31 and a little bit of Voodoo Magic

 So no one really believed me

when I said I didn't really want anything,

and I didn't really want to do anything

for my birthday.

A relaxing day 

In my clean house,

with nothing to do

and no where to go

with good food

and a good movie 

sounded so nice.

Ryan kept trying to decide if this was a trick

and if he was going to be in big trouble 

if he didn't plan or do something elaborate.

I really meant it.

So he made me this chicken black bean salad 

I had been craving

and as his gift to me

(I begged him not to spend money)

He said that he would watch all the seasons of this tv show

I have been begging him to watch with me

(and that he has been avoiding like the plague)

and he would not complain

and he would TRY to like it.

(he has totally followed through)

and I have loved hanging out with him 

and watching the show again myself 

I thought it was the best gift EVER

and I was so excited.

Jovan made me some delish Tortilla soup 

and the brownies that we used for my  cake

since I insisted I didn't need a cake.

She also got us tickets to see 

REBA

in concert.

Oh my

I LOVE Reba!

I have since I was a little girl

and she knows it

We are going to have SO MUCH FUN at that concert.

I can't wait!

I also got books

(that I am already almost finished with and love)

and perfume

that was supposed to be a funny joke,

but that I actually love the smell of

and a gift card to the 

Nook and Cranny

(which we all know from previous posts)

I LOVE

and another amazing present arrived the next morning

(Good things do indeed come in pink boxes)

the donuts were part of it,

and a lovely part they were.

 

The maple bars with bacon were AMAZING

I do not lie about such things.

AMAZING 

 

and I liked every one that I tried.

So did the kids

They are only found in Portland

( featured in People magaizine this week as some of the best ever!)

But the realy prize was how they were delivered.

Holly, Cory and Brynley 

Drove them down to me from Oregon

and stayed for the week for their spring break.

another of

my best birthday presents ever!

(I got a lot of those this year)

Yay!

of course I have almost no pics of them

and the ones I do have are coming soon.

What an amazing day! 

I have such good friends and family.

Thanks to them all

and to all the facebookers that left me messages. 

I loved it.

A glimpse

A really quick glimpse.
Via the iphone,
so don't expect too much okay?


The babies are rockin the big kid tub.
Collin loves it


Keegan is not so sure
and had a death grip on Kenna
almost the entire time


Keegan was not happy that I messed with his hair
(so curly these days)
and then
wanted a picture of his valentines day outfit
instead of snuggling him


Collin was cool with it


and so was Cohen.

Lots of love was in the air this day
we all went to see Gnomeo and Juliet

and true to form
Keegan was a pain in the rear,
(a dang cute pain, but still a pain)
would not be quiet
sit still or stop climbing all over everything.

Collin sat in the stroller enthralled with the movie
and thrilled that Kenna was feeding him popcorn

Grandpa Rick and Grandma Becky
came out for presidents day weekend.
the kids were in heaven
So were we!

Dad and Ryan installed a new kitchen faucet
(the other was bad bad bad- think leaky water hose)


and my neighbor was
tossing this baby out for free


so we snatched it right up
and dad and Ryan hung it up.


Then of course we had the standard presidents day fare
Pizza, Cherry Pie, and Ice Cream
and we watched the American President
since our Dave DVD was missing in action

The following weekend
Ryan had some vacation days he had to use or lose
So of course we decided to use them
and we headed up to Oregon
to visit the Holly Doll, Bryner Bug and Cory
and the rest of our fun family that lives up there.

I had great intentions to take pictures of everything.
didn't happen.
But here's a hodge podge

Our first full day there


I discovered
Craft Warehouse
Love, true love


but our trip through heaven was cut short
when Bryn's school called
and said she had bonked her mouth,
and could Holly come


Understatement of the century.
This is after a major clean up
Girlfriend had fallen against a metal step
Knocked out her two front teeth
(that weren't even a smidge loose)
Loosened the others
sliced and diced her lip up
and ripped her whatever its called
that connects your lip to your gums

Ouch

She was a trooper though
even when I was gagging
watching her try to eat a banana
that ended up slimy and smeared with blood
and watching her suck on the chunk of lip
that was hanging down
(the doctor said they don't stitch mouths, but it was bad, real bad)
I had to turn away every time she would do this

We shopped, we went to goodwill,
we ate donuts

And then we took my sick kids to the doctor
and had to pay lots of cash
up front
for anyone to even look at them
Even thought we have insurance
Grrr...


Collin got his first ear infection
and we hope his last.
He was not a happy camper.


Check out Keegan's
massive green snot
MMMmmm...
and fever red cheeks and ear.
Poor Baby


Kenna too.

Sicky vacations are not as fun
as non sicky vacations
Still fun but...


Keegan was enthralled with Mary's cat
Costello was almost as big as Keegan was
and he sat and stared at him forever


We also stopped to leave flowers at
Mom and Grandma's grave
while we were in Dallas
Caden got out of the car and helped out
even though it was raining


Vacation wiped us out


When we got back
Keegan learned how to climb up here
and MAN was he Proud of Himself
as you can see from the grin

They are almost walking
almost.
Any day now its going to get really crazy.

As if it wasn't before.


This big guy had his 4th Birthday
and he reminds us daily sometimes hourly
of all things he can do now.
Now that he is 4, Now that he is big.
Man, I love him.

even though he has randomly thrown up around midnight
two out of the last three nights
and it has been horrible to clean up
(I will spare you the pictures)
ten million times worse than Keegan's Puke Party.
and then insists in the day that he is not sick and feels fine
and has no other symptoms.


Doing my late night clean up routine last week
I found this guy
posed exactly this way.
I was laughing so hard
I had to hold my breath until I made it out of the room
so I wouldn't wake up the boys
He looks like
he is doing some kind of inappropriate dance move
or something
my favorite
is the bum sticking out and the hand posed just so.
I still laugh looking at it.
Its the little things in mommy hood
You know what I mean?

Last but not least


This is what I looked like
this week
last year.
C-R-A-Z-Y
I remember fervently praying
that I would go into labor on my birthday
Yeah, no dice.
But looking back,
What a cool thing that I got to be a part of
Its not every person that gets to grow two babies
and carry them full term
and be able to deliver them without a c-section.
Miracles happen every day.

30 was a very good year.
A growing year
A blessed year
Very Hard
Very Fun
Very emotionally charged with the good and bad

I am a lucky lucky lucky girl
I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Happy Birthday to me.
Here's to hoping 31 is just as great.