"Pinocchio" at The Eisemann Center

Today we took the girls to see the play "Pinocchio". My mom, Stacey, Kim, and Nater also went to see the play. The girls really enjoyed themselves. Even Piper sat through the entire thing. I was amazed! Anyways, after the play, the cast came out to meet the kids and sign autographs.

Some of the cast even sang "Happy Birthday" to Presley. It was awesome!

Pictures as Promised!

Here's a few pics at home just before leaving the house.



Presley's party guests included:
Madalyn, Juliet, Nater, Ryley, Aiden, Zenon, Ethan, Samantha, Naomi, Syndel, Jessica, Garrison, and Erin. And of course, Grandma Ragan, Grandpa Ragan, Grandma Beth, Aunt Stacey, Aunt Kim, Aunt Karen, Uncle David, Nicky, Liza, Sarea, Stephanie, Christy, Gary, Uncle Mike, Aunt Beth, Barbara, John (a.k.a. Pops), and myself.



And the CaKe...TaDa


Presley really REALLY wanted a Princess Cake. So I took her shopping for a cake. She found one that she liked. It was a cupcake cake in the shape of a Princess crown. Then she looked up and saw this beautiful Barbie cake. And since seeing that....that's what she wanted! But she wanted a Princess one...not a Barbie one. They told me they could do a Princess one but I had to supply the Princess. After it would've been all said and done, I would have spent about $50 on this cake. I told Presley no and she could have the crown cupcake cake along with the McDonald's cake.


She was satisfied, but not satisfied, if you know what I mean. Then 2 days after we decided to do that, Liza calls me and asks if she could make a cake for Presley's birthday! I was so excited! You have no idea! I asked if she could do a Princess Barbie cake and she agreed. So John and I took Presley to Toys R Us to let her pick out which Princess she wanted. But we decided not to tell her, We wanted her to be surprised since that is what she REALLY wanted in the 1st place.

I know Liza went through several cakes to get it down perfectly & I tell you what SHE DID IT! Presley loved it & so did everyone else! Especially all the other little girls in McDonald's.


That cake was GORGEOUS!


THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU LIZA!!!!!!!!!!






Here's Presley opening her presents. She loved every single thing she got!
The night before, John and I were making sure to remind her of her manners and trying to review tact with her... Well, we asked her what is to say when she gets a gift from someone. She said, "Oh, thank you!". Then we asked her what is she not suppose to say if she isn't too excited about a certain gift that she might get. She said, "Oh" in a very peculiar voice. Anyways, it was pretty comical going over that big girl stuff with her.


And here's the girls playing with Presley's new toys when we got home.

My McDonald's Birthday Nightmare...

Presley had her birthday party today at McDonald's. She and all the kids had the BEST time ever.

BUUUTTTTT......you had to know there was going to be a BUT! BUT seriously, the good times ended with the kid's having fun and the nightmare began when I went to pay. Please be aware before you ever decide to host your child's birthday party there unless you have Xanax on hand or are ready for an argument or are ready for them to try and screw you or your just insane. I took a bottle of Motrin up there for the adults (mostly as a joke) just in case it got to loud and crazy......seriously it was a GREAT idea! I needed them badly this evening!

AnYwAyS....
Let me give you a timeline in which this party's idea was conceived to the end when the little man behind the counter was left shakin' in his undies!

About 3 weeks ago, I started planning Presley's 4th birthday party. John and I discussed having it at McDonald's. So we shopped around for the best McDonald's that would suit our needs. We decided to go with the one in Plano near Willowbend Mall. It had an indoor playland and a fairly large one at that. And the bathroom's were kept super clean. Then on November 11th, I gave them a $50 deposit (via (personal) check) made out to McDonald's. And she (the manager) went on to tell me that I'll get my deposit check back at the party and I can pay for the enitre party by check, credit, or cash then.

Here is the flier that was given to me when I made the deposit about info for the party.

I don't know if it is legible to you or not, but it says:
~ Gift for the birthday child
~ Party hats and trayliners
~ Goody bags for guests
~ Delicious birthday cake
~ And much more....

