Birthday/Mother's Day

It's a double whammy for Jon and the kids.  My birthday and Mother's Day tend to fall within a few days of each other.  Every few years they fall on the same day.  That was the case this year.   If you know me, you know that I love my birthday and I like for my family to make a big deal about it.  (Yes, I set myself up for disappointment every year.)  

Unfortunately, Jon doesn't have much free time on his hands these days and he's not much into planning ahead.  Fortunately, that worked out in my favor this year.  Jon asked me to make myself scarce for the majority of the day the day before my birthday so that he and the kids could get some things done without me around.  Oh darn!  Go spend time out of the house with a girlfriend?  OK!

 

I got to spend the day in Tulsa with my amazing friend, Heather.  We had the best day!  We went shoe shopping, laughed a lot, went to lunch at Qdoba (where we scored free birthday lunch!), did some clothes shopping (where I made her pick out things for me to try on!) did lots more laughing and topped it all of with 1/2 priced frappuccinos at Starbucks.  What could be better?!?!  We had so much fun together!!  I love my Heather!  Thank you, Heather, for spending your day with me!  It made my birthday very special!

My family made me feel very special on Sunday, my birthday and Mother's Day.  My day started out with being banished to my bedroom so that my breakfast could be made.

 Ben made me an amazing omelette!  YUM!

I was finally able to come out!  (It was driving Luke crazy that I couldn't come out and see what was waiting for me!  He was probably about to burst from having to keep secrets!)

 And this is what I found.  A special breakfast with balloons and lots of presents!  (:  They went all out!

 The gifts I received were extremely thoughtful!  The plants and flowers were my Mother's Day gifts.  The framed picture is my birthday gift from Abby.  The picture was taken on Easter and we both love it so much!  I love that she had it printed and framed for me!  The pepper mill is from Ben and Luke.  I have wanted a pepper mill for a long time, so I was very excited to finally get one.  And it is a very nice one!  Jon got me an Otter Box for my iPod that he got me for Christmas.  WOW!  I felt so special!!  The gifts from my family were so perfect!!

Jon planned for us to spend the day in Tulsa.  We would go to lunch at Ted's, our favorite Mexican restaurant, and then go to a Tulsa Drillers baseball game.  I loved the idea, but felt like it was just wrong for us to spend the day in Tulsa and just be sitting at a game when Jon and Abby had a ton of homework to do at home.  

I have no idea why this picture looks like this!  I still think it's adorable!

We still went to Tulsa and had lunch at Ted's, but we skipped the game. 

Instead, we browsed around Target...

 

...took advantage of half-priced frappuccinos at Starbucks...

...and went to the Tulsa Rose Gardens.

 The last time we visited the rose gardens, it was late summer and the roses were all dead and dried up.  I was hoping that going earlier in the season would yield beautiful, live roses.  We definitely weren't disappointed this time!

 Can you spot the frogs on this picture?

 Be still, my heart!  How adorable are they?!  My heart is melting!

 Of course, they can't be serious all the time!

I love this man!!  I am proud of this man!  He has been working so hard for the past year, not only doing the best job he can do at work, but also going to school.  It is hard!  He hates it!  But he is doing it and I am so proud of him!

The day was beautiful and we could have spent all day outside, but there was homework to be done, so we had to head home.

Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without birthday cake!  Abby made this one all by herself!  I am so proud!

My birthday and Mother's Day were fantastic!!  I loved every minute of it!  I am so blessed to have an amazing husband and kiddos that took the time to do all of this for me!

THANK YOU, JON, BEN, ABBY & LUKE!!  YOU GUYS MADE MY DAY THE BEST IT COULD BE!  I LOVE YOU!!!

Ben's Hutch Friends

We had to make a quick trip to Hutchinson for Ben, Abby and Luke to go to the dentist.  Ben asked if it would be possible to see his buddies while we were there.  It's hard to say no to him, since every time we go up there, I get to go to lunch with my friend, Athena.  I told Ben that if his friends could meet for lunch, then he could see them.  Thankfully it worked out!

These boys have been friends for such a long time and I am always happy to see them together! It is so amazing to see the you men that they have become!  I am so happy that after moving away four and a half years ago, that they are still friends and look forward to seeing each other anytime they can!

Cookies, Crafts & Laughter

While the cat's away, the mice will play, right?  Well, not really.  But we will have fun!  Jon had to go on a trip for work, so my friend, Heather thought it would be fun to bake cookies.  She needed to make them for Thanksgiving anyway.  So, she drug all of her supplies over to my house and made cookies with Abby and Luke.  (I opted to stay off of my feet and just watch.)

Luke really loved helping, for a little while, anyway.  Abby loved it!

Could these two little bakers be any cuter?!?!

It was a process with MANY steps!

