Birthday – Page 2 – Casa de Murphy

Happy 4th Birthday, Liam!

July 31, 2015 casademurphy

Happy 4th Brithday, our sweet little man, Liam Michael!

Honestly, I cannot believe how fast this last year has flown by. My mom jokes that we will be sending him off to college before we know it….I’m afraid to blink because she’s probably right.

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Here’s the latest teddy bear pic ❤

If you follow our adventures, you know this teddy bear pic is a fun regular measure of growth for us. Check out all our past pics here.

Last year, we also started a new tradition of a BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW. Let me tell you, this was hilarious to do with him again 🙂 …definitely recommend to do with your kiddos! I found this free printable here via Pinterest that we’ve been using.

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Other notable things these days…

He frequently refers to me & Stephen as “guys” …as in “hey guys….” 😉

He is a master at the iPad — absolutely LOVES to watch amateur videos on YouTube of product demos of toys & role play….there is an enormous amount of videos of Imaginext, which he has grown quite the collection.

Super heroes are everything — most days you catch him in a superhero shirt. I am hard-pressed to dress him in anything else, actually. He won’t have it. His room is superhero. His birthday party theme was requested to be that, as well.

While he didn’t mention it in his birthday interview, he is also quite fond of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

He loves going to “school” and next month he is starting Pre-K!! He knows this and he already says he is in VPK 😉 …he also will tell you that next year he is going to “hildegard” (kindergarten …lol!!)

Dancing and music are also his favs! This little dude has some awesome moves of his own AND he knows most Top 40 songs by heart ❤

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Always smiling & always happy — BEST disposition ever!!

*However, I will add a side note & keep things real that I am predicting the asserting of independence, attempts of attitude, & pushing the boundaries to see what he can possibly get away with to be quite the test for us this next year…..all normal but we have definitely seen our fair share. He is a GREAT kid but he is kid and is learning….also, we are 1st time parents, and we, too, are learning along with him.

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Words cannot express how much love fills our hearts for this little man. It is such a blessing to have him in our lives. He is truly a gift.

So happy to celebrate him today & everyday ❤

Until next time, friends….

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Latest & Greatest News, November 2014

Happy Birthday, Timber!

November 29, 2014 casademurphy

Today, we celebrate the 12th birthday of our fur baby, Timber ❤

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It’s honestly hard to believe we have shared so many smiles, laughter & love with this awesome little guy. We are definitely looking forward to several more years to come of the same! To see a brief account of his story with us, you can check out his page on the blog HERE.

This picture below is from several years ago. His hair is much longer than what we keep it now, but he still LOVES to play outside like that on any given day. He is an avid chaser of lizards & squirrels 🙂

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Although, he spent 9 years as an only child, he has been the best big brother we could ask for. These two really love one another….cutest.thing.ever!

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And, he is one dog that is NOT afraid to get comfy. Hahaha! Most nights, you find him asleep on the couch like this before any of us have even sat down yet 😉

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We love you so much Timber!! Our “boo boo man” xoxo ~~ Happy Birthday, little dude!!

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Recent Happenings

August 17, 2014 casademurphy

Last weekend, we were off to celebrate another friend turning a fabulous 3-year’s old. Oh, the life of a 3-year old, indeed….such a hard one….. 🙂

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It was a Little Mermaid themed soiree, so I tried to keep our guy in beachy attire 😉

We took this fun selfie before some snacks. The above pic was actually ALL him hamming it up. Totally cracked me up, and I was actually amazed I was able to snap the pic of that pose.

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There was a super big & super fun bouncy house / water slide out back. Liam gave it one good go & that was it for him. He much preferred the pool, but he was still all smiles at the end of this trip.

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This past week was considered the “end of summer” at school (daycare) for Liam. I think it’s mainly because all the summer camp programs are done and the county schools are back in session tomorrow.

So, it was “School Spirit” week with different fun activities sprinkled for the kiddos throughout the week. I didn’t get pics of everything, but here’s some highlights….

