Happy Birthday to Me

I too managed to celebrate another birthday recently. The two weeks leading up to this year's event were very memorable, but not in a good way. It is a time I'd rather forget, but don't think that is realistic or possible. I was mentally and emotionally drained along with not feeling the greatest physically either right up until the day that none of us knew how much celebration would be going on this year. I managed to pull myself out of some of it the day before with a little bit of positive news and a lot of determination.

I was woken up the morning of my birthday by Noah and Zoe overly excited for me to open up the gifts they had picked out the night before. As Noah so cleverly put it, "You have to open it now, as I keep thinking about telling you what it is." So, with a couple of texts and phone calls to Daddy I opened my first gift. A popcorn maker. I'd been wanting one since Christmas time, but never purchased one. The next day I would open the "popcorn seeds" (as Zoe puts it) and some Kettle Corn Seasoning.

My morning didn't stop there. The kids and I had a lunch/play date scheduled with the Christensens', or at least that is what I thought. I went over there with the understanding that her kids were dieing to see mine since both families had recently been on vacations that over lapped and they hadn't played together in over 2 weeks. But when I got there Jalyssa had a babysitter waiting to take care of all the kids and we were off to an afternoon full of mystery.

Our first stop was lunch at Round Table. We were the first people there and got to pick our favorite pizzas. Next we had a little time to kill so we walked around Walmart. Then she took me to get a Vanilla Creme at Starbucks before surprising me with a pedicure at the Electric Sun Salon. I felt a little guilty as they weren't able to do 2 people at the same time so she had to sit there and watch me. However, I really enjoyed every minute of the pampering. I was so glad I had recently shaved my legs.
After our afternoon of fun I was on my way to meet Dan in Reno. She had arranged with him to keep the kids that evening so we could go out. In the end she ended up keeping Noah and Zoe overnight.

Dan and I had a nice dinner at Claim Jumpers. It was even better since it hardly cost us a dime. I had earned a free $50 gift card that we used. I had a Roasted Artichoke and a Steak Flat-bread. Dan had a Roasted Chicken Dish. We shared a yummy Lemon Italian Creme Cake. It was so good. Then we were off to do a little shopping.

We decided to head to Old Navy and try and get a few things for Noah. School was starting Monday and he had outgrown all of his pants and some of his shirts. Plus we had a few valuable coupons set to expire. We had a lot of fun shopping and were ready to check out when the electricity went off. Luckily they agreed to hold our items until we could return. Turns out a good portion of Reno was without power too. I was so glad we decided to eat first and avoid the Friday night dinner rush, or we would have gone without.

Since, most of Reno was dark we headed back home and stopped at Osh-Kosh in Legends at Sparks. We found better quality pants there for the same price. I even talked them into giving me the coupon price without producing the coupon. I explained we hadn't planned on going there, but the power was out in Reno and I know I was emailed a coupon. I guess they were more than happy to have me spend my money there. We also stopped at the Gap Outlet where we found some shirts for both boys on the clearance racks. We found shirts for Jack for less than $1 and Noah's were around $2. Unfortunately they had nothing in Zoe's size.

I know kind of a crazy date activity, but it is so much nicer to be able to shop without kids. Then it was time to head home and pick up Jackson.

Saturday was spent finishing up the Back to School Preparations and a big Costco trip.

After church on Sunday the festivities continued. We had a nice BBQ chicken dinner with roasted corn on the cob, tomato salad from the garden, and potato salad. Dessert consisted homemade Vanilla Almond Ice Cream (Shelly Egberts' recipe) and Brownies from scratch.

Jack enjoying the potato salad...
Dinner was followed by more gifts...This lovely thing helps make my house smell good.My good friend Shelly gave this to me:
This quote means a lot to me. It goes right along with a conversation I had with her on my actual birthday. (she didn't know it was my birthday at the time and gave me a hard time for not telling her) It goes right along with the positive thinking I am working on these days. Plus can't we all use a little more faith?

Tuesday, my friend Brya took me out to dinner and ice cream. Then we sat in my driveway and talked for close to 2 hours. It was so nice to have an evening out and catch up with her. It seemed like we hadn't talked in months and had so much to catch up on. Plus, I think both of us were stalling hoping the kids would be in bed before we got home.

This is what I came home to:
Jack's favorite past time is making messes. At least the other kids were both in bed.

I was spoiled rotten this year. Thank you to all who went out of their way to make me feel special and important. And for helping me find a reason to celebrate.