Do any of you remember Marin's awesome 1st birthday party decorations? Well, I've got them up for sale. A lot of the paper decorations got tossed or sold in the spring yard sale, but I still have the majority of the dishes. Tons of cute Hawaiian themed cake/ snack plates. A big chip/dip tray (with a cut out to hold the dip), a large chip bowl, ice cream bowls, a metal bucket used to hold utensils, and a super cute flip flop shaped tray perfect for fruit or veggies. Plus, don't forget the 3D seagulls that hung from the ceiling. There are around 58 items total. And, I'm selling it all for 40 bucks! Also, I've ran all the stuff through the dishwasher and packed it up all nice and neat in a plastic tote bin, ready to go to its new home.

Do you or anyone you know need any party supplies? If so, just e-mail me! I can provide photos for those that are interested as well. Are you a reader from out of state? No problem! If you are willing to pay for shipping, I'd be willing to cart the stuff to the post office. Sorry folks, no checks. Only cash or Pay Pal.

adpi1999@hotmail.com

I am so thrilled that summer is almost here. Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer to most folks, but the hot weather in Nashville has arrived fashionably early. Marin keeps asking to go to the pool. He'll get his wish when it opens for the season on Friday!

We've got big plans for the summer. A lot of lying by the pool. A few trips here and there. And plenty of scheduled activities for Marin, should we get too lazy and just want to lie around. He'll be taking dance, gymnastics, and ice skating lessons.

And, if anyone is interested in coming to visit us, we are well on the way to having a proper guestroom. We had the carpet replaced in the upstairs bonus room this weekend. We also painted. We've been busy. Now all we need is a new bed for our master bedroom. And a new TV for the living room. And we'd really like a sitting area in our master bedroom too. And some new artwork for the guestroom. That shouldn't cost much should it? ha!

So what have I been up to? Well, taking care of Marin takes up just about every minute of my day. But, I'd really like to get back into my scrapbooking and catching up on the pile of novels that I haven't read. It may be August before I get any of my books read, during our much anticipated anniversary trip. I look forward to that trip all year long. Too bad August is 3 months away!

Anyone interested in the company of a cute 2 year old to spice up your Memorial Day plans?! I happen to have one available. Free of charge. :)

UPDATE: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a taker! Marin will be spending the Memorial Day weekend hanging out with Mimi & Pop Paw. Hallelujah! Matthew and I have spent the last 24 hours making a list of things we want to do. Going to the movies and eating out are popular, if unsurprising, choices. :) For those of you that missed your opportunity to cash in on some quality time with the wild child, don't despair! He's still available for Labor Day! :)

Friends and family helped Marin ring in his 2nd year with style at our favorite bounce house. Marin adores the bounce house, as everyone that reads this blog already knows. He was thrilled to have the place to himself for his birthday (or should I say just himself, his friends, and family). The party went very smoothly and fun was had by all.

A special shout out to all the adults that came. You were all good sports, playing on the equipment with the kids. We got some great pictures that are over on Marin's blog.

I can't believe the kid is 2 years old already. He's officially a kid. Not a baby. A kid. But he's still his mommy's baby or actually he's my "Pookie Pie" as he says. Marin just cracks me up.

I'd like to say a very special thanks to Marin's Aunt Leann (Matthew's sister). She pulled out all the stops this year, making not only an amazing cake but some adorable cookies as well. I can't believe how talented she is. Marin's cake is still being talked about. It was as good as it looked too!

I'm not sure what we're going to do for his party next year. The bounce house was so much fun, I don't know how we'll be able to top it. Marin keeps asking to go to the beach, so who knows? :)

On April 28th, Marin turned 2 years old. Wow. Where has the last year went? I will admit that the first year dragged on. And on. And on. But, from his first birthday party to his second just flew by. I just can't believe it.

Since Marin's actual birthday fell on a week day, we didn't have any big plans. I thought about taking him to the zoo or something "big" like that. With plans in the works for his bash on Saturday, I had not made any preparations for his "real" birthday. I was starting to get pretty down about it when Matthew made the most profound statement of the day. He said that kids are so much easier to please than we are. He said that adults think that we have to do something big for a kid for their birthday. So, I decided to ask Marin. And, you know what, for the first time in nearly 9 years Matthew was right. :)

First, he wanted to go to PetsMart to look at the animals. They put on a real show for him. One of the dogs was menacingly baring its teeth at a groomer. A snake was trying to escape from its cage, poking its nose all around the top of the enclosure. And the crowning moment was when a rat backed its tail up to the glass that Marin had his face pressed against and pooped. Marin was delighted. He squealed "Rat! Poop!" the rest of the evening.

Next, he wanted to go to the grocery store to ride the penny horse. We got 3 cents in and it quit working. Sweet Marin was more concerned about the horse being "sick" than he was that he didn't get to ride anymore.

His third request was the funniest of all. "Wal-Mart. Fan." The kid wanted to go to the garden center of Wal-Mart and look at the large fans on the ceiling. So, we did. Everyone knows going to Wal-Mart "just to look" at anything is dangerous. While there, I spied a water table that I previously thought was only available online. Needless to say, it ended up in the back of the car. You can see pics of Marin enjoying his birthday gift on his blog.

More to come later about the birthday celebrations.....Marin is screaming and a piece of leftover cake might take the edge off of my headache.