Indivisible

I must admit I am a huge Kristen Heitzmann fan! I find that her books always carry a bit of the unique in them. This book did not fail in that regards. I felt the story line was very compelling and intense. There was an air of mystery around the whole town and so many of the relationships. It carried a sense of reality in the picture of brokenness and hurt that many of the characters portrayed. There was also a bit of fantasy and silliness involved. I found myself connecting with several of the characters and wanting to know more about the town and the people in it.  I felt there was more to tell than this one story. I was quite pleased that Ms. Hietzmann is preparing to release Indelible May 3, 2011. There is more to come!


About the Book: Battling his own personal demons, Police Chief Jonah Westfall has experienced the dark side of life and is committed to eradicating it. When a pair of raccoons are found mutilated in Redford, Colorado, Jonah investigates the gruesome act, seeking to unmask the perpetrator before the crime escalates and destroys the tranquility of his small mountain town. Jonah fights for answers-and his fragile sobriety-amid a rising drug threat and never-ending conflict with Tia Manning, a formidable childhood friend with whom he has more than a passing history.

But he can't penetrate every wound or secret-especially one fueled by a love and guilt teetering on madness.

From best-selling author Krisetn Hietzmann comes a spell-binding tale of severed connections and the consequences of life lived alone.




Thank you to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing this book in exchange for a review.

A Weekend To Remember

We had a wonderful weekend! It started out with Ralph and I going on a date on Friday. I joined The Loving Wives Club recently. They sent me a fun month of date ideas entitled "Shake, Rattle and Roll." I have had fun implementing several of the ideas throughout the month. This was the "big" one. I set up the babysitter and then we drove down to Queen Anne. When we got out we rolled dice to see where we would eat dinner. We rolled the die several times, each roll dictating if we would walk right, left, or straight ahead at each block. It was a little adventure. We ended up at How to Cook a Wolf.

They didn't have a table when we first arrived so they took our number. We were then free to walk, get some coffee, etc. We headed across the street to Blue Highway Games. This fit in with our whole "games" theme. It is a neat shop full of games, puzzles, etc. I saw a ton of new family games that I would eventually like to get. I also some some great future presents for the girls! We ended up with a new puzzle mystery called "Grounds for Murder." It just sounded perfect for us (mystery, coffee and a game/puzzle). We also picked up My First Brain Quest for Nugget. She loves it! It is so fun to work with her on it!


How To Cook A Wolf was fantastic! They serve small plates that come out as they are ready. We had a wonderful meal of: Beef Tartar, Cheese Plate, Striped Bass, and Stozzapretti followed by a chocolate cake with caramel and espresso gelato. The meal was paced beautifully and absolutely delicious. This is definitely some place we would come back to again.

On Saturday we headed back in to Seattle to meet two of my favorite bloggers: Jessie O from CakeSpy and Megan from Bake It In A Cake. However, we dawdled first talking to multiple family members on Skype for long periods of time. By the time we got down there, all she had left was a piece of cheesecake with french toast baked in it. It was quite yummy but you should check out what we missed. So much yumminess! It was probably good that we had some good family time or we may have eaten too much cake.

Since we weren't able to sample any of the yummy cakes and Nugget repeatedly asked for ice cream, following a successful use of a public restroom, we headed off in search of the aforementioned ice cream (chocolate for Nugget). We thought about going to Molly Moon's as it had been previously recommended to us and was right up the street. However, the shop looked small with the line extending out of the door onto the sidewalk where it was, of course, drizzling. Hmmm, 2 small girls with no naps waiting for and possibly eating ice cream outdoors? We opted to try them another day and headed to our standby closer to home. Our girls will only be little for so long so we don't mind accommodating them a bit (especially when it involves homemade ice cream, fresh roasted coffee AND a play area).

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, the camera came with us everywhere and no, we did not pull it out once. Boo.

Sunday brought a 3 hour nap for Ralph and Nugget, a shorter nap for Zita and reading time for me. The end. *grin*

Precious

Cool Katz

Play Time

Rocking Snail Fun

Snuggle Time

Stay dry? Who, Me?!

Have a great weekend!

