hurricane named Alex swirling around right now.
Yes, hurricanes are horrible, dangerous storms. No, my Hurricane Alex is not horrible and dangerous.

I wish I still worked in TV news, if only to have one of my graphic designer buddies Photoshop Alex into the eye of the hurricane... and possibly make an animation out of it. At the very least, I would make a poster for his room!

-sigh-

I miss my TV toys.

Anyone out there willing to do me a Photoshop favor????

Oh my goodness, we're actually planning a vacation!

Craig and I are cruising toward our 10th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe. While we're not taking a cruise to some exotic location, getting a hut in the South Pacific, or jetting off to Europe, we did want to do something special to mark this occasion. After much discussion, narrowing down of locations, and debating what we wanted out of this trip... we have settled on a destination!

Charleston, South Carolina here we come!

We're going next month... what I need is suggestions on places to eat and where to stay. We'll probably use Priceline or Hotwire, but I'm open to specific suggestion or suggestions of what part of the area would be good. Also... any thoughts on whether we ought to rent a car? I'm thinking we should.

Very excited!!!!

T-Ball Time!

I've crossed a new bridge in parenting... I'm now a sports parent! Alex started t-ball last week. The kids on his team are 4 and 5 years old. He's the second shortest kid on his team... comes by that honestly as neither Craig nor myself are all that tall. At this age, it's all about learning the skills and rules. No outs. Everyone bats every inning. They only take one base at a time. Games only last an hour. He did have an advantage over the other kids... he's had a tee since last summer and he's gotten pretty good at hitting. I'm proud to say he was the first kid up to bat in his game. He smacked the ball really hard on his first swing, and would have had an in-the-park homerun had the no-run rule not been enforced. Yes, I'm bragging. He had a blast and so did we... even the wee one!

Strawberry Time!

My strawberries have gone nuts again this year, thanks to tons of rain and heat. Unfortunately all that rain has led to much of the crop rotting on the ground before I could pick it. I will probably be able to get one batch of jam out of this year's crop.

My struggle with strawberries is... I'm the only one in the family who really likes them. So I start to get burned out on eating them after a bit. The jam was a big hit last year... I made two batches of freezer jam. We're still eating on it and my mom is always happy to take some.

This year, I was determined to get Alex to try strawberries. Alex, being distinctly my child, is a picky eater. I gave my mother fits growing up, refusing to eat so many things it would take weeks to list it all here. I have outgrown this picky-ness quite well, I think. Alex is coming around. I insisted that he stop saying "I hate that!" about foods he hasn't tried. Instead, he's supposed to say "I've never tried that." It's actually working, and I've gotten him to try a few new foods over the past month or so. I figured we'd give strawberries a shot since I knew we'd have a lot of them.

He wanted to help me pick the strawberries and I told him he could, but he would have to eat a strawberry. He said, "I won't eat a strawberry, but I would try a strawberry smoothie."

Alright! I have an entire smoothie cookbook. And I only make healthy smoothies, so I was THRILLED!

Tonight was the night. He pronounced the smoothie "So delicious!"

Here's the recipe:

2-3 cups whole strawberries
1 banana
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup plain low-fat or fat free yogurt
Ice if desired

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Makes about 3 good sized smoothies.