Birthdays

We have had a few birthdays in our family!  At the end of April, I turned 35.  That's right - I'm not afraid to admit my age! :) At least not yet...

Jerry brought home roses for my birthday.

I requested Saltgrass Steakhouse for my birthday lunch, so we went after church with my parents! It was so very yummy - I had to get a picture so I could remember how yummy it was.

My children were with me in the jewelry store a few weeks before my birthday, and since I am all baby girl all the time right now, I of course, had to look at the little girl jewelry before I could leave.  I saw a little girl necklace that was the shape of a shell with a small diamond in the center.  I exclaimed how great that would be for Hannah since her name means "beautiful shell." Lo and behold, he told Jerry about this necklace so my boys and Jerry went and got me the necklace for my birthday!  Technically it is a gift for Hannah, but it is so incredibly sweet that Aaron remembered that I exclaimed over it and told Jerry and they went and found it for me.  A perfect birthday.

Then Aaron turned 9! I cannot believe my firstborn is already 9.  Time really does go so quickly.  He and Ethan alternate years having a party, so this year he just had a family over for some play and pizza.  He requested a Resees cake, so I made him a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting with chopped Resees on top.  It was amazingly good.  So good I think we have to throw out the rest of it so that I do not eat every last bite...

He decided to spike his hair into a mohawk just for his big day.  Lovely, no?

Finally, one of my grandmothers (my mom's mom) turns 80 this weekend! Her whole family is throwing a huge (like over 100 guests!) surprise party for her. I really hope she doesn't have a heart attack from such a shock at her age... ;) Anyway, with all the adoption stuff going on right now, there was no way we could make a trip to Wisconsin to be there with her, but I did have the privilege of making her a chair back cover for her big day! I embroidered "Birthday Girl" on one side and "Kiss me, I'm 80!" on the other.  I hope she likes it!

Ethan is 7!

An alternate title for this post could be, "Wow! Time sure flies..."

Ethan posing with his Lego cake! He really liked his cake this year!

Ethan and Aaron alternate years having a birthday party with friends over, and this year was Ethan's turn.  (Andrew and Hannah will alternate, too.  This cuts way down on my party bill...)  He really, really wanted to have his party at the park this year, so that is what we planned to do.  When we sent out the invitations, the forecast was for a high of 70 and sunshine all day.  With 3 days until party day, the forecast was for a high in the 50's with 100% chance of rain. :( I made an executive decision to move the party to our house.  The problem with that being that I hadn't planned for any activities or things to occupy the kids during the party since we would be at the park! What on earth was I going to do with 10 children for 2 hours???  Thanks to Pinterest, I knew we would do a Lego Party.  (Yea for Pinterest to the rescue!!)

I downloaded a Lego font to print up the decorations and prizes.  It was so cute!

We ended up with a Lego cake, that was pretty awesome, Lego games, and Lego prize bags!

Lego Bunting  for decorations!  Ethan thought this was the best - it is still up! :)

Lego toss...

This game was hilarious to watch! The kids had to suck Legos to the end of their straw and drop them in their bowls - no hands allowed!  The poor, two girls - they weren't bold enough to shove their way in between the boys to get more Legos and lost. :(

A row of mom's watching the fun.  I am so blessed to have good friends with children the same age as mine!!

Blowing out the candles!

Overall, the party was a success, but I didn't have enough planned to fill the time.  There was some wild play in the un-filled time, but no one got hurt, thank goodness.

The Big 0-6

Ethan made it so easy on me - he just wanted a rectangle cake with green icing.  Look at him eye that candle! He is so excited to be 6 years old!

Make a wish!!

Pile of presents...

Surrounded by the things he chose at Wal-Mart with his birthday money from Grandma & Grandpa Thatcher.

Help Me Rhonda!!

Del is taking me to see the opera concert Carmen that the Orlando Philharmonic is putting on.  I'm very excited!!  I've never been to an opera whereas Del has been to several.

I can't wait to hear this:

I'm going to need to buy a dress though.  The attire is Sunday best.  I was going to try to to shove myself into my cool little black dress Del got me from Banana Republic, but after spending all day long rubbing my belly, I know I need to buy a dress.  Which of these do you like better?

This one is from Gap.  It's costs $60.  The material is pima cotton/modal.  I like how simple it is.

This one is from Target.  It's costs $30 and is rayon/spandex.  Everyone in my house likes this one better except for me.  I am loath to purchase rayon/spandex clothing.  I think you get what you pay for that that there is uh...cheap.

I'm not done looking yet, but this is the style I like.  I have to cover my upper arm because of my turtle tattoo.  And I like my skirt to go below my knee.  Any suggestions?

Anna

Dear Anna,

Thank you for making this past year so fun, exciting, memorable, adventurous and...expensive.  You are a blessing.  Happy birthday (yesterday).

Love your devoted mother (with no mouse for the computer anymore)