My Grandson’s B-Day Gift

I purchased this adorable table and chair set for my grandson’s birthday. He’s into cars and learning to color, finger paint etc., so I thought this would be the perfect gift for him. I found it on a site earlier, but when I went back to purchase it was sold out. I decided to try Walmart, they had it for $40.00 less, free shipping from Site-To-Store, and you could have the chairs personalized. I jumped on it. Unfortunately, we live 5 hours away so we were unable to put it together before we arrived for his party. I’ll post a picture once my son-in-law puts it together.


I love the primary colors, and feel sure that he will get lots of use out of it. Most Matchbox and Hot Wheel cars fit the track, so we’re starting a collection for him. I’ve found that Big Lots carries the Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars for $1.00 each. Since he is only 2, I won’t feel bad if he loses one or two or three, lol. Once he gets older and can truly appreciate them, we’ll invest a little more in the collection.

If you know any place that sells the Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars for a reasonable price, please leave me a comment. If you don’t know where to purchase the cars, leave me a comment anyway. I would love to hear your opinion on this Great Find.

You Call This An Elmo Cake?

Normally I’m an upbeat person and can let most things roll off my back. When it comes to my grandson, MaMa will draw the line. This picture is of my precious Xavier who turned two yesterday. We hosted his party at the Jumping Monkey in Virginia Beach, VA on Saturday. The establishment was responsible for creating his birthday cake. We requested that the bottom be made of cupcakes; the surface (icing) was suppose to cover the cupcakes and contain a picture of Elmo. This is a picture of the cake that they served. Is this the most pathetic Elmo cake that you have seen? It’s damn sure the most pathetic one that I have seen.

To say that I was livid would be an understatement. The icing was 2 inches thick, we had to search for Elmo on the surface of the cake, and get this it had a fish bowl and some character that we have no clue to this day who it is. Hello, the fish bowl is connected to Dr. Seuss not Sesame Street. This is coming from an establishment who caters to children. Kinda scary isn’t it?

Look at the picture, my sweet Xavier doesn’t care. He just wants to lick the icing on the cupcakes. Isn’t it funny, how children can have fun anytime, anywhere and it’s the adults that act a fool when things aren’t perfect. Even so, I refused to pay for this poor excuse for a cake. I look back on it and I can laugh now, but believe me I wasn’t laughing Saturday when they brought it out and set it before him.  My response was truly WTH? I could have made a better looking cake, and I’ve never baked a cake in my life.

My grandson will be visiting this week-end, so I will be having a small cake made at one of the local bakeries.  I just can’t stand the thought of that pathetic cake being in my scrapbook for his second birthday.  I’ll be sending a picture to the Jumping Monkey, so they can see what a real Elmo cake looks like. I’ll be sure to post a picture of the cake we serve this week-end.

Can you relate to my despair? Leave us a comment and let us know about a major disappointment at your child’s birthday party. Haven’t had one, leave a comment on what you think about the cake presented at my grandson’s party, and if you would have been disappointed.

Looks Who’s Turning 2

Newborn – Heading to the Nursery

1st Birthday Party

Eating His Favorite Snack Last Week

It’s hard to believe that my little sweetie is turning 2 in a few weeks. I remember the day he came into this world like it was yesterday. I snapped the top photo of him when he was being taking to the nursery from the delivery room. My life changed forever at that moment, he truly became a part of my heart. There has not been one day that I have not thought about this precious baby boy in the past 2 years.


This is Gran holding him for the first time at the hospital. What a moment it was for me. He was the smallest little fellow. He weighted 5 lbs. 5 oz. I could hold him in the palm of my hand. Quite a difference from my 8 lb. daughter when she was born. I remember telling myself to be gentle, I guess I thought he would break. Everything we purchased was too big for him. Incredibly, the doctors told us that he was going to be a big baby. We were expecting him to weigh around 8 – 9 lbs. Didn’t happen. As you can see he had a head full of coal black hair, which my daughter claims caused pretty of heartburn. She too was born with a head full of hair.

 
It didn’t take Xavier long to make up for his weight deficit. He ate around the clock causing sleep deprivation for everyone in the household. He ended up being nicknamed Gran’s “Lil Butterball”. His legs had rolls of fat, nice little drumsticks for Gran to kiss on. I look at him and some days I see his mom. Other days I see his dad.
 
My beautiful daughter is pictured in the center photo at the top. She’s holding Xavier after he dived into the cake at his first birthday party. She’s the love of my life and she will always will be, but Xavier holds a special place. It’s a place that only a grandchild is allowed to enter into. There is nothing that I would not do for him. He brings so much joy into my life. I’ve heard other people talk about how great it is to be a grandparent, it’s so true. Although I want him to be raised properly, I know that I would allow him to get away with much more than I allowed my daughter to get away with. I have to restrain myself when she’s disciplining him. I just want to scoop him up and protect him from what I perceive to be harm. That includes Mean Ole Mommy and Daddy. Can you keep a secret? I purchased the set below for Xavier, it contains our secret code for Ole Mommy and Daddy. That’s right “Monster”. Remember it’s a secret. Can I trust you? Seriously, they are wonderful parents and would never bring harm to this little gem.


The past 2 years have been so wonderful and they’ve gone by so fast. We’re planning Xavier’s party for September 26th. Elmo and Xavier will be the stars. He adores Elmo and watches Sesame Street faithfully. Gran gets a reprieve this year, The Jumping Monkey will be the host. I believe the Jumping Money is popular in the southern states. I had never heard of it, and goggled it when my daughter announced the location. At first I was disappointed that we would not be doing the preparations, but now I’m looking forward to just purchasing a few gifts and enjoying Xavier and his guests. It will give me the opportunity to take lots of pictures for my next scrapbook.

The Jumping Monkey will furnish the cupcakes, plates, cups, etc. as well as the party favor bags, invitations, juice boxes and popcorn. They have games, ride on toys and bounce and ball pits for the kids. We’ll have pizza delivered and everyone should have a grand time. I know that I will.

I need to work on my skills so that I can video a few of the events. I tried videoing last week with my digital camera, OMG. I need serious help. Any suggestions from the video/vlog professionals? Please leave a few of your video tips.

I’m looking forward to my grandson’s 2nd birthday party. Stayed tuned for pictures of a few of my gifts and the party. How did you celebrate your child’s 2nd birthday? Fell free to share any of your memories.