The Last of the Bashes

Although Jon's Birthday was on Monday, I was a slacker and didn't get a blog posted. Oh well. Better late than never. Monday was pretty low-key. He went to work as normal. The kids bounced around waiting for him to come home to open presents, as normal. The first thing Julianne said to him in the morning was, "Happy Birdday, Daddy!". In her sleepy-happy-to-see-you voice. It was very cute. Finally, he came home and it was all the kids could do to let him open his own presents.

Luckily for them, he's a little more gracious about having "help" than they are...
His parents gave him a meter for his car repairs. We got him a book and a movie and a shirt and a hat. Nothing terribly exciting, but all excellent gifts, I think. Our families showered him with well-wishes and gifts. It was a good day, I'd say. Nothing like feeling the love from all around.

After presents we were deciding where to go for dinner and the kids felt the need to have a short photo session.

Yeah, those are my kids. :). We ended up at Famous Dave's for dinner and it was delicious. He didn't ask for a cake, (since we'd just finished Brooklyn's) we were going to hit Cold Stone. That got delayed, however, since we were wanting to skype with his parents and get the kids to bed at a decent hour. It occured to me that this was our 10th of his birthdays to celebrate together and that kinda blows my mind. It shouldn't. I'm well aware our 10th anniversary is this fall. I guess it just hasn't hit me yet. 10 great years of being together. Happy Birthday to my one and only. May this year be full of happy memories, many blessings and good fortune!
We love you, Jon!

Sprinklers, Zoo, and a Birthday Bash

Not that we could tell today, it's raining like crazy, but last week it was gorgeous weather and we played in the sprinklers. Our house was amazingly hot because I wasn't sure I could use the AC w/o the natural gas, so we went out to play. The kids loved it. Even Julianne was brave enough to get a little wet. She thoroughly enjoyed running around in her swimsuit at least.


Then, Wednesday was early out day and I decided it was time to hit the zoo. We missed the train by ONE day (Grrr..) but we had a blast with the Morris' (thanks again, guys!). I remember now why I bought a pass before. We used to go with the Christiansen's all the time and it was an excellent way to kill the morning. Julianne was even willing to ride in the stroller which shocked me but I was oh-so-grateful.

Finally, The BIG Birthday.... I have to mention that I did the cake! No one keel over from shock :). I'm actually very proud of myself. Yes, I realize that it's just a silhouette. Yes, I realize I traced it and did nothing by hand (but the awful handwriting). Still. I think it turned out great!


I think I'll leave the detailed cakes to Jon, but maybe I'll work on these simple ones :). Brooklyn had a great birthday. I took the little kids with me and we helped with snack time at school. Since it was for her birthday, she could take cupcakes. She grinned from ear to ear while they sang to her and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. I should've taken a picture...

We opened presents as soon as Dad got home from work and Julianne had a little trouble letting Brooklyn open them. Since Julianne was encroaching on her space, Mason felt like he was being left out. Good thing Brooklyn is so patient with them!


Unintentionally, this birthday turned into a Barbie birthday. She got some Barbies from her family in Utah, I got her a Barbie balloon, had a Barbie cake, and got a Barbie move. She loves it, though, so it was perfect. (More on the Barbies later)...

After dinner we did cake and just like before, Julianne almost blew out the candles before Brooklyn could.
Then, we dug in. It was tasty, if I do say so myself :). (Feel free to come have a slice, we'll be having some sort of cake/dessert on Monday for Jon...)