And if you read at the time in bold lettering it says:
"WE DO ALL THE WORK, YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN! SIT AND RELAX WHILE A TRAINED HOSTESS PROVIDES A FUN AND ORGANIZED PARTY!"

* I'll come back to my point about the flier in a minute.

On Friday (the day before the party), I went up there to finalize the party plans and just to confirm everything. Blah blah blah....
I gave them an exact count of children that would be attending. And I went over the flier that was giving to me...especially the party that says we get loot bags and party hats. The manager stopped me there and looked at me with a blank stare and said," We don't have party hats...we've never had party hats." My reply was, "So how do you want to handle this? Reimbursement? Discounts? 1 or 2 guests are free???" I could tell NO ONE had ever challenged this McDonald's location before to demand what was suppose/promised/written in black and white to be included in a party that you have booked. I should have known right then and there what I was in for the next day. <...sigh...> She said she'd give me 1 or 2 guests free. So I told her I wanted it written on my paper....she said she'd be there and she wouldn't forget. So I stupidly trusted her.

Oh....it's $75.00 for the 1st 10 kiddos and $7.50 per additional child. I did have that in writing!
That tidbit of info will come in handy in a minute too.

I did take Presley to Party City and let her pick out the party hats she wanted. And we picked up some extra favors for the loot bags that they provided.

The day of the party......the 22nd.
Here's what we got besides an incredible headache and nearly having a Myocardial infarction followed by a TIA with the way my veins in neck and forehead pulsing! Oh Lordy!!!!

~ Gift for the birthday child - this was a McDonald's plate that wasn't even presented to the birthday girl. It was pretty much handed to me halfheartdly by the "trained" party hostess, shown to Presley (with an ohhh & an awww), and then thrown in the backpack.

~ Party hats & trayliners - The manager that I spoke to prior to the party on 2 different occasions asked for the receipt for the party hats. My response was, "you said yesterday that no receipt was necessary & you'd just give me 2 free guests since you weren't able to provide the hats that is supposidly included in the party". She said, "Okay." And I NEVER saw these so called trayliners. I didn't even go there.

~ Goody bags for the guests - No complaint....these actually seemed to be done correctly, with the exception of being shorted one. That was a quick fix though.

~ Delicious birthday cake - that's a matter of opinion......

~ And the part in bold about "them doing all the work because they provide a "trained" professional while we sit back and have fun" was a crock of "applesauce" - They didn't do anything more than bring my order and the cake, and the plate. The floor became a mess & they never made an attempt to sweep it between eating and getting ready to do the cake or between the cake and opening the presents. I even asked them twice if we could please have someone to come help get things in order by beginning with sweeping the floors. When all the kids were eating, they never came around to pass out napkins/ketchup/etc. They dropped off a tray of the stuff and placed on top of the trashcan for us. I ended up not being able to spend as much time with my daughter the birthday girl because I was doing the picking up of the tables and floors and making sure everyone had napkins and stuff. John was becoming increasingly irritated with me because I was doing all of that. They were to supply the forks & stuff for the cake.......well they did, but we had to open up the plastic bags of forks and knives and split them up in a matter of 2 seconds as we served the cake. Yeah......they had no one to do that either. And there was no one around to help us when it was time to presents - John's mom had to go ask for a trash bag for all the wrapping. I was just incredibly disappointed with the McDonald's party throwing organization. I got no help from them what so ever during the party. There was no guidance! I kept having to run up to the front to ask what was next. UGGGG!

