I had a very Happy Birthday!

So I am a birthday brat!  My parents spoiled me what can I say?  Birthdays didn't mean tons of money or ridiculous parties, but they did mean a day or few days where you feel really special and loved.  This year my family and friends, and especially my princes came through!
First of all Mother's Day was the Sunday of my birthday week so I personally took that as a sign I should celebrate all week!
Diane at work agreed and made me yummy chocolate chip cookies for work on Tuesday!
That night Michael played Mr Mom while I got to go to the movies with my work BFFs!
Thursday Hank and I had lunch with a fun church friend to keep the fun going!
I had a very fun birthday lunch with my Mom, Dad, Avery and Hank of one of my favorite foods, PIZZA! 
Then, I got to enjoy my mother's day birthday combo prize with my two favorite ladies.  Mom, Linde and I got to play princess and have manicures and pedicures together! 
Finally that night we all went to the Ranger game and had a tailgate party, too. 
It was a blast!

At first I was a little skeptical about the tail gate idea, but then I remembered it involved one of my other favorite food groups, CHIPS.  I knew Michael had the right idea when I saw how much my little buddies loved it, too.  We also had JD's Chippery for dessert, yummy yummy yummy! 

The boys had a GREAT first Ranger game.  They didn't get tired or cranky walking in, because they rode in style!

All of us had a great time!  I think the boys probably had so much fun because they had so many great laps to occupy.  Hank even charmed the socks off the entire row behind us when were too boring. 

Hanky got a little sleepy, but LouLou's lap was just what the doctor ordered.

And EVERYONE knows how great fireworks are for a birthday present, wasn't that sweet of the Rangers to do that for me?

If you look close even Hank is loving the fireworks, that's my boy!

Thanks MAW, GREAT birthday.  Almost as good as the year you surprised me with Papa!  I am not sure you will ever be able to top that one, but this was a very close second.  I love you!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I haven't blogged much because we have been too busy having Mother's Day and then Birthday fun!!!

I have to say it is pretty telling that I got to have a great Mother's Day because of help from our mothers. 

I got to see this little punkin and his punkin friends sing precious songs, do hilarious moves, and wear a BE-U-TEE-FULL hat made just for me while doing it!  I also got to have cookies and juice, every 3 year olds definition of fun, especially the juice.  It cracked me up they were so proud to give us juice!

LouLou came along and held this little punkin so I could watch and snap 5,000 pictures undisturbed. 

I love that Avery and his favorite partner in crime Reese are doing this move while everyone else just sits there.  It was very eye opening to see that the two "trouble makers" are the ones that seem to have lots of personality. 

See!

I had so much fun going to Avery's class' Mother's Day tea, and I would have missed out without our moms.  Michael's mom swooped in and watched the boys on Tuesday that week when I was supposed to work Thursday and Friday so I could go.  It was so so nice of her to turn her week upside down and come in for only one day.  Such a loving, sacrificial mom move!  My Mom came on Thursday even though I wasn't working and she could have worked that day to help with the Hankster so I could enjoy the party.  Then she treated us to a Cinco de Mayo dinner and watched the boys on Friday while I worked as planned, another sacrificial mom move.  We are so thankful for our amazing moms who continue to show us how the good moms do it!  We sure do love you two! 



5 Question Saturday :)

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?
Usually, but I stay up later.  I read or watch TV.  Michael hits the pillow and is out, I need time to wind down.  Once about every two weeks I got nuts and stay up really late doing all the things I want to get done without little helpers!

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?
None, sorry Michael.  He could definitely grow a beard to fear or a serious stache, but it is scratchy. 

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?
Ski trip when I was in middle school.  A-I hate to be cold.  B-I was miserably car sick the whole way there, got to pull over and puke in the mountains.  C-I feel out of control skiing, I am not good at that. D-I was a bratty 13 year old.  E-Z I was a bratty 13 year old. 
4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?
I think I started following several college friends all at once.  I think Annalee and Tiff were the first. 

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?
Kind of.  I like the idea of going with friends, spending a fun day doing fun things.  But, as mentioned in question 3 I get horribly motion sick so I don't love roller coasters, tea cups, etc.  So, sometimes the fun things aren't that fun.  I loved Sea World and Disney that had shows and other things besides just rides to keep it fun for everyone!

5 Question Friday

It's been forever since I did this, but I thought it would be fun to try again!