Craftivism

I was inspired by this blog to reach out to the ladies at our church to craft with purpose. I had many purposes in mind: to promote fellowship, learn and/or teach new skills, provide ways to show God's love in a practical way. There are so many crafts I think I want to try and accomplish but some how never get to starting much less completish. I got to thinking, there had to be others out there feeling the same way. Why not make it social and purposeful? I reached out to another gal who I knew crafted some as well. We met for coffee one day and landed on a date and project.

Our first meeting took place this month and we made hats from sweaters we found at thrifts stores and felted. I made up a few treats to spur on the fellowship side of things. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pics of the food and some people left before I brought out the camera.

Crystal, Erinn, Joyce and some of our hats.

The menu included: tomato and cucumber tea sandwiches on homemade bread (in the shape of a flower or star), buttermilk scones with dried cranberries, lemon bread, mint tea punch and coffee. The scones, lemon bread and punch recipes all came from my Causing a Stir Cookbook (a Dayton Junior League project). I picked this cookbook up the year I graduated from Cedarville on a whim and it has become a favorite. One of my go-to cookbooks.

Our workspace.

It was such a fun afternoon! We made several darling hats and there are a few left to finish up. Our pastor's parents take several missions trips a year to various places around the globe and will take these hats with them for those who need them.

I am quite excited about our next project! In April we will meet to knit, crochet and/or possibly cut felt squares for Knit a Square. The squares get sent in and then made into blankets. It's such a great, practical project. The squares are easy to do and a great learning project for beginners as well as the experienced knitter or crocheter. I'm excited to relearn how to knit! I have already started to work on the menu. Simple finger foods are a must to allow for the knitting, crocheting and eating. If you live in the area and want to join in, shoot me an e-mail and let me know! I will be better about the picture taking next time.

Tumblr Eat Up #4

I have mentioned the Tumblr Eat Up before. This was our 3rd time participating but the 4th one Tumblr has hosted. We made one of our favorite cakes--actually, probably our favorite cake, for this lady. It's Nigella's Chocolate Espresso Cake with Cafe Latte Cream. I think she may have liked it. *wink* The whole family got in on the action for this one!

How cute are these two?!

We may have had to make ourselves one too! Ahem.

 For those who may wish to make this most wonderful cake, the recipe is:

For the Cake

5oz Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate, chopped

1 stick plus 3T Butter

6 Eggs

1 1/4 C Superfine Sugar

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 C All-Purpose Flour

5 tsp. Instant Espresso Powder (this was hard to find, we got ours off of Amazon)Search Amazon.com for nigella lawson

1/4 C Tia Maria or Other Coffee Liqueur

For the Caffe Latte Cream

3oz White Chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 1/2 C Heavy Cream

2 tsp. Instant Espresso Powder

Bring refrigerated items to room temperature (especially eggs).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter & line a 9” spring form pan.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave or double boiler & set aside to cool slightly.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick, pale and moussey. They should have at least doubled or tripled in volume.

Gently fold in flour and espresso powder, taking care not to lose the air you created. Then, add the chocolate and butter mixture, folding gently again. Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 35-40 minutes. The top of the cake should be firm, and the underneath still a bit gooey. Immediately pour over the Tia Maria or coffee liqueur and let cake cool completely on rack before releasing from the pan.

For the cream, melt the white chocolate either in the microwave or a double boiler and let it cool.

Fold in the cream and espresso powder, whipping the latte cream together to thicken it a little.

Sit the sprung cake on a plate and fill the middle sunken crater with the caffe latte cream and dust with a little cocoa, or just put the cream in a bowl with a spoon to serve alongside the cake.

Super Moon

Ralph had a great idea for the night of the super moon. We packed up the kids and headed to our local cemetery. Seriously. We did. This particular cemetery is up on a hill and faces east. It has a fantastic view of the mountain. We love going there on clear days just to look at them. The night of the moon, that is where it rose. Right over the mountains. It was gorgeous.

When he suggested it, I was reminded of a night long ago. I was young. It was one of the first years we lived at the lake. There was a lunar eclipse. I can remember Mom waking me up from a dead sleep (no easy task I'm sure) and taking me out on the deck to see it. I remember not totally getting it and being very sleepy but it's a memory I treasure to this day.

Now, I am under no delusion that out girls will remember tonight. However, I do want to make sure that we do spontaneous memory making activities like that. Honestly, I'm not sure it would have occurred to me. I guess that's why God put Ralph and I together. We complement each other well. This was totally an activity I loved but probably wouldn't have thought of until after the fact. Ralph was quick to say "Let's do this tonight!" Love it.