Okay, so the party has ended and we went to pay.....this is were the real nightmare begins.
John goes up there and he's gone for a while, so I go up there to check on him. He was standing at the register and the guy behind the counter is trying to figure out something. Meanwhile, I look at the price on the register and has a price of $96 and some change. I told him that wasn't correct. He said yes it was & I asked him to show me his math. I told him that the other manager that I was working with told me we'd get 2 free guests (that equaled a total of a $15 discount). He said that was correct that is why he took off $12.00. Yeah....I was dumbfounded too. By the way, he was also a manager. I told him that the paper I have from the previous manager, each additional child after the initial 10 for $75 was $7.50 each. 2 kids at $7.50 each didn't equal $12. It equals $15. I also went on to try and tell him that we had 14 guests total. So my payment would be about $90 ($75.00 + $30.00 - $15.00 = $90). You cannot imagine how furious I was becoming at this point. He then goes to re ring things.........it comes up to more than $100 including the discount. He said that nuggets were more than the burgers - so we argued about that. I told him that I have in writing that it's $7.50 per child and the party is $75....and when I went up there on that prior Friday, I made sure and made a point to ask the lady manager if the kids got to choose from nuggets or burgers. She assured me that they can have either. I made him redo it until he came to the correct figures. When he finally did after about 45 minutes of this crap...I go to write the check. Remind you that the other manager told me at the time I booked the party that I would get my personal check back and I would pay everything on the day of the party with check, cash, or credit. Anyways, he has the gonads to tell me that he cannot take my check. He can only take a COMPANY check or credit or cash. WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can feel my pulse racing just thinking of this all over again! Anyways, he made phone call after phone call. And I was not backing down - I went to get John & he had my back. That manager was trying to tell me that he could not take my personal check for the party, but he could take it for the deposit (and If I had broke something he'd then take my personal check). I told him all I have is my check and I cannot go to a bank on a Saturday night at 7pm and get him any money (my bank is in Fort Worth). And I told him I was paying by my personal check since I was foretold by the lady manager that was one of my choice of payments. And my checkbook is all I had on me that night. He said, "Okay, I can take your check, but you have to come back next week with cash and I'll return your check." I told him, "NO, MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY IS MONDAY - I'LL BE BUSY WITH HER & THE REST OF THE WEEK IS BEING SPENT GETTING READY FOR THANKSGIVING. AND I WAS NOT GOING BACK UP THERE TO GIVE THEM ANYTHING!" So I finished writing my check quietly while he processed what I just told him and with my finger firmly pressed against the check on the counter, I slid it towards him and told, "Here is my check and you and McDonald's can do with what you want."

That was that.

So I thought............

When I was packing up everything he once again got up some gonads and stood in the distance for a minute before walking up to me. I took a deep breath and stared at this man.
He said,"Can you do me a favor?"
I said, "Do YOU a favor???? Okay, let me hear it."
He continued, "Could you write the check out to me or to Lilliana....."
I couldn't hear much after that.....my brain was screaming!
I replied EXTREMELY firmly, "YOU WANT ME TO WRITE YOU OR LILLIANA A PERSONAL CHECK WITH YOUR NAMES ON IT???????????? NO."
He then motioned to me that I had the incorrect date on my check. I said corrected the date for him and gave him the check back. That man was insane to ask me to write him or Lilliana a check. HELLO PEOPLE, I WASN'T BORN YESTERDAY! DO I LOOK STUPID???? DO I HAVE A STICKER ON MY BACK THAT READS "SCREW ME"?????

After that we made it out to the car, but not out of the parking lot before he had to face me again.
He forgot to get my info for them to process the check. Poor guy, I feel for him and hopes he let "Lilliana" have it leaving him to deal with me.

So now, I know why I hadn't heard of McDonald's parties since I was a kid. But since I hadn't heard of it, I had to do it & now regret having to deal with them. But Presley said she had the best time ever there. She even went on to say that she liked it better than her GattiTown parties in the past and even better than the Halloween party we just threw them. Well....I'll let her carry that with her. I won't tell her about the "applesauce heads" and the grief they gave John and I. I am soooo glad she had the best party (in her eyes) to date!

I hope this blog helps any mom or dad out there prepping for a birthday party and just be cautious if your planning to do it at McDonald's & be strong and don't take it lying down.

Now we are going to party with the neighbors!
When we got home tonight, Ivan, our neighbor invited us over for their daughter's birthday gathering. It was a nice ending to a stressful early evening. We drank a few beers, ate fajitas, & met their close family, Mom & Dad & Sisters....etc. It was great!


