Party!

Well hello. Here for the party? Well then, welcome to The Roof! Thanks for stopping by.

This is Corben...he thinks the party is for him, because today he turns three months old. Just smile and nod, and do me a favour and don’t break the kid’s heart, ok? He’s pretty darn cute, and he sleeps at night, and I don’t want to tick him off! (Happy 3 months, Corben!)
This is Dudley the wonderdawg. You may have met him when you came in the door and he tried to bark you right back out. (He’s all bark, don’t worry.) He knows the party isn’t for him...the party is never for him. However, keep an eye on your food plate – Dudley will seize any opportunity to make his own damn party....and eating people food? Now THAT'S a party!
This is Griffin. He used to be cute and mug for the camera. Now he’s 3 and a half going on 13, and anything that’s not his idea isn’t a good idea at all. He doesn’t like cameras. Or hats. But he does like parties! But please, for the love of all things holy, DO NOT FEED HIM SUGAR. I mean, you can, if you really want to, but then YOU get to take him home and YOU get to peel him off the ceiling at 10pm. Y'all have fun with that! (He really is a sweet kid when I'm not forcing him to wear funny hats and have his picture taken!)

And then there's me, your happy hostess. There is no pictures of me in a funny hat, because I'm the kind of person that likes to embarrass her kids, but not myself. (I'm certain I will pay for this later in life.) Plus, I'm in the midst of a horrible hair week, so it just wasn't going to happen! I'm Jenn, mom to these two munchkins and one dog, and wife to one husband (who was at work when the hat wearing pictures were taken, so he too got spared! We're here if you really need a face to the name!) I'm one of those cloth diapering, co-sleeping, home-birthing, babywearing, country living, grow your own food and make your own quilts kinda gals, and I love every minute of it!

The at-work husband, he's Steve, and he'll be your chef this evening. I'm SO LUCKY to have a guy that likes to cook, and even better, he does the DISHES! But more than that, he loves the hell out of me and our boys. (He'll probably try to drag you downstairs to show off his "cinema." Go with him...it's super cool!)

So, now that you've met your fellow party-goers (notice the all boys theme? Yup, I'm seriously outnumbered here;) you’re probably wondering about this Roof place you’ve landed on, huh?

The Roof of Ontario, my friends, is the highest point in Southern Ontario. Starting from Toronto, you just keep heading up and up and up, further and further north, until you get to us. It's windy up here on the Roof, and the weather is usually a few degrees colder than on the rest of the planet, and HOLY HELL can it snow up here! But the small towns sure are adorable, and our country abode on 2 1/2 acres sure does make us happy.

We also happen to have some very cool friends. You can meet our bloggy friends up there (look up!) where it says "Other Distractions." One of them is so cool, that she's agreed to a GIVEAWAY here! What's a party without a giveaway!

My dear friend Gretel, who I have known for many a years, who has shared countless hotel rooms with me when we toured together, and who rubbed my back and held my hand as I pushed out both of my babies, has started her own company making the most wonderful dress up items for kids.

"Fancy Pants Kids designs are constructed from materials that can either be machine-washed, or wiped clean with a damp cloth. Each design has simple lines and construction and avoids gender-specificity. [FPK] uses fun and easy fasteners so that even the littlest kids can don and doff their own costumes with minimal assistance. Best of all, many of the designs can be easily worn by kids of any size – meaning even parents can join in on the fun!"

Gretel has agreed to giveaway one of Fancy Pants Kid's Classic Supercapes to one lucky commenter!

To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. For an extra entry, head on over to Fancy Pants Kids and take a look around. Come back here, and leave another comment, letting us know what your favourite item is. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator at the end of UPB 2010. Please make sure to leave a way for us to contact you!

So thanks for stopping by! Stick around a little while if you want. Eat. Have a beer on our porch. Watch a movie on our big screen in the basement. Snuggle a baby, or practice your kung-fu with our preschooler.

And read! This blog is celebrating it's 5 year anniversary in a few months, and there's over NINE HUNDRED posts here for you to check out. I mean, I don't expect you to read them all, but there's some thrilling material here. For example, my deep uterus. You can read all about the insane weather we get up here. You can read this post, that highlights some of my favourite posts from the first 500. You can read about random things that make me happy, or things that piss me off (there's actually a whole category devoted to this!) There's my sewing and quilts. Then there's both of my birth stories, if you're into that sort of thing. Or you can browse on your own. Whatever you do, leave some love if you feel so inclined. And more importantly, please come back! Seriously, stop by anytime. There's usually beer in the fridge and something simmering on the stove, and there's always a fire going in winter (and not just because the fireplace is propane,) and the porch is always open for business in the summer.

Happy Partying!

There's all sorts of other people partying this week, and there's prizes, oh my are there prizes! And I'm supposed to mention what I'd like if they draw my name, which NEVER happens. (I figure I'm saving it up for the big one someday...a couple million in the 649 would do us quite nicely.) So, on the highly unlikely chance that someone picks my name to win anything at all, here's my top pics:

17 – $200 Apple Gift certificate

60 – $200 gift certificate for any Wall Slicks vinyl wall decal
8 – $55 Gift Card for Amazon.com

49 – Mabel’s Labels Label Out Loud Essentials Combo Pack

39 – A $50 paypal cash prize

#5, #10, or #13 would do quite nicely as well!