Thursday, was “Pajama Day”. Love this! I mean, who wouldn’t ❤ to wear their PJ’s all day?!?! Super comfy & laid back. That’s my kind of perfect.

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Liam & his teacher, Ms. Laura. We actually found out this week that it was our last week with Ms. Laura as Liam’s teacher {huge bummer}. He has been with her all summer & has really learned so much from her. She’s one of those teachers that you know your child has really bonded with & has grown by leaps & bounds in such a short time. We are truly going to miss her!!

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Liam, below, with some of his pals at school on Pajama Day.

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Friday was Jersey Day! If you all know Stephen, then you know if absolutely killed him that we don’t have a Giants jersey that fits Liam right now…..but you all know that it’s almost impossible to keep the kiddos in clothes these days. Man, do they grow fast, or what?!?! We do, however, have this very cool Orlando Magic jersey that was just a tad snug, but we made it work 🙂

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To end their fun week, the kids had a party. Since it was Ms. Laura’s last day, they also called it a “good bye” party for her. It really worked out perfect because she, and his new teacher, Ms. Brittany, did an awesome job of working with the kids all week and then explaining to them was what happening. I was very thankful for that, and it really helped Liam. We, obviously, talked more to him about it at home, but he really didn’t have any questions for us because the ladies did such a great job at school ❤

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Not the greatest quality, as it’s a picture of a picture, but this is of Liam’s class on Friday with Ms. Laura.

We will miss you, too, Ms. Laura ❤

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Everyone’s gearing up for a busy week, this week. How about you?

Until next time!

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s 3rd Birthday Party {part 2}

August 13, 2014 casademurphy

If you missed yesterday’s post with the 1st part of our birthday party fun, you can catch up here.

The kids really had a ball at My Gym with the staff and all the train themed activities that were intermingled with their free-play time during the 2 hour fiesta. Stephen & I honestly didn’t have to worry about anything. It was perfect!

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Bubbles — Bubbles — Bubbles Everywhere!!

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It’s a “train wash” 🙂 …this was so cute! The kids could ride through the bumpers to “wash” their “train” with the bubbles….lol. Gotta love that. Very creative!

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This is a few action shots of another creative activity. Just before this, all the children were sitting in a circle on the carpet, and Ms. McKenzie told them that one of the train’s, Diesel, came by and made a big mess. Ms. Kendall then scattered all these bean bags , balls, and pom poms across the gym while they had their eyes closed. The kids were then asked to help clean up the “train yard” by putting each type of item together in it’s own bin (e.g., all the bean bags in one bin, all the balls in another, etc.).

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They all did so good and enjoyed helping to clean up. Again, really cute! ….even the smaller kiddos liked to join in 🙂

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So happy to have cousin, Sierra, to celebrate with us ❤ ….although impossible to get these two to look at the camera together 😉

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Taking a spin with our friend, Brandon, on the “birthday train”

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Way to go, Kenadie! Great balancing!

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I caught this little gymnast hanging from the uneven bars like this several times. Ha! Perhaps he is trying to tell us something?

The ball pit was a huge hit with all the kids!

Below, Crosby was getting a kick out of his big sister Kenley playing around.

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Nathan & Liam plotting mischief 😉

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Brandon!! 🙂

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I ,most likely, was telling him to NOT fall in while snapping this shot 😉

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Trampoline! This was the very 1st thing Liam ran over to once he got into My Gym. The ladies at the gym even complimented how good of a jumper he was….haha!

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Activities ended with this super fun ride on the zip line! Liam actually did not enjoy it that much, but he had just taken a little spill just before this began so I think that played a part. Poor little dude.

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What a great celebration for this little man! We could not have asked for a better time. To everyone who came out to play with us — THANK YOU!! It meant so much to us and to Liam. He really did have the best time. To others who were not able to make it there, but celebrated in spirit and/or helped out in other ways, we thank you, as well, and you know who are!!

I know I said it before on my personal Facebook page, but I want to say it again here…..thank you ALL for the sweet birthday wishes to Liam over his whole birthday weekend. We really felt the love for our little guy and his tender heart appreciated it, as well. It was awesome ❤ ❤

We could not have asked for a better 3rd birthday celebration!! So blessed.