Oh, did I mention that when I got home from McDonalds I scrubbed my kitchen counters and stove. I had lots of aggression I needed to release.

I'll post some pics of the party in the next couple of days.

OH YeAh....I NeArLy FORGOT
When we were leaving John had notice that there was a group that was also there for a party. They too scheduled in advance and gave a personal check reserve the party & they too expected McDonald's to do what was promised. You know what??????? MCDONALD'S SCREWED UP ROYALLY! They never cheduled it or planned anything for these people!!!! The dad of that birthday party had to go buy CiCi's pizza for everyone and they stayed there and at pizza in the playland!!!!!!!!! How messed up is that!?!? Little do they know, it probably worked out for the best!

Welp....Here I go

I have been wanting to keep a "blog journal" of my life with John and the girls for some time now. I was doing it on Myspace...well sorta... You are pretty limited as to what you can do as far as a blog goes. And Liza gave me the link to this blog spot many many moons ago. So, here I am...giving it a shot! Wish me luck.

ANYWAYS, here's a little about my family that I am soooo proud of........

Presley will be 4 in a few days. And she is fighting it! Everytime John or I say she is 4, she has a fit and fights us until she is blue in the face...she wants to stay 3 years old. She also doesn't want to take naps anymore because I tell her that she needs her beauty sleep so she her body and brain can grow. She tells me she is fine just the way she is....so she can skip the nap. That's her theory anyways & that shows you a little bit about her hard headed personality. She never ceases to amaze us with what comes out of her mouth! She has a ton of Presley-isms. And Presley is quite the little gymnast. She's been in gymnastics since she was about 18 months and she loves it! Presley loves to be girly but she is not afraid to get dirty! That's a little bit about her.

And my little Juliet! She's a hoot! Loves socks and shoes...has to have them on 24-7. Oh, she's 19 months going on 3 years old. Juliet loves trying new flavorful foods! She'll give anything a shot. John and I kid around that when she gets older, she & he will be able to go and hang out at all the crazy exotic restraurants and eat crazy food! I say....have fun! And she's addicted to the pacifier. BAD, BAD, BAD I KNOW..... but it's one of those things. We now only give it to her during sleepy times and during high stress times. So for Piper, that's her middle name, she loves laying on the couch with her pillow and blankie so she can have that paci! Little Stinker! Oh....and she can throw a tantrum like no other! It usually starts in the kitchen on the very hard ceramic tile. And I usually pick her up with her little head thrown back and back arched and just move her to the living room carpet. And we just wait it out. AND...she wants everything Presley has! Just today, I took Presley to Build A Bear so Presley could get a new bear beacause the one she has, Piper kinda took over. She's a handful & we are stopping at two babies!

And my John. He's a beautiful person. I can honestly say that I married my best friend. We've known each other forever! He's funny, charming, a family man, and my oh my...he's honest! He's full of useless knowledge! He's a deep thinker & sensitive too. I've been a lucky girl to have him in my life. We got married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in 2003. That was a great wedding! We were on a cliff overlooking the beach. Barefoot.....both of us. It was a the best day ever! He's a great dad! The girls absolutley adore him! He's great at those "honey-do" jobs! He's always got tons of different projects going on...our garage is full of them. And his latest project is him training for a marathon for the Luekemia & Lymphoma Society. He'll be running 26.2 miles on December 14th. We make a great team. And I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish in the future!

Well, I don't know what else to say about us at the moment....I suppose you could ask me questions if you are dying to know something.....

Oh...I forgot to say that I am addicted to taking snapshots of my girls & I LOVE having their pictures taken at the studios.....

Here's the girls latest pics taken at JcPenney:
These pics were mainly taken for Juliet's 18 month milestone. But you can't very well take pics of Piper and none of Presley.



And here is my beauty Presley taking her 4 year old pictures! She's such a ham!


Welp, this has turned out to be pretty fun......but I have to head to bed now. The girls like waking up at 7 o'clock. Piper does at least.