This one is from our back yard

The Mountains Bow Down

Thanks to LitFuse Group and Thomas Nelson for providing this book to review. I was not required to write a favorable review.

I am hooked! Initially I was not sure what I thought about this series. It felt sad to me. You can check out my review of the last book in this series. I was intrigued by this book because it takes place on an Alaskan cruise. We spent part of our honeymoon on one and we just loved it.

This book just solidified that I will be a permanent fan of this series. It also dealt with some tough things and had a sad undertone. However, this felt less sad to me than the last one. Also, there were some things about the last book that just didn't ring true, which were addressed here. I think Sibella is a great writer. She doesn't spell everything out for you. She lets the story unfold. Lets you fill in the gaps a bit. I don't automatically see where she's going and I like that. Also, she doesn't rush the story. She takes her time and really fleshes out the underlying plot line. I think there is a lot of life left in this series. Check this and the other books in this series. At the end of the post there is an opportunity for an affordable way to start reading this series.

  About Sibella: Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons. Find out more about Sibella and her other books at her website. www.sibellagiorello.com

About The Mountains Bow Down: Everything's going to work out. Time away always makes things better . . ..

That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, The Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-perpetual ladies man Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be such a jerk after all.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a situation so steep and so complex that even the mountains might bow down.

Link to buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Down-Raleigh-Harmon-Novel/dp/1595545352/ref=sprightly-20

BIG NEWS: Start the series fresh with this great deal! Pick up a copy of Book 1 for your Kindle or Nook for only $2.99! The Stones Roll Away is the critically acclaimed award winner that kicked off the Raleigh Harmon series. http://www.amazon.com/Stones-Raleigh-Harmon-Novel-ebook/dp/B004QGYURS/ref=sprightly-20

About The Mountains Bow Down CRUISE Giveaway:  Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down by giving away a Cruise prize pack worth over $500.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.To enter go here! Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Please RSVP  and if you have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.

Blog Tour Schedule: Check out what others have to say!

Great Contest

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.

A Trail of Ink

Thanks to Kregel Publishers and the LifFuse Group for a copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a favorable review.

This book was so fun! It was completely different than anything I've read in a long time. I felt it was reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes books. This is the 3rd book in the series. I haven't read the first two but was able to read this without feeling lost. I fully intend to read the other books in the series but haven't been able to at this time. If you're looking for something different and a good old fashioned mystery, this is the book for you. 

About A Trail of Ink:

An excellent medieval whodunit by the author of The Unquiet Bones and A Corpse at St Andrew's Chapel

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon s skills to prove.

So begins another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton. Masterfully researched by medieval scholar Mel Starr, the setting of the novel can be visited and recognized in modern-day England. Enjoy more of Hugh s dry wit, romantic interests, evolving faith, and dogged determination as he pursues his third case as bailiff of Bampton.

About Mel Starr:

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.  www.melstarr.org

Contest: Kregel Publishers is graciously donating a $50 Amazon.com gift card for the Litfuse Blog Tour Contest! Woo-hoo (thanks Kregel!) All you have to do to enter is either tweet (see TWEET THIS below) or share the book on Facebook using this link: http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Ink-Chronicle-Singleton-Surgeon/dp/1854249746/ref=sprightly-20

TWEET THIS: A Trail of Ink by Mel Star. An excellent medieval whodunit. RT for a chance to win a $50 GC to @amazon! http://ow.ly/45c2k #litfuse

• (and be sure to use the hashtag #litfuse to be entered into Amazon.com gift certificate drawing and no need to email that you tweeted - we'll be able to track it via the hashtag.)

FACEBOOK THIS: A Trail of Ink by Mel Star. An excellent medieval whodunit. Share on your wall for a chance to win a $50 GC to @amazon! http://ow.ly/45c2k

• (email info@litfusegroup.com to let us know you 'shared'.)

Check out the blog tour here!

Oof-Dah!

What a day! Super fun but boy am I exhausted! My cousin, Sharmane, came out to visit my Aunt Dawn for her Spring Break. Aunt Dawn was nice enough to bring her, my cousin Krisstina and Aubrey up to us so we could see her while she was here. Our little girls had so much fun playing with the "big girls." We had fun too playing Kinect games!