One of Brooklyn's gifts from my dad was a Barbie. As soon as she pulled it out, I recognized it. I had a Barbie just like this one when I was young. It has a switch on her back that makes her arms move up to her head. Her comb, brush and blow dryer fit in her had and she can brush her own hair. She has this furry cape thing that goes over her gown. She was my favorite Barbie and I played with her all the time!!
My mom was notorious for her stashes of gifts. She had a cupboard in the basement that was full of little gifts. Whenever we got invited to a Birthday party, we headed to the closet and chose a gift. When my mom would take a gift to someone with a new baby, she'd always take a little something for the older kids from the closet so they wouldn't be jealous of all the gifts the new baby was getting. There are still some wrapped presents in the computer room waiting for just such an occasion. Apparently, my Dad started digging and found this little treasure. Jon looked it up and these Barbies, still in the box, are going for at least $50 on eBay. Some are listed for more!! Crazy, huh? I think it's totally awesome that Brooklyn has a Barbie just like the one I used to have (and is still floating around at my Dad's house). She loves it and played with it all night. Just look at how the accessories were packaged!! When was the last time you opened a toy that looked like this???
The little brochures and papers in the box were offers that expired by June of 1986 and 1987! I was having a hey day last night going through it all. I flipped through the brochure of the other things you could buy saying, "We had this." "We had that dress." "We had that Barbie." "We had that skirt.." It was great! It makes me giggle to think that it is worth that much.

I'm still in a little denial that Brooklyn is 7. I'm not really sure how that happened. She seems so grown up and then something will happen and I'm reminded that she's still my Baby Girl. Unfortunately for her, I'm not sure she'll ever outgrow that nickname... Oh well. At least it should be a sign of affection for her. It definitely is for me. I'm so lucky she is ours and we love her to pieces. Not that she ever reads this (or my Facebook for that matter), but Happy Birthday, Babe!! We love You!!

Pathetic and a recap.

It's pathetic how little I blog. I think about it. I write blogs in my head. I take pictures with the sole purpose of putting them on here. Does it ever get done? Nope. I've been on a slight emotional roller coaster lately. Don't worry. Nothing's wrong. It's all in my head. I've been missing lots of people lately. If I don't get out of my house for a while, I feel really alone. Like I said, it's just in my head. There isn't anything wrong with staying home. There's nothing wrong here, either. I have friends and we hang out every now and then. I even have people far away that I talk to regularly. Some days, it just all gets to me in a way that I'm not sure how to handle. Maybe it's my 'old' age. Maybe it's just me being selfish. Who knows. It'll pass. It always does. :) On to happier things. Easter came and went with no acknowledgement on the old blog. So, here's some picture randomness for all your viewing pleasure :).

Meet our resident Bunny. We've been watching him grow all summer. He lives under our deck and comes out around breakfast to eat grass and the leaves on the bushes. The bigger he gets, the more we see him. While I don't mind having him around, I wonder if planting a garden will even be worth it? Will he eat everything I plant? Who knows. Lucky for him, he's smart enough to not let the kids get close. Once he decides we're coming out to play he disappears. We'll see if he hangs out all summer....

We colored eggs. At bedtime the night before Easter. But at least we did it. That's what happens when I work 5 nights out of 7 and one night we do our weekly Costco run (Jon likes to go with me for that one...). The kids enjoyed it. We always run out of eggs before they're bored, but we don't really need 3 dozen boiled eggs so....
Not related to Easter, but these kids are classic in their sleeping positions. Julianne must have the light on until she falls asleep anymore. We started leaving it on so Brooklyn could read (and not destroy her eyesight) and Julianne freaks out if we turn it off before she's asleep. She appreciates a good book in bed, as well....
What's wrong with this? Don't you make your bed before bedtime and then sleep on top of it, at the foot no less, so you don't have to make it in the morning? You don't? Huh. She does.
Jon took the kids to the annual Fire Station breakfast here in Norwalk. Brooklyn was there, too but she went with her friend so she wasn't in the pics. I, as usual, was at work. They had a blast, though. They had breakfast there and then got to climb on the fire engines. Pure delight from these two. They were thoroughly entertained.
And finally, Easter morning. I got Brooklyn a new shirt and skirt; Mason a new shirt; and Julianne a new-to-her dress just for the occasion. What's Easter without a new Easter outfit? It just wouldn't be right :).

Hopefully I'll blog again before Brooklyn's birthday, but I'm not making any guarantees. :). She's going to be 7 in a couple weeks and we discuss her gift-wish-list daily. She's decided she needs a DS, DS games, an i-pod, music for her i-pod, and wii games. Seriously? Lucky for her, she might get a wii game. Maybe. She'll have to settle for more imagination toys. I'm not ready for her to be so high-tech. Heaven help us ;).