The streamers with hearts hanging on them made the living room a little bit difficult to negotiate. I loved the adorable asymmetrical stars by the shelves in the back.
Elijah left me this sweet note. In case you can't decode his "doctor handwriting like Daddy" here is a transcript: Happy Birthday Mom, Here's a Very Very Happy Birthday, *heart* Elijah Ricks *smiley face* Hug, Very Happy Birthday, *heart heart heart heart heart* Elijah Ricks
Gabe clipped this darling Happy Birthday sign onto the blind strings which he tied to a rocking chair as "decoration". In addition to the decorations, this was the first year where I actually felt that my boys were more well-behaved for my birthday than on an average day. I'm not sure if, in previous years, I just had some ridiculous idea that your birthday should be a good day and therefore I expected too much from my kids but the last couple of birthdays had been pretty lousy boy-behavior days. In fact, I think they made me cry on my birthday for the last three years. Since 31 marks my prime (I know I previously stated it was 29, but c'mon, wisdom comes with age, right? My prime is definitely 31.) maybe the boys could sense the gravity of the situation. Maybe they were tuned into the cosmic vibrations of the planets aligning in my favor and responded appropriately by not fighting with each other. I mean, according to my horoscope the planets Mercury and Uranus can get along on my birthday and they are literally not even in the same orbit, so brother getting along should be easy. Of course, my horoscope also claims that I am a health fanatic with a gift for sports.... so yeah.
For my birthday I really wanted a pair of real cowgirl boots. So our wonderful next-door neighbor watched our kids while Marc and I went out boot shopping and then headed over to a friend's house for games and dessert.
THESE boots are made for walkin'.
Here I am with my dear friend Alisha who made quite possibly the most amazing birthday dessert that has ever existed in the whole of time and space. It involves made-from-scratch brownies, fresh strawberries, cream and some sort of forbidden magic. It tasted even better than it looks if that is possible. I also want to point out my awesome birthday t-shirt which proves that I am a nerd. I think almost no one loves it as much as I do, but in case you are a weirdo like me you can buy one here. Anyway, it has a picture of a monocled and top-hatted culture in a petri dish who is saying "Quite." (He is saying it with a British accent. I'm not sure one can utter the word "quite" without a British accent and anyway, who would want to?) The caption below the picture reads; "Figure A: A Cultured Culture". I think one reason I love it so much is that it reminds me of my friend Molly who is both cultured and super science-nerdy.
Besides the amazing boots and shirt, I also asked for Marc to play "Just Dance" as a gift to me. Marc, as a rule, does not "just dance". He will slow dance with me, he may even attempt a little swing but free-form fast dances? Forget-about-it. The problem is, he can't see how down-right adorable he is when he is dancing. Maybe I am a mean wife for asking for something which he finds terribly embarrassing, but I think even he will tell you that he had a great time. He totally rocked a guitar solo dance part. That's my man.
We returned home far later than we should have to relieve our next-door-neighbor. He is a delight and regaled us with his harrowing tale of little boy wrestling, rustling and eventually hushing. He said he would be willing to babysit again and he knows we are Mormon and everything but next time he will need a bottle of Jack Daniels in the fridge to help him recover after putting everyone to bed. I know how he feels, or at least I would if I hadn't just hit my prime. I no longer feel fatigue. After I'm done writing this I plan to *yawn* go run *big yawn* t e n m i l ezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Glad to see you're a Wooter too! Love those shirts! And seriously, I had the same reservations about turning 31. You're not just 30, but INTO your 30's. It's different somehow. I think about you a lot when my three little boys are having a hard time getting along and I wonder how you get through each day with an extra two. I need some big pointers because some days seem a success when everyone is merely alive at the end to go to bed. You, my dear, are amazing!
ReplyDeleteHey that's me. also, I did indeed laugh at the cultured culture, also just thinking about marc letting loose with fancy dancy moves makes me happy.
ReplyDelete