1. Have you ever had roommates?

Yes!  I just recently did a post mentioning them!  I also loved my freshman year roomie, but she transferred and we lost touch.  We have also had fun having Linde, Blake, Courtney and one my high school BFF's Abby Leonard as roommates since we've been married!!  I guess Jeff needs to come live with us so he won't feel left out.  :)


2. How many names do you/your children have? (i.e. Prince Charming William Phillip Arthur Louis John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)
We each have the standard 3, I guess I have 4 if you count my maiden name.  Nothing too exciting for us in this department!  However,  my name is so great my sister is going to have a precious baby girl someday, probably in like 2020, and name her AbbeJoJr isn't that sweet?
3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding?
No, I thought it was silly, but now I wish I had recorded it.  I knew it would be long, but I think I would have enjoyed some of it.  I did catch the royal kiss from the break room TV at work!
4. What is the messiest room in your house?
Oh, I wish there were just one.  Michael's closet it almost always a mess!  The laundry room is a closet and never gets cleaned so it is a contender.  At least half of the time my closet is a mess, too.  But I can say that the main areas get picked up and put up at the end of every day.  Oh, but then there is under the dining room table, heaven help us food throwing/dropping/spilling will be the death of me.
5. What is your ideal mothers day?
I don't really know.  It always falls close to my birthday which makes me feel a little guilty about wanting/needing a big to do.  Plus we still have our moms who do SO very much to make our lives and our kids lives amazing that is hard to think about me.  But, I think this one will be good.  We don't have much planned, hopefully just a fun day with church and the fam!

We had a great Easter

We got to go to spend a little bit of time at the lake!
Uncle Jeff got a really great Easter basket treat!

We got to make a bunny cake one of my favorite Easter traditions!

And best of all we got to celebrate the true meaning of Easter with our Tyler church family.  They even had a great bag of stuff for Avery for during church that we used later to try to talk some more about the real meaning of Easter, but I am pretty sure it was over his head.

I love this picture because it is such a real family picture!  Next year we will attempt to take one before church, clearly the natives were more than restless after far too long of still and quiet!



It's A....

Easter weekend we went to the big reveal party for Blake and Courtney's baby.

Michael and I dressed the part and logged our vote.  We proudly wore our pink shirts HOPING for a girl*, even though we had both deep down changed our minds and were leaning towards boy.  Avery never doubted and said Aunt Courtney's baby is a boy. 

 

I have never been more THRILLED to be WRONG! 

And I do love that Avery was right. 

We are getting a baby BOY cousin!! We are SO EXCITED!!  Baby Cooper will be so precious! 

If you are a person who likes to find out the sex of your baby you should totally have a party like this.  I thought it was so fun.  We got to have cake and ice cream along with a side of excitement and suspense.  We had to wait until the cake was cut and then check out the inside frosting to see a hint of blue or pink.  It was so FUN, did I say that yet?  This was way better than trying to get Michael, Avery and Hank to squeal and be excited after a brother to brother "Hey Michael, they baby's a boy, his name is gonna be Cooper."  I got to giggle and squeal and be all excited with other girls who giggle and squeal!

I also loved the Easter egg reveal of the name.  Great job guys, it is a precious name!

I can't wait to see 3 little boys running around the back yard wherever we gather having so much fun and getting into all kinds of trouble.  I know they will be such good friends.  I am over the moon excited for my boys to have a cousin so close in age to play with! 

Thanks Blake and Courtney, this little buddy is answer to my prayers that my little buddies would have friends in the family to play with!

*for the record of course the only thing Michael and I really care about is that we get to be an Aunt & Uncle!  we couldn't care less about if it is to a nephew or niece, and we already have tons of boy toys so Cooper will LOVE to play at Aunt Abbe's house! I hope!!

Rules Are Meant to be Broken

this is not a statement i usually live by. 
i am a very typical "type a" first born.  i almost always follow the rules.  but my senior year in college i broke them twice.  and my mother even approved, she as a fellow first born also almost always follows the rules and encourages the same for her girls.
the first rule breaking resulted in the only time i have ever been fired.  the summer before my senior year i worked at camp shiloh with kiddos from rough neighborhoods in nyc, long island, ny and a very special bunch from a rough area in connecticut.  it was an amazing experience!  i got a call from my boss for one of my school year jobs as an RA, i know my nerd rating just went up 10 fold, that our annual retreat had been moved up and i would need to leave camp early to attend this super fun (insert eye roll here) event.  i decided to break the rules and stay at camp to honor my commitment to the kids and camp.  so my understanding and compassionate boss fired me, love her!
BUT i am so glad she did.  because it lead to the second major rule breaking experience.  after one semester with a pot luck roommate in on campus apartments i decided to break the rules and move off campus to live with my friends. 
it was one of the BEST rule breaks ever!  i talk about my roommates like we lived together for years even though it was a few short months.  they were such great friends letting me in mid school year and crash with them all the time before the move was official, too!

a lot has changed in the last 10 years, but boy am i glad that we can pick up where left off and feel like it is 2001 again! 

 even if it is a beating to try to be cute when it used to be so effortless.

 maybe because precious little punkins like these keep us up at night.

and a big thanks to this guy and his photographer buddy evan for putting up with a whole lotta girl time with no complaining. 
the shiner may have helped a little.  :)

 let's not wait so long for the next reunion roomies!