Happy 80th Birthday Grandma Evelyn

SURPRISE!

We had a surprise party at Braemar Country club for Tyson's great grandmother, Evelyn. It was her 80th birthday. She has no idea all of her family and friends were going to be there. Well she thought it would just be the usual of us that goes to Sunday dinner but she definately was surprised to see everyone else.

It was beautifully set up and decorated but Auntie Doris. Of course she makes things so crafty and personal to the touch.

It was such a lovely brunch. We sat at the table with Great grandma and grandpa and Tyson had this new stuffed animal we got on they way, an alligator and he loves pretending to scare Great Grandpa Jerry with it.

Tyson: ROARRRR!!!

Jerry: AHHHHH!!!!

Thank goodness for all Tyson's toys that keep him company throughout his meals. After dinner some family gave some speeches and Nicole presented her with a present all of the grandchildren pitched in for. It was a new laptop computer which was a very nice gift.

Then we all stepped outside and took family pictures. One wish Evelyn wanted was to take a family picture with all of her immediate family (kids, grandkids, great grandkids) so we did that first then we got an extended picture with everyone from the party.

Here's an extra one of Tyson and his favorite auntie Doris and his cousin Cory. Tyson, Justin, and I got charicatures of us done by this artist which were "alright" i think they made me look more like Cher but hey..... maybe i'll scan those in sometime soon.

Happy Birthday grandma Evelyn! I hope u had a wonderful surprise and I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate being a part of your life. You are such an amazingly nice woman and especially since my grandmother is now gone, it is nice to have another grandmother around to ake memories with. You've accepted me as a part of the family before we ever met and I cant wait to share many more occasions and Sunday dinners with you!

Mommy Group: St Patty's Day Playdate

On St. Patricks Day we decided to host a playdate for the mommy's in the mommy group. It was sooo much fun. We had 23 people signed up to come with 10 more on the waiting list that werent invited. That means 23 adults and about 27 kids since some had more then one. It was CRAZZY! Tyson had sooo much fun. He loves when we have playdates at our house because he gets to show all his friends his toys and he's more comfortable to fun around. I feel like I hardly saw him all day. He hadnt napped so afterwards we were both pooped out of our minds.
We had everyone bring a green dish to eat and wear green so our house was full of GREEN!!

Even Pheonix's mohawk was green!

Mohawk

his hair is getting long again.... may be time for another haircut

Piano Prodigy

Tyson practicing piano with his Grandpa Neal. His favorite pastime. :)

Purim at Temple Aliyah

This year Purim started on February 28th. Purim is supposed to be one of the most fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. Americans sometimes refer to Purim as the Jewish Mardi Gras. Justin's Temple was holding a carnival in the parking lot so we met his parents there and enjoyed the festivities.

The first thing we did was play the water balloon game and of course being the queen that I am I won. :) We then let Tyson play a few games. One where he had to roll a ball and try to knock down these two ppins at the end of a table. He was trying to throw the ball so he had some practice to roll it. When he did it himself, it wasn't making it far enough so with a little help from his daddy he was able to make it and win a lot of tickets.


Later on he got to ride hte Merry-Go-Round with his grandpa Neal. He loved it. Everytime he would pass us on the outside he would wave to us. So adorable. Then it was Grandma Stacey's turn and she took him on a bumble bee ride while Justin and I got on a drop-zone like ride which was unbelievably scary.



Tyson even got on the super slide with his daddy. I think he was a little scared but he had fun. Then we took him to the petting zoo. He was a little older this time compared to when he went for Easter last year so he enjoyed it a little more and even tried to feed the animals although it was unsuccessful. Getting the food to stay in his hand was a challenge.


THEN, for some odd reason we decided t o get his face painted by the worse face painter alive. Justin told her to to a pirate and I though she was gonna draw a small pirate on the side of his face but instead she was making him into a pirate. It first looked as though she was gonna color his whole eye black for a patch but then she stopped and only made the outline which ended up being worse then if it were all black. Her hand was shaking sooo bad that she could hardly draw. Poor guy looked like a little puppy with a spot on his eye.

She then proceeded to draw a black scar on the side of his face and a beard that wasn't really a beard but black dots on his chin. THIS face painting was HORRIBLE. Tyson looked miserable as he walked around with it on his face. I think we were all a little embarrassed for him so it quickly had to come off with the help of some wipes. Of course it wasnt easy so more or less he just had black stains on his face and a ruined white shirt.

Overall, minus the face painting we all had a great time at the carnival. Now it's time to take Tyson to DISNEYLAND before he turns two and it costs $60 for him to get it. Only a month more left.

Mommy Group: Zimmer Children's Museum

A few weeks ago Tyson and I took a trip with the Mommy Group to the Zimmer Children's Museum. It is a museum in LA hand on exhibits for children 0-8 to explore. I didn't know this before I went there but most of the exhibits have a Jewish culutral theme. I thought it was pretty awesome because Tyson could play and learn a little more about part of his heritage.

When we first entered there was a mock Western Wall. I learned that this is an important Jewish religious site in the Old city of Jerusalem. Just as on the real wall, there are many prayer notes slipped into the crevaces of the wall. It is said that over a million notes are placed on the wall each year. They are removed twice a year and buried on the Mount of Olives.


There were all different kinds of rooms in the museum, each with a theme. There was a children's synagogue where they had a Torah that you could scroll through and a little play synagogue. Tyson enjoyed playing with the people in there and making them sit in the chairs.



There was a BIG ambulance on one side of the museum. Tyson and his friend Alex tried to take it for a joy ride. It was so cute looking at them pretending to drive with their little heads sticking hardly seeing out the window.

There was a room with a kitchen and dining table where Tyson decided he was gonna go grocery shopping and then eat the fake food for lunch.

His favorite room was the Bouncy room. He was running around and falling everywhere. We stayed in this room the most.

Then he proceeded to go to the community board and I think he spelled out his name. Can you find it?
We had to leave our hand prints on the board so everyone knew we were there.
Upon exiting there was a huge plane. Tyson loves planes. Every time he hears one in the sky he stops whatever he's doing and looks up trying to find it yelling "Plane, plane". So of course he had to go inside and try to give it a fly.


my little co-pilot looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. He was having so much fun here he didn't want to leave. I'm sure we'll be back again some day.

Bundle of Joy

This is how I bundle up my little pumpkin after a shower.... he loves it. He'll sit and watch cartoons for a little bit before he has to put clothes on. Luckily he hasnt peed on the bed yet :::knock knock:::