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s 3rd Birthday Party {part 1}

August 12, 2014 casademurphy

We had a fantastic time at Liam’s 3rd birthday party a few Sunday’s ago!

I have been dying to share the invites that went out but wanted to wait until after the party, for obvious reasons {note: my contact info is whited out for privacy}. I ordered these from the most wonderful little shop on Etsy, MaitriDsigns. The shop owner, Rhianna, was so great to work with & had excellent customer service! She was super speedy with her design and delivery. She even custom designed the cute inserts that we used for the party info that some of you all received. I highly recommend for any party needs and we will definitely use her again!

My regular local gal for Liam’s holiday & special occasion shirts was on hiatus this summer {to spend more family time….can’t blame her for that}, so I had to seek out someone new for little man’s party shirt. I found someone via Etsy. While I was happy with this shirt, below, overall….I have to say there was absolutely no customer service. So, that was disappointing. No acknowledgement of my order….not even a business card dropped in the bag with the mailout. Bummer…but, again, super cute shirt.

With the help of Liam’s Grammy & Papa Rock, we were able to order these yummy Thomas the Train decorated cookies to distribute as party favors. They came from Favor Bakery in Winter Haven. What a wonderful job these ladies did! They tasted as delicious as they looked ❤ ….Liam’s 1st pick was Thomas, of course 🙂

The idea for a Thomas the Train themed party really 1st came from Liam {naturally}. It sprouted from him seeing this Thomas Signature Cake on display at our Publix for the last few months. Everytime we went by it while shopping, he would tell us that he wanted THAT cake for his birthday. So, once I eventually asked him what kind decorations he would like for his birthday party, he matter-of-factly told me, Thomas, and asked if he could have this cake. There was NO WAY, he was forgetting about this cake.

When we 1st went to order the cake, the bakery told us they thought it was discontinued. Talk about a heart attack….long story short, Publix came through and did a FAB job. It really was an awesome cake….and deceptively large {very tall}. We ate cake for a week, peeps! LOL 🙂

Liam’s party was held at My Gym in Maitland. It was amazing! What a great facility for little one’s to play. As part of the birthday package, Liam & his guests received free passes to enjoy another class, and we can’t wait to bring him back! The staff that assisted with our party were so friendly and worked great with all the kids.

I love this pic above! We literally had to snatch Liam up really quick as he was running around the gym & tell him to say ‘cheese’.

The kids had free time to explore and play throughout the facility, but then the staff would also periodically gather them together to conduct group activities that were all train themed. It was such a fun time!!

Liam dancing in center stage during once of the activities 😉

During this activity below, the kids went for a ride on the “choo-choo train”. Liam wasn’t too sure about this one, at first, as you can see him checking out Kenley & Karsten in this pic, here.

However, then he decided they were having a great time. so he hopped on & it was all smiles! Kenadie, Thompson & Brandon also enjoyed the train 🙂

It was so nice to have Great Grandma & Uncle Kenny come to the party, as well!

We have a lot more pics of the kiddos to share & I have decided to break those up into a 2nd part post for tomorrow, so this one isn’t as long.

However, let’s skip ahead to the CAKE …yum!

Look at that face when the girls brought it over…..is that priceless, or what?!?! {I didn’t even notice the super cute folded hands until I was looking at these pics days later…..heart.melted }

Lighting 3 candles for the 3 year old birthday boy!!!

Singing Happy Birthday! Again, I LOVE his face…..there is nothing better than the sheer joy you see. All the planning & prep for the day — THAT makes it ALL worth it.

Make a wish….Blow out the candles little dude!!!

Everyone hanging out …enjoying yummy cake & pizza!

One of my fav pics of the day ….so hard to get everyone smiling at once but that’s okay. Wonderful memories!

Stay tuned for Part #2 of the Birthday Party tomorrow!! 🙂

Note: The reviews expressed are solely my opinion & I do not receive any compensation or kickback.

July 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s 3rd Birthday Fun

August 8, 2014 casademurphy

Hard to believe a whole week has gone by now, since Liam’s 3rd birthday! While Stephen & I were pretty wiped out by Sunday night, we definitely had four fun-filled days of celebration with our little guy 🙂

If you caught my last post, then you know that he had a special wake-up call on his big day. Most of those balloons are still hanging around his room. Not sure we’ll ever be able to pop those little suckers….haha! He’s really enjoying them.

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We kept his birthday day pretty mellow, and it was just the 3 of us. We ventured to the movie theatre for Liam’s very 1st experience with the “Big Screen” and chose to see Disney’s ‘Planes Fire & Rescue’. He is in love with the Cars movies, and we watch those repeatedly. We got the 1st Planes movie through our DMC, but he wasn’t as into it. Thus, we weren’t sure how this trip would go over.

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Walking into the theatre was exciting for him & we had to explain what everything was. We got lucky & had almost the entire theatre to ourselves so he could walk around. There were SO MANY previews! — that definitely was a bummer….lost his interest a bit.

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Thoroughly enjoyed the movie theatre popcorn & his Hi-C drink 🙂

But folks….we only got through about 2/3 of the movie and he asked to go home….literally! Ha!

He was done. So, we headed out & went to lunch at Crispers. We’ll have to catch the end of the movie on DVD 😉

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After nap, we headed over to Sweet by Miss Holly for our most fav cupcakes. I think you tell by this super awesome smile that we enjoyed this treat!

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Later that evening, we enjoyed a visit from Mimi, Aunt Heather & cousin, Sierra. Liam was thrilled to get some awesome birthday gifts, including the Radiator Springs town from the Cars movie, as well as play with his cousin ❤

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The next day, we headed over to Grammy & Papa Rock’s house for a visit. Of course, this guy got some more presents and was all about it. This time, it was Thomas!

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My little conductor! All Aboard!!!!

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The fun continued on Saturday, when we got to celebrate one of our very bestest friend’s graduation from UCF with her doctorate degree in Education!! We are SO very proud of her. I am loving this pic below, but have to laugh because Liam was NOT happy that I pulled him away from playing in the pool to snap a quick pic. Can you tell? LOL

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We have TONS of birthday party pictures to share! I am working on those posts now.

Stay tuned!!

July 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Happy 3rd Birthday Liam!

July 31, 2014 casademurphy

Happy 3rd Birthday, our sweet little man, Liam Michael!

We love you SO much & are so proud of the strong individual you are becoming. It is definitely amazing to watch you grow right before our very eyes. Many times, I wish I could freeze time & hold you tight just a little longer before you take that next forward 🙂 …you are the light Mommy & Daddy’s lives!

A few nights ago, we sat down & “interviewed” Mr. Liam. That was pretty fun. He was both very thoughtful & serious with his answers. HA! We are going to start doing that from now on each year on his birthday.

I found this FREE printable interview sheet here via Pinterest (my fav!).

Other notable things these days….

1. He has started to do “pretend play” with his toys. He will talk to (or among) his toys as he is playing. Cutest darn thing. You can hear him making up stories now as he is playing.

2. He wants to do everything himself… or at least try. Makes for some difficult decisions, at times, but we manage. Gone are the days when I can pick out his outfits, too (insert my sad face…LOL).

3. Most recently, we have entered what I’ve been calling the “why” phase. He has started asking “why” to EVERYthing. Since we don’t want to diminish his inquisitiveness, we are answering him as best we can, but oh my gosh, dude….sometimes, it’s just because we said so 🙂

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Thanks to my obsession with Pinterest, we put a bunch of balloons in his room last night while he was sleeping and streamers on his door so he had something fun to wake up to this morning. He also got his present from us — his 1st watch (he had requested that).

When he came into our room this morning after waking up, he said: “Santa brought me balloons & a present” ….hahahaha! That was so cute!

Lots of fun planned for this little man the next few days. I’m sure he’ll be all tuckered out by the end of the weekend 😉

July 2014, Randomness

Throwback Thursday: Murphy Birthday Memories!

