[ oscar & flynn's party! ~ featuring mr RAY ]

sooooooooooo... i haven't jumped on the 'venue' birthday parties bandwagon yet ~ although believe me when i'm scrubbing the house & cooking 9 million things i wish i wasn't having a party in my house! my husband, mike, reminds me every time there's a reason why people have these events in specially equipped places! & yes yes yes i know!!

ok ~ but for the moment i like it being in our house... to make things easier, this year, we had a party to celebrate oscar's 4th birthday, flynn's 2nd & halloween all in one!!! come on!! that's GENIUS!

i try & take the kids out & about as much as i can & i've got to say i LOVE LOVE LOVE the libraries around us ~ but that's a whole other blog right there! anyways the libraries were having all these summer activities & we were virtually living there!

i'd see the posters to events rock up never quite knowing what to expect, it was a lot of fun. one of the singers was called mr RAY, never heard of him but i'd hadn't heard of any of the acts or singers before & was just trying to expose my guys to as much as possible.

got to tell you though i was blown away!! i knew this guy was cool as soon as i saw him 'cos he was wearing a beatles tee shirt. (the GREATEST band EVER! & it's my blog so you can't argue!) then he started playing... FINALLY cool kids music!! music i actually want to play in my car! i don't mind having to put the same song on 49 times, instead of trying to shut my head out of the window! what i found funny though was i think the moms were singing harder & enjoying themselves as much or if not more than the kids! nothing wrong with that!

my son was going to kiddie academy, i was chatting with christine the director about my discovery & she'd already heard of him!! i couldn't believe it! not only that he was going to play at their 10th anniversary party (that thankfully i was invited to, or i would have been gatecrashing!!) the thought of me attempting to scale chain link with or without 2 kids on my back is definitely not a pretty sight!


i've been to a few shows that mr RAY has played at. i took my mom to the 'rejoice 2009' jewish concert & felt a bit guilty while eating ham sandwiches waiting for him to appear!!



i don't want to be one of those pushy mothers but I WISH my boys would volunteer to go up & sing when he does the open mike thang :) although i would probably be reduced to a blubbering mess of pride!! i remember holding back the tears while watching oscar, who was about 11 months at the time, being pushed past in a stroller dressed as superman in the daycare halloween parade!!

so anyway i emailed mr RAY to see if he would come & play at oscar & flynn's party & he agreed!!! when i got the reply email, i was jumping up & down, my poor husband arched one of his eyebrows & just shook his head. mr RAY played in our house i felt like having a wayne & garth moment 'we're not worthy'!!

it was the best party ever. everyone had so much fun & loved meeting this cool rock dude! (in our house!! did i mention that)!!!

we have found mr RAY very gracious & generous of spirit... he took the time to chat with everyone, wasn't clock watching & really down to earth. all very humbling really... my husband said he's really talented & you can tell he loves what he does ~ winning combo really.

ROCK ON mr RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! (now stop mucking around & please bring out a beatles cover album & a christmas one & also a firetruck song!!) ;)

www.mrray.com

[ my son is 4! ]

sooooooo.... my older son, oscar, is 4 today!!! i can't believe it, it's gone in a blink.













my mum, every birthday, came out with the 'day i was born' story! oooooh & i'd roll my eyes thinking here we go again! it always starts with... i remember the day you were born, it was a beautiful day, the sky was blue, the sun was shining & the birds were singing...

i swore i'd NEVER do that when i had children... no no no. but here i find myself driving oscar to nursery school saying... i remember the day you were born, it was beautiful day, just like this one, & your daddy drove me to the hospital. then the doctor pulled you out & you were all slimy!! and had a hose connected to you (i had to keep his interest & add some sort of fireman element!!)

i found myself breaking down, it was really emotional... the wonder of having a baby & what our bodies are capable of... to think 4 years has gone & that wrinkly little thing has grown into this amazing boisterous little boy, with his own way of thinking & doing things. breathe!! that was one sentence...

so i'm destined to say this every year & 10, 20, 30, 100 years will pass (i put a big number in there because i'm going to live forever!! SCARY!! this is where i have to stop analysing life or we'll be depressed!!

when i got to the part that we stayed in hospital a couple of days oscar said lets talk about this tonight... that's his new way of saying he's had enough & he's only heard this 3 times!! unbelievable!

& while buying munchkins for oscar's class why do i have the need to tell the dunkin' donuts man that it's his birthday? (no ~ not for free donuts, good job really 'cos i didn't get one!) but seriously he could care less!

when we took oscar home from the hospital the nurse that escorted us out said (like 10 million people before her) enjoy every second it goes so fast. i remember saying to mike could everyone stop with the 'enjoy ever second' thang already!! but... it's TRUE!! if i got a dime for every time i've said it to other people i could probably just about buy a coffee!! but what i mean is i'm doing it now!! so we spend half our lives saying i'm never going to do that & the other half doing it!! do all men wear their pants high when they get old??

the thing is... i'd roll my eyes at my mum, but now i totally understand... the need to tell the story, to share this amazing event, the pride, the joy, the whole emotional package!! but why can't i just get it? why did it take me to actually have children myself to understand.... i find life weird like that, it just lets you make mistakes & learn things that have been done over & over & over...

so i've kind of come to conclusion that's why most people want to talk about amazing events, things they've survived, been part of.