iCarly Party

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic is of my Special Guest for the month of August... Miss Lauren Patrick! Isn't she lovely? I'll have more info about Lauren below, but for those of you who might not know her, she is by far the youngest Special Guest I've ever had. That's right. She's still in her teens! (So that's why she looks so incredibly young in her photo. It is because she IS incredibly young!)

The Gallery Pics are from the beach again. I didn't take any significant photos this weekend. (Can you believe it?) Thus, you are stuck with more beach pictures. Don't you wish my life wasn't quite so simple sometimes?

RANDOMNESS - I saw Charlie St. Cloud yesterday starring Zac Ephron. As we were leaving the theater, a woman in front of me asked the two teenagers with her, "Has that boy been in anything else?"

I quickly answered, "'High School Musical' AND 'High School Musical Two,' '17 Again' AND 'Hairspray?' Do you live in a cave, Lady?" Again... imaginary conversation. But when one of the teens answered, "I think he was in a movie called '18 Again,'" I almost had my imaginary conversation... for real!

What does it say about an almost 49 year-old woman who knows every Zac Ephron movie made thus far... and gets angry at another 40-something woman for NOT knowing? Hmmm.

I think I need to spend more time with people my own age.

Sandestin - Day Two - The Day I Almost Drown Josh

The day started out great. The water was beautiful (just a tiny, tiny bit of seaweed), not much undertow, decent waves and a lot of sunshine. It was time to get down with the boogie boards. Austin and Josh were just floating and enjoying the cool water... Mikie, Roxie and I were catching waves.

For the record, Josh doesn't float on his back. He never has. He floats face down and comes up for air every 90 seconds or so. It's pretty unnerving if you've never noticed him before. When he was much younger, I spent a lot of time on the edge of the pool with my hands on my hips waiting for him to take a breath. I even jumped in a few times. It's just how he enjoys the pool... or the ocean.

I was walking out to catch a wave, and I was directly behind Josh. (Face down in the water... we've covered that.) I wasn't paying attention to the waves until I heard Roxie yell, "Now, Mom!"

Don't ask me why I just didn't let that wave roll past me, but instinctively I jumped on the boogie board. Josh was inches from me when I did this, but I was confident the wave was big enough to pick me up and let me glide right over him. I might graze him a little, but I felt sure minimal damage would be inflicted.

I was mistaken. That wave was a featherweight! It placed me squarely on Josh's back, and as I tried to go over, roll over, stand up, GET OFF THE BOY, wave after wave after wave refused to let me move, and I continued to grind him deeper and deeper face first into the sand.

Finally, ten waves later, I was able to stand up. Josh slowly surfaced, took in a huge breath of air and asked me, "What is wrong with you?"

Now, normally I do NOT let my children talk to me this way, but the kid had been oxygen deprived for at least three or four minutes while I sat on his head on a boogie board... so I let it slide.

And, being an expert at getting unwanted attention off of me, I quickly asked, "Where are your new sunglasses?"

It was a good diversion. And it would have completely diffused the tension altogether if the five of us had kept looking for the glasses for five minutes or more. However, Austin spotted them only 30 seconds later. Austin... my son who when asked to help find my keys, my glasses or my purse asks things like "What do they look like?"

"They look like MY GLASSES!" I always answer. Yeah. He's Mr. Helpful, all right!

Josh was still sputtering and trying to get the sand out of his ears, nose and mouth. "I feel really, really bad, Josh. Is there any way I can make it up to you?" I asked.

As of this time, it is still an open-ended question. He is holding the "Remember when you almost killed me in the ocean with a boogie board" card, and I know he's planning on using it at a more opportune time in his life... And I'm not looking forward to it.

The rest of the day was very uneventful... which was a very good thing. Too much excitement on any given day tends to wear me out. Of course, no excitement on any given day tends to exhaust me, too. I'm really not too difficult to figure out, am I?

Day Three of our trip is entitled "Seaweed and Sandbars." (Hey! This blog isn't called "A Simple Life" for nothing! I'm thinking about changing the name to "A Simply Boring Life.")

