Get Ahead of the Birthday Girl's Game?

Today is going to be one busy day here for me. Mandy has work this morning till probably 2:30 so she won't be home, most likely till around 3 p.m. And, shortly after 3 p.m., the peace and quiet in the house will surely end because Miss Maya will be returning then from her morning of classes and activities at the preschool program she attends. Of late, one can generally figure within 10 minutes max of her arrival back home, she will begin insisting on watching either one of several Bratz videos or perhaps some other DVD or video that she thinks she has to see. To give in to those whims of hers might possibly buy us oh, maybe 30 minutes, tops, of quiet time before she loses interest and wanders off to see what she can possibly get into or do that will create a bit of mess or pandemonium here.

Today you see happens to be the little Princess Maya's fourth birthday! Mandy baked two dozen "funfetti" cupcakes for her special cake tonight as well as getting the basics done for a batch of sloppy joe mixture that I will then put into the crockpot tomorrow to allow that to simmer away most of the day. At some point, I will have to cook up a big casserole dish of macaroni and cheese - by far and away, Miss Maya's favorite food substance. (Just like her mother on that one!)

We're not quite sure how many will be here to help Maya celebrate this big event. Of course, there will be those of us who live here - her mother, dad, oldest sister, baby brother and me; then there will be her other half-brother and half-sister an a cousin of theirs; one of Mandy's good friends and her two little guys, possibly Mandy's other really good friend and her three children and no one is sure whether the older daughter, her fiance and my older grandson will be able to make it up for the festivities or not. So we are looking at anywhere from eleven folks minimum to a high of maybe eighteen.

Now, thankfully, none of these people who will be showing up -or who may show up - will be expecting anything in the way of a really fancy menu - just the kid-friendly meal of sloppy joes, mac and cheese and some veggies, chips and dip. Guess I best figure on making up at least one, possibly two pitchers of kool aid though, don't 'cha think. And also, none of these folks will be expecting to see a house totally cleaned, top to bottom, all neat and tidy. If there were to walk in here and see something like that, they'd leave, thinking they'd arrived at the wrong house for sure!

But, trust me when I tell you this, trying to keep Miss Maya occupied in a way that doesn't involved her scattering every single Barbie and Bratz doll she owns - along with every piece of wardrobe changes for said dolls too - all over the living room and dining room floors, and tossing in several coloring books and a big box of crayons that can't be dipped into and one crayon selected, used and put back either but rather all crayons absolutely MUST be dumped to create a massive obstacle course too you see -would be a feat accomplishable only by Superman! Or, his female counterpart - whoever that may be but is sure as heck isn't me!

So, in an effort to keep me somewhat au currant with my blogging plans, I'm doing my post now -in the wee hours of the morning. Probably better that way since I generally don't wake up fully until after midnight - about the time when most normal folks tend to be hanging things up, turning into beddy-bye for the day!

And, in connection of keeping current, that means I need to do my handing out of Halloween treats now - rather than trying to find the time sometime today or tonight to do this -in between trying to find the time to read all the postings made by those bloggers on my favorites listing too. PHEW! I'm already getting exhausted! And, I'm gonna ask that you give me a little leeway here too because as I write this post, I'm also indulging in a tiny bit of liquid refreshments that might create some typos, skipped words too, along the way. No, I'm not inebriated - far from that - just enjoying a nice cool brew or two as I work my way to ending my day!

Yep - I'm gonna make my pre-Halloween TREATS awards to those bloggers who I think really can use a little acknowledging of their efforts on the blogging scene or who knows, perhaps for other things I might have heard are going on in their equally busy lives at this point in time too.

This award was passed on to me now by not just two but three other bloggers - Theresa, out in California, Hootin-anni -wherever she may be - and my good friend and fellow blogger from up in British Columbia, Vic Grace. Be sure to check out these great bloggers pieces too while checking out the ones getting TREATS today!

First up today is a lady who has a terrific blog - a stay-at-home-Mom with three children and who manages to do all kinds of things - from participating in events honoring the history of our country to just recently taking a neat trip down to Texas for a wedding as well as a chance to meet several other bloggers while visiting there. If you've never visited the House of Lime, trust me, you won't be disappointed in reading what she has to say!

Second TREAT goes to a guy down in Georgia - an attorney fella as a matter of fact - and who's blog I thoroughly enjoy for the variety of topics he covers which can be anything from soup to nuts at times -light fare as well as occasionally he dips into the heavy-duty thought processing stuff where frequently he can also confuse the living daylights out of me too. But whatever Dave has to say, he always says it so well, with lots of polish and finesse! Rather Than Working is a good excuse for him to expound on all these topics he tackles from time to time. And, considering his problems of late in the kitchen, maybe a sweet TREAT is just what he needs.

The third TREAT today is for a young lady, good friend of my kids and me, who apparently has been really busy of late because she hasn't put a new post up in about two weeks now. Sasha works full time and is also taking classes towards her master's in Russian and we do understand how busy it can be to balance work, study, an apartment and a bit of a social life beyond that too. So I figure she probably needs this sweet TREAT!

And finally for today's TREAT assignees, there's this blogger - a very nice lady from Oregon way, by the name of Paula. She's one really busy lady right now with a new grandson in her home - which, by the way, she and her family are still probably in a bit of an adjustment phase to their home too since they just recently moved into it. Paula is going to be opening her own day care center in the VERY NEAR future as a way to be able to enjoy her new little grandson and try to make up for time she couldn't spend with her children when they were that age because she had to work. Boy, can I relate all to well to those circumstances. She also is very talented with various types of crafts - sewing, knitting, etc - and often has handmade items on her "itsy" site for sale as well. Anyone who is tackling the job of babysitting for openers, deserves a Sweet TREAT just for having the patience to do that and also, when doing that to be able to be the child caregiver for her own grandson - well, you have to agree I'm sure, that's really a great gesture of love and deserves something in the way of a TREAT and one that matches up with being so sweet there too!

So there you have 'em folks - the winners of today's SWEET TREATS! Now go have fun reading some more and be sure to have a great day.

Do that in honor of MY little Princess, Miss Maya, on her fourth birthday!