Happy birthday to Me!

I know, I know, this poor littel blog has been sadly neglected by its author.  I get on these kicks where I blog like crazy or sew like crazy.  I rarely stay up with both.  This is a season where I madly sew--and love it.  Maybe one day I'll actually post pictures of the fifty some projects I've completed in the last few months.  Sewing helps maintain my sanity.

But, here's to update on life a few weeks back.

My parents came back in town--woo hoo!  They came in town to celebrate Ivory's birthday (a little late, but that just prolongs the birthday fun).  They also came a little late so they could watch the kiddos while Jason and I got away for my birthday.

Grandma + Pa bought a Cars book with him recorded reading it to Micah.  As anyone who knows Micah can predict, he *loves* it.  His love of Pa + Cars combined.
We introduced Grandma to a round of Pretty Pretty Princess--which she enjoyed, especially since she won!  Ivory's still learning to rejoice when others win.

My birthday fell on a Friday this year.  I woke to hand picked flowers, a triple chocolate cake (made by my sweetie!), and a card made by all three kids.  So sweet! 


While Grandma + Pa watched the kiddos Jason and I went to the Chaney's so Jason could meet sweet Olive.  By then it was lunch time so we went for a lunch date at the donut shop.


Then we headed to the beach for some refreshing sunshine.

And a little bit of shopping. 
Where we saw this beastly bug.  Can we say tracker jacker?

Ice cream before dinner?  Why not? Love us some Red Brick Pizza!  Have you tried their Greek salad?  Mmmmmm.


My husband is a ptient man.  He watched me try on many may pairs of jeans.  I finally purchased a pair.  And then exchanged them the next week for two shirts and a sweater.  Fickle. 

We enjoyed our chance to stay out late...but being parents of three we couldn't stay awake past midnight.  The next morning we slept in (such a treat!), met Jason's sister Melissa for breakfast (she was visiting on a quick stop before heading to Jacksonville.  We went and visisted the kids and quickly packed Ivory's bag so she could go stay with Aunt Mel to visit Nana + Grandaddy for a few days. 

After this we went kayaking together. 

It was beautiful and so fun! I've canoed 13 miles before, but I had a paddle partner.  This was my first 11 mile run on my own.  My studly man took it all in stride, but this out of shape girl was exhausted after the trip.  I'm glad I did, though.  It was so fun.  Except for the rain, but thankfully we found shelter and it didn't turn into a crazy thunderstorm.

It was a beautiful weekend and I'm so so grateful for those who made it possible.

A few days later I received a surprise package from my longtime, dear friend Danielle.  She returned a ring I left there, sent an exotic postcard,

and a beautiful handmade bag made by women from other countries trying to get a new start.  I. love. it.

Have I mentioned I love birthdays?  All the texts, facebook notes, calls, presents--so fun.  I have always loved the excitement of birthdays and I'm grateful for those who made this one special.

A Stop in Tennessee

Two weeks ago we headed off on an adventure with Grandma + Pa to visit our lifelong friends in Indiana.  We woke early early and headed out in Grandma + Pa's vehicle.  The kids started off the ride hopeful, excited, and happy.
I perfected the art of lulling Korban to sleep in the car while on this trip.
They all nodded off after a few hours.
And then awoke happy.  We read lots of books, watched lots of movies on the table, and played a lot of games on the LeapPad + iPhone.  Thank the Lord for electronics!  The kids really did *amazing* making it the best long car ride I've EVER had with them.  We got 8 hours of driving under our belt the first day with very minimal crying.  We stopped in Tennessee to visit with my good friend, Danielle.  Ivory was very excited to see Danielle again and we walked all around Danielle's house picking flowers + exploring.  Micah found Danielle's to be especially exciting since you could see a train pass every few hours.

Pa treated us to a delicious dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  Again, the kids good behavior far exceeded my expectations.  A sit down meal after such a long car ride could have been potentially disastrous--but they were fabulous. 

It definitely helped that next door was a tractor supply store.  Micah was in tractor heaven. Danielle is an extremely gracious hostess and put all 6 of us up in her adorable home.  She gave up her bedroom so our family could sleep comfortably.  So grateful for her friendship--and so glad to catch her in town before she took off for another overseas trip.  Danielle travels the world with her current position at Bryan College.
  We all slept great and felt refreshed after a yummy breakfast of eggs, fresh fruit, crescent rolls with homemade jam + french pressed coffee. I was one tired momma in the car for the second leg of our trip, but it was totally worth the lack of sleep to catch up with such a dear friend I see too infrequently.
We press onward to Indiana!

Surprise Package

Who doesn't *love* getting fun, surprise packages in the mail?!  I LOVED getting mail as a kid...the excitement is still there, but has worn off a little since now it's mostly fliers & bills.  But, when a day like today comes with a surprise package, well that is an EXCITING day to stop at the post office!  My dear friend, Danielle, sent me a very thoughtful package with a sweet card that may or may not have made me tear up, a funny & informational postcard, a blast from the past shirt, gift card for baby 3 and this fabulous necklace she picked up in Guam on one of her many traveling adventures (this girl is super hard to track down--she travels like crazy!).  I love that no matter how long Danielle & I go without talking, we stay dear friends.  She has been so precious and faithful to me in some of my most unlovable years.  Danielle, thanks for the fun package and for being such a dear friend.

Okay, so when I put on this black dress this morning I looked through my necklaces and just didn't love how anything looked with it.  A fleeting thought of a new necklace passed through my mind and I immediately dismissed it as greedy and unecessary.  And I couldn't even imagine what I would want to go with this dress so I settled for some big earrings.  Then the surprise package on the way to run errands.  Seriously?  A necklace that goes PERFECTLY with the dress I was already wearing?!  And the earrings match great, too. 

It was one of those moments where I thought, wow, God, you spoil me.  Love the button clasp closure.

It was also a fun surprise that my husband decided to spend the day tagging along with me as I ran errands.  He didn't want me to have to push the heavy cart and he figured that today might be as close to a date as we get for a while.  I sure have a special man.