Sometimes when I am sitting by myself...

...those quiet moments when not with no one else

I'm mesmerized by all the many good things in my life
I think about the time when I was younger
And the older that I get the more that I feel wiser
With the love of friends and family
Get stronger and it carries me on through

So I say lovely, lovely, lovely
lovely lovely lovely,
lovely lovely love, my family
-The Roots, "Lovely Love My Family"



Yo Gabba Gabba! For Jay's birthday, he wanted a Brobee cake. And a theme was born...

What? You've never heard of Yo Gabba Gabba? You think it's weird? Have you actually watched it? Well, we think it's awesome. The Super Music Friends Show has all kinds of interesting performers, from Weezer to The Roots (seriously, did you watch them in the video above? It's my fave!) to The Killers to Jimmy Eat World. They all do music that's completely kid-friendly, while still being fun for grownups. There are songs with great messages like "Don't Bite Your Friends." What wise advice, no?

But I promise, it's not just me & Derek that love the show. It is the only show that Jay ever requests to watch. We don't watch much TV - maybe 1-2 hours a week - MAYBE. But those hours are filled watching YGG exclusively.

Since it's not nearly as easy to find Yo Gabba Gabba plates as it is to find Dora/Elmo/Thomas/fill-in-your-favorite-licensed-character decor, we had to improvise. We made our own shirts!

(Jen = Foofa, Luke = Plex, Jay = Brobee, Derek = Muno)

It wasn't hard, I promise. In fact, it was far more challenging to get a picture of all 4 of us looking the same direction & smiling. (3 out of 4 ain't bad ... if only the birthday boy looked happy to be there!) We found these iron-ons at the printables section of Nick Jr website. Print them onto transfer paper, cut them out, iron them on, and VOILA! Matching family attire.

And, of course, I made the Brobee cake that he requested:

(This actually came out cuter than I expected)

We were all set for a fab time with a few kids, their families, and our immediate families chillin' in the backyard and enjoying the springlike weather. And suddenly it turned rainy. So we set up a tent over the sandbox. And then it began to pour, and said tent seemed like a really silly plan. And suddenly, the not too big crowd got to feeling like a REALLY big crowd in our little house.

But we had a great time anyway. Jay was SO incredibly excited. Like, screeching at the top of his lungs, running in circles, cheering at the TV kind of excited. His friends were happy to see him, too. They gave him awesome gifts that he loves already including a guitar ( it's not just us who loves music!), the world's largest container of playdoh, a really great train set, a book with tools, and a bug-catching vacuum (which may go down as my favorite toy ever!). Yes, he's already tried to suck Luke's hair up with it.

I had an epiphany during Jay's birthday party. Our backyard is great for parties. We love having folks over - even lots & lots of folks! - while we grill out and play in the yard. Horseshoes & ladder golf? Check. Sandbox & swing? Check. Big shade trees and room to roam? We've got it to spare. If you can fend off the mosquitoes, it's always fun for a backyard bash.

But on Sunday I decided that our house is not nearly so great for large crowds. There was one moment when there were 6 little kiddos running underfoot, bunches of adults trying to keep them entertained indoors without injuring one another, and the smoke alarm was going off as the grill fumes wafted into the den. My first thought was "This is too much chaos!! Everyone is going to be overwhelmed and leave before we even get the food off the grill!" But then I couldn't help but laugh. I heard myself shout "Best Party EVER!" and some of the crowd laughed too.

And while that kind of chaos can be stressful, it can also be loads of fun. I choose to call it fun and go with it. Jay had a blast. We did too.

Thanks to all our party people for joining us and for making his birthday one to remember!