 I had a great time planning our lunch. We had a salad bar at home. I made up bread in mini-loaf pans. Ralph rotisseried a chicken. In addition to the chicken, we had diced ham, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, diced tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, red pepper, celery, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, croutons, seasoned almond slivers, seasoned onion crisps, homemade ranch dressing, and this dressing. For the fresh bread, we had butter, local raw honey, and wild blueberry preserves. There was sweet tea, water and coffee to drink. It was such a fun lunch! Each of the girls is special in her own way and of course having Aunt Dawn here is always a blessing. It's so nice to have family within a reasonable drive. It was great to see Sharmane and try to talk her into moving out West encourage her to follow God's call on her life.

We followed that fantastic visit with a brief recoup time and then our LifeGroup. It was so great to see them! We had missed a few weeks due to illnesses and things (and were still short a couple people) but it was nice to get back in the groove. There is just something so precious about breaking bread and breaking open the Word with others.

Fun Surprises

Don't you just love getting fun surprises in the mail? I do! I got one this week. It was from my brother. I came home from our girl's day out and Ralph said I had received a package from my brother. I had no idea what it could be. This is what I found!

I just love it! When I called my SIL to thank them, I asked what prompted the gift? She said my brother saw and it made him think of me. They got it and sent it to me. So sweet! I must tell you, I think I have the best bro and SIL around! What's a girl to do when she gets a cute new tea pot and cup? Brew some chocolate mint tea, of course. Cheers!

Roses, Potty Training and other Randomness

I realized today that I am not an ordinary mother. Or rather, compared to most of the other mothers I know, I am not normal. I think I can count on one hand the number of outings I have had with my daughters on my own. This is not how I pictured my life but it's how it is. When we first moved out here, before we had really met anyone, Ralph stared doing the grocery shopping every other Friday on his own as his way to get out of the house without the girls. The pattern was set and that's usually how we do things. I end up feeling pretty home-body-ish on my days off. So if there are any errands to run, Ralph runs them and I stay home with the girls. See a pattern here? Occasionally, we make family outings and we go to church together. Again, see the pattern? Never me, on my own, with the girls. Not typical.

Today, Ralph had a phone meeting and Zita had a doctor's appointment, or nurse practitioner actually, but it takes so much longer to type that. I decided to take the opportunity for a girl's day out. We went to the appointment, picked up a prescription, picked up a Craigslist item, and went to lunch.

 As this was a novelty for us, I splurged and we went to the Maltby Cafe. Can I just tell you we had the most amazing service? The waitress came right over, asked me if I wanted to order immediately to keep the natives from being restless. When I wasn't quite ready, she assured me that was fine whatever I needed was okay. After I ordered, the girls' food was done first so she brought it right out so I could get them started. My food came shortly after. I had put in a to-go order for Ralph, so she checked with me when she brought my food if I wanted to go ahead and have his packaged up and brought out. She brought that and the check "just in case you just have to go." I'm telling you, I felt so supported, not rushed, not tolerated or criticized for having two small children with me. One of the other waitresses, checked in frequently too. I had a super relaxing lunch with a 2 year old and a 10 month old at a sit down restaurant. Can you believe it?

To add to the potential stress of the day, we are attempting to potty train Nugget this week. We have had more failure than success, to be honest. However, she stayed dry all day while we were out and went on the toilet when we got home! I gave her several opportunities but the toilets in the public restrooms scared her (too big without her seat). Today proved to me she gets the concept, we just need to be consistent and keep working with her. Yay! Due to her love of all things Toy Story, we are stealing an idea from my brother. She saw a Jessie doll in the store the other day and really wanted it. We told her when she learns to go potty in the toilet she can have one. She talks about this doll quite often so hopefully it will be motivating.

Can you believe we are having these conversations?!! I can't! Not ready!!! Whew. Okay. Just had to get that out there. First birthday coming up for the little one, potty training for the big one. What next?

Oh, I'll tell you what comes next. Nugget got her first flower from a boy who's not her daddy. If he wasn't about 30 years her senior and practically (basically a technicality) engaged to another woman who accompanied said flower (a rose, no less), I'd be concerned. She was thrilled and carried it around sniffing it, commenting on how "bewtifwul" it looked and smelled. Pretty darn cute.

*Sigh* Just too cute. 