AUGUST SPECIAL GUEST - LAUREN PATRICK - PART ONE - Miss Lauren is one of my favorite people. Not only is she sweet and funny and pretty, but occasionally she hand delivers Diet Dr. Pepper to me at our local pool where she lifeguards. I mean, the chick goes above and beyond! She was quick to agree to help me out with this segment of A Simple Life, and just as quick to e-mail me her answers, hints AND picture. Sweet, funny, pretty AND prompt. She's the whole package, I tell you. Let's get to know her a little better!

1. List three adjectives that best describe you.

Goofy, career-focused and family-oriented.

2. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?

I'd buy a big plot of land for my plantation home. (That kind of brings up a new question, but I'll let it go until another time.)

3. If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

What is Your plan for my life?

4. You are going to be alone on a deserted island for a year, and you get to take one book/DVD/CD. What would you take?

I would take a Michael Bublé CD. (SO... WOULD... I! I'm old enough to be her favorite aunt, but we have so much in common!)

5. If you could invent something that would make life easier, what would it be?

I'd invent a drug to cure cancer. (See. She's a much better person than I am. When I read this question, I came up with a washing machine which would load itself, and then transfer the clothes to the dryer.)

6. What movie character would you want to be?

The girl in The Notebook. (I haven't seen that movie yet because everyone says I will cry. I don't like to cry on purpose because I'm not a pretty cryer. My face kind of swells. I know. I know. This is Lauren's interview... not mine.)

7. If you could be an Olympic athlete, what would you be?

A swimmer.

8. Where is your favorite place in the world? Why?

My house. "There's no place like home."

9. Name three things you have never done.

I've never been to Hawaii. I've never been to New York. And I've never been on a cruise.

Come back tomorrow to get to know Lauren even better!

iCarly Party

Since I unashamedly admitted I was a big iCarly fan last week, I thought an iCarly party would be fun to plan. I surfed the web a bit and found several ideas. I threw in a few of my own and TA-DA... I give you the perfect iCarly birthday party!

Games and Activities

1. You can make your own trivia game by choosing statements from the episodes, and having your guests guess which character said that quote from the show.

2. You can always entertain your guests by playing the television episodes. They are available on DVD.

3. You could dance and play the soundtrack of iCarly.

4. You can always have iCarly karaoke!

5. Have each of the guests put on a small show and video it just like they do on the real iCarly television show. They could even break up into groups for their performances. You could play each of the skits back on your television. The kids will get a kick out of seeing themselves on TV!

6. Set up a Sculpting Area with clay or Play Dough since Carly’s brother, Spencer, sculpts in many of the iCarly episodes.

Gifts and Game Prizes

You might consider the iCarly books (iHave a Web Show!, iWanna Stay!, iWant a World Record!, or iAm Famous!)

Menu

A lot of eating fills iCarly airtime (chili, spaghetti tacos, smoothies and pie). Lots of pie. Why not go with this menu. It is a little unconventional, but definitely fun! The cast is always munching on something new so keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas. Perhaps at dessert time you can serve a selection of pies instead of the traditional birthday cake.

Goodie Bag Favors

Funky Notepads and Pens
Crazy Socks
Yo-Yos
Junk food
Silly Putty Egg or Play Dough (You never know when the urge to make an unique sculpture will hit you!)

Devotion

Friendship and loyalty are very strong themes on iCarly, so this would be a perfect time to talk about those two subjects. Even though Sam and Carly are as different as night and day, they make an effort to overlook the negatives in each other's personalities and love the positives. Here are some "friend" verses to share with your guests.

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

You can also talk about great friendships in the Bible... Jonathan and David, Naomi and Ruth, Mary and Elizabeth, etc.).

Have a spectacular Monday. Tuesday's recipe will be the ever-popular Apple Crisp from an old Betty Crocker cookbook. It's good stuff, I tell you. I'll have Part Two of Lauren's interview AND a story from Day Three of our Sandestin Adventure!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda