A birthday surprise!

This is my feeble attempt to write about the magic and joy of the past 24 hours. I wish I had even an ounce of writing talent, so that I could portray, even a tiny bit, what an incredible gift my husband gave me.


Lets start on Friday. Hubby graciously agreed to get up the wee hours of the morning to do some black Friday shopping together. The weather was crisp and cool. We made a stop at the gas station to grab a cup off coffee and off we went to Sams Club. It was basically empty, and we enjoyed some pretty stress free shopping. Then we made a stop at Burlington Coat Factory, then Target, then Lowes. Really, it doesn't sound exciting, but it was so much fun. I know for the most part he was just going with the flow, except for Sams Club and Lowes. But, he never acted bored with the shopping...though he probably would have much rather been sleeping or watching football. Then, we get home and he put up outside Christmas lights, again my suggestion :). Okay, I'm guessing by this point, you the reader are bored to tears. What I am trying to get across is that my hubby gave me the best birthday present ever...we did everything I wanted to do and he never complained! hahaha.

Okay, we'll fast forward to Saturday, 3 pm. I am sitting minding my own business on the couch (yes grandma...I was actually sitting down and relaxing!) and there is a knock on the door. I go to answer and my good friends Cindy and Aimee are standing there! They say "Surprise, we are here to take you out~!". It didn't register for a long time. I looked like absolute hell and I just couldn't get what they meant. Hubby had to break it down for me. He had planned a birthday surprise which included him driving me and my friends around for a night out on the town and then spending the night in a hotel room! I packed my bags, still in absolute shock, and Barclay drove us downtown. We checked into the hotel, and I finally got into gear and got my party face on. We went for a drink in the hotel bar, then to The King and I for dinner. Then, to The Old Rockhouse to watch an awesome 80's band and dance the night away. I don't think I stopped smiling all night. I felt so loved!~ I refused the shot he bought for all of us, and I think my poor tore up belly at least thanks me for that. It seems so surreal.

I am so thankful for my hubby and Aimee and Cindy, and Grandma/Grandpa who watched the boys so this could all happen. Thank you really doesn't even cut it. You gave me a wonderful memory.

Happy Birthday to me....and grandma!

So, it was my birthday on Tuesday, and grandma's as well.  I turned 34.  Three-Four...I need to let that sink in.  It doesn't seem like I should be that old.  Which I guess is good.  You are only as old as you feel, right?  It just seems that a 34 year old would be much wiser than I am.  Much more sophisticated and mature.  I am starting to get wrinkles, which I never ever imagined I would, so I just need to accept that the years are going to pass and I am going to feel and look older.  Boooo!  3 - 4...it still just doesn't seem quite right. 

On our birthday, Barclay surprised both Grandma and I with flowers and cards.  It was simple but wonderful.  I got mad at him last year because he got me a gift card.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the massage I got out of it, but I wanted a little more "thought" put into my birthday.  So the surprise of flowers was perfect!  Barclay also took his mom out to dinner a movie, a mother-son date.  I'm sure she loved it, alone time with her son.  I would love for Owen and/or Levi to do that for me. 

I've had the most perfect birthday week ever!  Its been so relaxing.  The kids are at grandma/grandpas for the weekend.  We've got some christmas decorations up, did some black friday shopping, and now hubby is making me biscuits and gravy.  So perfect!

Since Thanksgiving was this week as well, I want to take a moment to write what I am thankful for, as cheesy and trite as this may be:  I am thankful for my husband, who provides so much for our family - both financially but more importantly, emotionally.  My boys, even though I get frustrated and annoyed at times, could not imagine life without them.  My health.  My in-laws, they are so loving and a wonderful support system.  My friends.  My dog.  My house.  My iPhone. 

A wreck today

We got rear-ended today.  Just minding our own business, sitting at a stop sign and bam!  A hit from behind.  I got out of the van to have a nice conversation with the driver (who are we kidding, I was ready to kick some tail).  I walked to the car with a WTF look on my face, then saw the driver.  He was a 16/17 year old kid and was clearly scared to death.  My first thought was that he took the car without his parent's permission, but then he called his dad and just started to saying "I'm so sorry".  I felt bad for him.  It was an honest mistake, one that any of us could make as we text and talk on our cell phones all the time while driving.  Luckily, its just minimal damage to our van.  I talked to the kids dad on the phone and he asked if it was really his son's fault.  I was like "well, I was sitting at a stop sign and got rear-ended..pretty cut and dry". 

We have a few rough nights with Levi last week.  Two nights he was up all night screaming.  That honestly makes me re-think the whole idea of more babies...I'm too old for that stuff!  I felt like I was walking through water on Friday, I was so tired!  I took him to the doc and he had a double ear infection, better that then the flu.  The antibiotics are already helping I think.  He slept well last night and seemed in better spirits today.  My throat is starting to hurt so I really hope I'm not getting sick now! 

Well, Tuesday is my birthday.  I went to a work happy hour on Friday and a guy I work with guessed my age as 35.  Men, never ever try to guess a woman's age.  NEVER.  Just say 25.  I don't care if she looks 80.  Unless of course the woman really looks 25 then guess 18.  And if she looks 18, then you really shouldn't even be talking to her cause that is getting into dangerous territory.  Okay, back to me.  I'm not going to be 35...am I?  I seriously forget how old I am sometimes!  Sad!  No, only 34. 

I'm so excited for Christmas.  I really hope Owen is into presents this year...though I'm into presents enough for all of us!

Damn you facebook

So I had a facebook account about a year ago.  I deactivated it because I couldn't handle the flood of memories and feelings that resulted in seeing all these people I went to high school with.  I was not exactly popular and high school was pretty much torture for me.  (It still strikes me as ironic that I married a guy who was one of the most popular in his school and star of his team's state winning football team).  There are lots of reasons I did not have many, I'm sorry I mean ANY good friends in HS....I've gone through hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of therapy to finally "get over" it.  Well, my loving husband took me back to where I went to high school earlier this year and I felt a release of all this anger and saddness of not having the happy-go-lucky, fun, exciting school experience that every child deserves.  And now, its just a part of my history, something that cultivated and made me who I am today...and I've turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.  Now I have the most wonderful friends who I appreciate more than words can say.  So why am I mad at facebook?  Because I felt "healthy" enough to re-activate my account last week....and I was happy to see several old faces and see where life has taken them over the years...it was so interesting to look at pictures...to reconnect with people and not feel any bitterness....and all of this wasted probably about 30 hours of my time :-)  Facebook is a black hole, you log on to "just take a peek" and 2 hours later you've wasted precious nap time in front of the computer!!

A little funny bit about Owen...last night daddy was putting him to bed and he said "daddy can you get the clippers and clip the nail from my big toe?".  O-M-G...I mean seriously, this is the kid who didn't talk in May, and now he is so specific that he gives daddy grooming orders.  Love it.

Okay, gotta go.  I feel facebook withdrawl.

Good morning mister-cranky-pants

Poor Levi, he was just being a happy go lucky 12 month old, then momma took him for his well baby checkup and bam!  He ends up with a runny nose and bad cough...I guess that is to be expected, the doc office is full of germs from sick kids.  Our practice has seperate sick vs well waiting rooms, but they should separate the exam rooms too.  As Levi was crawling all over the floor and putting everything he could find in his mouth, I knew this would happen.  Everything during the apt went well.  He is 30 inches, 24lbs, in the 75% for both height and weight.  He has 6 "words" (dada, papa, bruder (brother), baba (bottle), ba (bath, we know this is bath cause he will point to the tub and say it), baby.  He sometimes says mama but not too much).  The doc didn't give me any grief about not vaccinating, which I was very pleasantly surprise about (we follow the generation rescue protocol http://www.generationrescue.org/vaccines.html).  Overall, a good visit. 

Some exciting news....Levi took his first step today! 

Oh, I have to go...Owen and daddy home from Little Gym and it sounds like Owen is throwing a fit....