BLOG OVERVIEW

As a Christian, I’ve learned that God is on the throne every day of the year. We shouldn’t be on the defense (hiding in our homes this one day of year), but rather on the offense sharing the Good News with everyone, everywhere, everyday. How often do you get a “gospel spreading” opportunity come knocking on your door?! Isn’t it cool that on this day, people literally come to YOU and knock on your door! Thanks to a really great mommy (email me if you want ‘em), I got these stickers to put on the candy this year! I love them. Ok, maybe it is a little tricky (snickering) to give a little bit of Jesus away with the candy, but I think knowing Jesus is the best treat of all! (I’m just saying!) LOL.  While Daddy stayed home and passed out the treats, Superman and I went out. David was only allowed to go by the grace of Daddy because David had completely lost his trick or treating privileges due to his poor behavior earlier in the week. But with a couple of good days and a change of heart, Superrman was allowed to fly over mall-tropolis. He was overwhelmed and often frightened by the scary costumes, but he had a nice time. His sweet, little “thank yous” had even the ghouls smiling. It has been a while since we’ve been hit up by the paparazzi, but they were out and wanted to take pictures of Superman. David got in character and put his hands on his hips to give them his Superman stance. I was actually glad that our last minute excursion landed us inside of a mall because it was absolutely perfect for this mom who didn’t want to be out in the elements. After a very eventful October, this was a fun bookend to our very busy month. 

Mr. C. and I do not understand the grandparent phenomenal. Our parents are the exact same people who raised us, but somehow the rules change when it comes to their grandson.  It literally makes me Shake My Head. This photo was snapped by my sister who was shocked to come in the room and see David sitting on the dresser. Dad, why is David sitting on the dresser?!!!! My dad says: “He wanted to sit up there!” WHAT?!!! “He got up there by himself so I thought he wanted to sit up there!” REALLY?  This was after David took my father over to couch and began jumping on it! WHAT? My dad laughed about that. WHO are these people called grandparents. SMH. Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you! 

My grandmother got lots of great surprises  at her birthday celebration! It was great to see the entire family on such a wonderful occasion. Happy Birthday Grandmother! David missed the end of the celebration and went to bed reminding me about getting some birthday cake. Don’t worry Davey Mommy will save you some birthday cake! 

Speaking of birthdays and grandmothers, today is my paternal grandmother’s 75th birthday celebration in Chicago. So we took an early morning flight headed to my hometown – Chi-town. David was excited to get on “Da Plane”. It was a really great trip and David did fantastic! He was hilarious because he couldn’t hear how LOUD he was with his headphones on! Shhhhh. LOL. I must admit David is a true road-dawg and is our get-out-of-that-long-line-free card. LOL. By plane, bus ,and automobile we made it to the party! My grandmother was surprised to see us and glad to see her great-grandson. 

My family is full of October birthdays. My late great Granny Annie was another October baby. Today I celebrate her life and all the wonderful memories I have to cherish with her and my maternal grandfather! Life is short, cherish every moment. 


Papa, Moi & Granny - 2006

Although we missed Howard’s homecoming, David had to rep my alma mater: The Real HU! 

They say that it’s the city that never sleeps and they are right. After a quick nap, we got up early to head to the Empire State Building! I was so grateful that there were virtually no lines and we got up to the 86th floor in no time. It was simply breathtaking. To see the city at night was amazing, but to see it in the day was truly awesome. The Statue of Liberty looks like a miniature replica from so high up! After a few photos, we went to Juniors a really great restaurant right there in Times Square. While Mr. C checked us out, I hopped in a cab and headed to the infamous Macy’s to pick up my birthday gift (Happy Birthday to Moi) and I was blown away by this “mall?”  I was certainly taken aback by this place. After walking inside the building several blocks, I asked a salesperson: “Excuse Ma’am, am I still in Macy’s?”. LOL. It was certainly BIG in the Big Apple! The drive back was fine, but we were both exhausted from our one night in NYC. By the time we picked up the kids and got home, we were toast. I had packages and cards waiting for me. David and I got into a debate on whose birthday it was. Since he’d been in birthday mode for 12 days, he couldn’t believe it was actually someone else’s birthday. He finally gave in and said “OK. OK. Happy Birthday Mommy!” LOL. By the end of the night, I was birthday’ed out and collapsed in the bed. The sad thing is that we still have a bunch of more birthdays to celebrate this month. Oy! Laissez les the bons temp rouler (after I get some rest!). LOL. 