July 24, 2014 casademurphy

We are officially ONE WEEK away from Liam’s THIRD BIRTHDAY!! The excitement is definitely building around here 🙂

In honor of this most special day (and, of course, TBT), I wanted to take a look back at his last two birthday’s because ya know that’s always fun!

His 1st birthday party was a big to ‘do at our house and we opted for a “Baby Mickey” themed party. It was a very special celebration….

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I was “that” mom who didn’t let him have cake leading up to his birthday, so he had NO IDEA what to do with it once we gave him his little smash cake. Hilarious!

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That’s more like it 😉

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This was THE most perfect birthday boy outfit that our great friend hand-made just for Mr. Liam.

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Last year, for his 2nd birthday, we opted for his 1st trip to the Magic Kingdom instead of a big party. It was magical day….

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**I can’t believe how tall he’s gotten since last year looking at these pictures! Wow **

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He had fallen at school a few days before our Disney trip so you can see the nice goose egg right smack in the middle of his forehead for most of these picks. Oh well 🙂 …

I remember it was so hot last year trekking around the park. I don’t know if we were more crazy or brave for doing that, but we had a blast. You can check out the 2-part original post from our trip here & here.

Lots of fun is planned for next week!!! Can’t wait to share it with you all! ❤

July 2014, Randomness

Throwback Thursday: Murphy Memories!

July 17, 2014 casademurphy

In continued celebration of my Grampy’s birthday this week, I thought it would be fun to share pictures of his birthday party from two years ago — 2012. This was when we had just moved him out of the house he shared with my Grammy & into his own apartment in the retirement community where he still lives. He quickly made friends there and we had a large group gather together that day to enjoy his cake with us. It was a really nice afternoon. Liam was just shy of his 1st birthday that day, as well. Look at that face….I could just eat him up 🙂

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~ H

July 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Recent Happenings

July 15, 2014 casademurphy

Today, I would like to wish my Grampy a VERY Happy 89th Birthday!!

I am so thankful that are we able to create wonderful new memories with him. For those of you who know, the last few years have been rather difficult since my Grammy passed & we figured out that he was progressing with Dementia. It’s gotten worse more recently, and I give huge kudos to my mom for taking such great care of him. It’s definitely not an easy task on a day-to-day basis.

However, we had a great afternoon with him on Sunday to celebrate his birthday, and I was thrilled that he was feeling good and seemed to really remember everyone. We took him out to lunch and met up with his sister, Frieda and her two daughters (his nieces).

Liam colored a picture on his own birthday card for Grampy. It was really cute. We all know you can’t make an almost 3 year old do anything he doesn’t want to do, so it was awesome that he said yes to me when I asked him if he wanted to color a picture, and then he told me when he was done 🙂

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This was our group picture taken at lunch. It came out really awesome!

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The last few times that we have visited with Grampy, I have asked Liam to take a picture with Grampy but he has been too shy. So, I didn’t force. Let me just tell you that he was very loving and affectionate to Grampy on Sunday. It was awesome!! I know that in those moments it really made Grampy feel special. It warmed our hearts! I am treasuring this picture. When we brought Grampy back to his apartment that afternoon, Liam even went over to him and gave him a hug & a kiss all on his own. It was adorable ❤

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAMPY!! WE LOVE YOU!

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So, I was a little behind last week with my posts & didn’t get a chance to put up our 4th of July pictures. After much debate about where to go to catch fireworks, we ended up going back to Lake Eola & it was a great time for us, again….despite the rainy afternoon. Thankfully, all that cleared up just in time for the sun to go down 🙂

Here is me & my little man hanging out on our blanket and waiting for the festivities to begin.

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Snack break!

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Even though Liam has seen fireworks on tv several times since we saw them here last year, in person, nothing compares to the BOOM you experience live…well, it scared our little guy at first this year. This picture shows that emotion. I actually think it turned out pretty sweet. After a few minutes he settled down and sat up and watched the rest of the show. Afterwards, he said he had a good time and liked it 🙂

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