On another topic of randomness, Ralph and I are thinking about starting a food blog together. Any preferences to where we host it? He votes Tumblr. I was thinking WordPress. Anybody have any thoughts? Our friend, Emily, planted the thought in my head and we're still working through the details in our brains. Name would be a big thing as he has his Helm's Deep blog and I have the Hobbit Door here. Open to any thoughts you all have. I'll leave you with this yummy lunch I found here. So simple yet so yummy! We used this garlic bread seasoning instead of the Parmesan cheese. This is a new staple at our house.

Oscar Food

As soon as I saw Inception, I knew what I was making for our Oscar Party. This was a HUGE switch for me as I'm often scrambling for ideas. Mostly been scrambling since we've had kids and don't really get to the movies as much as we once did. Not a bad trade, just life as we know it (pun intended). I immediately thought of the trend of baking things inside of cake.

My first thought was maybe I'd try my hand at a Pumpple Cake. Then I felt overwhelmed and scrapped that idea. I started Googling and found this blog: Bake It In A Cake. The coolest thing, besides the part where she held my hand and showed me exactly how to make what I had been dreaming up in my head, was that she is local!! A local Seattle blogger! How fun is that?!

After drooling over her blog for a few weeks, we finally decided on this wonderfulness. Oh, and it was wonderfulness. To quote my brother (who was referring to his first taste of fettuccine al fredo) "It was like a cloud in my mouth." I have no idea what that means, but it felt appropriate.

My mini pie crusts (top left); my improvised double boiler making my pudding (top right); finished products (bottom and background pics)

I used the basic pie crust recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, the "Best Chocolate Pudding" recipe from Cooking Fun: 121 Simple Recipes to Make with Kids (I found saved in my One Note, not sure where I got it. Super easy and yummy, though.), the Paula Deen recipe she recommended, and Bake It In a Cake's buttercream frosting recipe (I even added the cocoa for the swirl effect). They were really not that hard once the steps were broke down for me, the principles understood and I split it up a bit (pudding and crust one day, cupcakes and frosting the next). I may even try my hand at one of those Pumpple Cakes if I can find the right occasion one of these days.

8th Annual Oscar Party

I cannot believe that we just hosted our 8th Oscar Party! Where have the years gone?! I had so much fun looking through the pics of past parties. Such fun memories. Check out 2008, 2009 and 2010. Some things have stayed the same and we added a few new things this year! One of the fun things that we added this year was "swag." Everybody was sent home with a bag of movie theater popcorn and theater candy. We've kept my "white flower, old Hollywood glamor-type" bouquet idea for our centerpiece. Our Oscar winning movie memorabilia made another appearance (when it wasn't being kidnapped by a mysterious 2 year old!). Once again there were prizes for the most right guesses on the ballots and the least and a few in between as well as a prize for the group's pick on most creative food. Gift cards to Regal cinema, Oscar winning movies (old and new) and of course, movie popcorn filled the line up of prizes this year.

We were without our big Yoda this year (he lives in OH) so we had to come up with a new "photo booth" idea. We had a ton of fun with our back drop and props so we *almost* didn't miss Yoda.

Obviously, another big difference was the people! This was our first PNW Oscar Party. We couldn't have been more thrilled with the turnout and how creative people were. In fact, I'm quite sure the majority of people in the room had never *gasp* never watched the Oscars in their entirety before. Shocking, isn't it? Mmmhmm. They were troopers, though. Watched the whole thing with us, got creative with the food and gave Ralph a run for his money in Scene It movie trivia. What more could we ask for?

On the people theme, our Dayton friends were not left out of the festivities. Our dear friend, Amanda, and friends, Phil and Kristi, decided to carry on the tradition and made it their own! They did such a fantastic job. All our friends there brought their collective creative games and made some FOOD.  I was drooling on my computer screen, guys! Seriously! We had a chance to connect the two parties via Skype. Can I tell you how blessed I feel to live in this modern age?! It's awesome. Just awesome.

The girls seemed to have as much fun as the adults. Nugget, of course, was super social and loved having people there to play with and show off for. Zita was the most social we've seen her in months. It was such a joy to have all four of us involved in "hosting" the party. Already thinking ahead to next year's 9th Annual Oscar Party and preparing for 2013's 10th (big things planned, big things). Hope to see you all there!