View of Times Square from our room I debated for a while on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go for my birthday. Since this is a milestone birthday, I wanted to do something BIG… last milestone birthday, we were in the beautiful Grand Cayman islands (who knew a few years later we’d be there stuck in a hospital for a week!!!) and so I decided on the BIG apple for my “One Night Only…Grown & Sexy in NYC” birthday bash. But after I saw the prices, I realized that my budget wasn’t BIG enough for the BIG apple. LOL. I really wanted to stay in Times Square, but the prices were outrageous…even for one night. For weeks, Mr. C and I went back and forth on the where. By divine intervention, we booked the hotel I wanted! Whoop! Whoop! So with money saved on our room, Mr. C booked our tickets to Motown the Musical! Mr. C was gracious enough to drive so we could be on our time and not on public transportation’s schedule. I thought he was really brave to drive into Manhattan!!! With the kids dropped off, we headed to NYC pretty early. The brave driver and I had such great conversation, jammed to some old skool music, and he even let me stop at the Cracker Barrell for Breakfast! (It was really my birthday because if you know Mr. C, he DOES NOT stop!). We got to New York in decent time, but then when we got into Time Square it was crazy!!! It took us 45 minutes to finally park!! The timing was great because Mr. C was able to get us an upgraded room (Thank you Ms. Amy) that was ready, with a view of Times Square. Times Square was bursting with energy and it was certainly contagious. I had to make my way to the Cake Boss Café to try the most scrumptious cupcakes ever! When my gps said it was 28 walking minutes from there to FAO Shwartz, I didn’t believe it. Well it was right. By the time we were one block away, we were tired. When I saw people coming out of the store with “little blue bags”, I had to stop in. The store was amazing, the customer service was outstanding, and I went in and got my very first “little blue bag”. Now the story about what’s in the little blue bag is too funny to type, so ask me about it. I promise you’ll LOL. Next, we made it over to the infamous FAO toy store. The “soldiers” outside were just as entertaining as everything on the inside! The store was incredible. I was too tired to play on the famous BIG piano (and trust me as much walking as we did, nobody would’ve wanted me to take off those shoes LOL). It was super cute and I snagged up a Super Hero FAO bear for Davey. There was no way we were walking back to Times Square, so we yelled “Taxi”. Apparently, (as I later learned) there is an “art” to hailing a tax in NYC. We made it back to the hotel in enough time to change our clothes and head across the street (literally across the street) to see Motown the Musical. Mr. C is a Motown Music buff, if you name it…he knows it. I loved the music, but had no idea about the history and storyline. The cast had the characters down! Diana, Stevie, and Little Michael Jackson were my favorites. Truly a must see. If I thought the day couldn’t get any better, we ended up at NYC’s revolving restaurants. OMG!!! The New York Skyline was electrifying at night! One of my sisters is temporarily in NYC and she met us at the restaurant.  So bringing in my birthday with my sister and Mr. C in Times Square at my first time in a revolving restaurant….was beyond beyond… fun! 

Before Mr. C bought my “mommy-mobile”, I knew exactly what I wanted to put on my personalized license plate (why do those things cost so much?!!!). However, when the time came…I switched it and decided to do something that’s more geared to our family. (No, it’s not D&PTAXI …although it sure feels like we spend a lot of time taxing Davey and Princey around LOL). Mr. C liked my new idea and so he got a new plate too. Well when the HUGE brown box appeared last week, I thought it was only fitting to get a family plate for David’s Mustang! Introducing TEAM C #03! Beep! Beep!  I'm 3 and #03!

David is going through a sandwich phase: First, it was spaghetti, then we moved to pizza (although we’re not away from that one), then it was the “chickin nugget”, and now we are on to sandwiches! Not any sandwiches…peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with “grrr-ape”.  While I pick and choose my nutrition battles with this picky-eater (can I really blame him? So am I), I must admit this PB&J phase is very low maintenance…that is unless we’ve run out of bread or peanut butter… but otherwise a quick meal. I will admit that Mr. C is the PB&J-Making King, he makes them just right! I, on the other hand, use way too much jelly that gets everywhere!!!! (Ughhhh not jelly on the WHITE Superman shirt. Oy!) David will even gather the ingredients for us! Our happy PB&J helper.