Oh. My. Goodness! 

These have to be the cutest cookies EVER!!

This is what I worked on while Heather and the kids were making cookies.  Isn't he adorable?! My sweet friend, Kasi, gave me the idea and most off the supplies.  I love him!  We are heading to Texas to meet Jon's family for Thanksgiving and I'm pretty sure this little guy is going to go along with us and decorate our hotel room!

We had a super fun day laughing, baking, laughing, crafting, laughing...you get the idea. (:

Ben's Birthday (Part 2)

Since Ben's birthday was on a Wednesday, there was no way I was making his special birthday dinner that day.  (Not to mention that Jon was out of town and would  miss it.)  When I told Ben that I would be willing to make fried chicken on the weekend, he quickly told me that he really wanted his buddies to come over.  He really didn't want a party, but he really wanted Mario and Daniel to experience his favorite dinner.  That worked for me.  (Especially since it meant that Jon might be home by then.  He wasn't, but it all worked out.)

 There he is...The king in all of his fried chicken glory!

 These are some of Ben's very best friends in Bartlesville! I was happy for Ben to get to celebrate his birthday with these great  young men!  I love having them around!

(Of course, Luke had to get in the picture too...)

 Ben's birthday cake request:  Oreo Cookie Cake.

YUM!!

There really wasn't a plan for anything, except to consume massive amounts of Coke!  You know teenage boys, they like to eat, watch guy movies and play video games!  And that's just what they did!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!

Boot Makeover

 So...I've been wearing this lovely boot for the past (almost) three months.  I'm a little over it.  I, however, have some great friends that wanted to "bedazzle" my boot.  This old boot sure could use a facelift.  How could I turn them down?  I couldn't!  I said, "Absolutely!" without any hesitation!

 Deborah, Kathryn and Lanae couldn't wait to jump on the bedazzle bandwagon!  Lanae ran to her craft room to grab the goods!

 Here is the very dull, boring before picture.

 And the after!

Thank you, friends!  I'm already getting great compliments!

I'm sure my doctor will love this one!

Holidays in Hutchinson

Since we moved to Oklahoma over three years ago, we have gone back to Hutch for Thanksgiving. This year we had different plans for Thanksgiving, so we thought we would head up the week before.

Our family was excited to be able to go the Hutchinson Christmas Parade. For several years, Ben and Abby participated in all of the parades. It seems so different to be watching the parade with them instead of participating in it!

Luke really loved the parade! Everything that came by was so exciting to him! I love watching things like this through the eyes of my little guy as he sees these things for the first time! It was very chilly at the parade, however, so we ended up leaving early. Luke wasn't very happy when he found out that we missed the horses! Next time!

One of the things that I love to do while in Hutch is so see my friend, Athena! We don't get to see each other very often. For the past several years we have been doing our Black Friday shopping together. This year, we won't be together. :( This weekend we were able to meet up at Chilie's for a Diet Coke and some appetizers and catch up with each other! We had a great time! I am so thankful that Athena and I have been able to maintain a friendship since I moved! Thanks, Athena, for taking time out of your busy weekend to get together with me! I treasure your friendship!

Ben was also able to spend some time with his buddies while in Hutch. I am amazed that these teenage boys have been able to stay connected! I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe that these boys are going to be life-long friends!This is Luke's favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

He loves to play with Toby! Thankfully it hadn't been too long since Luke had seen Toby last, so it didn't take very long for him to warm up!

I know this picture is blurry, but I think it so cute! I had to run out to the van to get the camera and capture this before either one moved! (The camera was cold from being outside.)

Abby enjoyed playing the Wii at Grandma and Grandpa's house! The two of us also enjoyed cable! We don't have all of the good channels at our house and got involved in watching cooking shows until midnight!

Since we weren't going to be together for Thanksgiving, Jeanie made an amazing meal in celebration of Thanksgiving while we were together. YUM!!

Thank you, Ken and Jeanie, for having us for the weekend!

Birthday Party Time!

Abby hasn't had a birthday party since her 7th birthday. She begs for one every year, but we just don't do it. It's not that she asks for a lot. Last year she just wanted to have a party at the lake. I know, I'm a terrible mom! I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that, when I was growing up, we just didn't really have birthday parties. Besides the fact that they can cost a lot of money. I have also questioned who Abby would invite to a party. Since moving here, she didn't have very many great friends that I thought would either come to a party or that I would want to have at a party and have to be responsible for.

This year was different! Abby has some great friends here now and I was glad to be able to do a birthday party for her! Our party plan was a bit different than the typical sleepover or "destination" birthday party. I was excited about this one!
We started out the party at our favorite restaurant, Frank & Lola's!
Call me cheap, but kids eat free there everyday, so it was a great place to take the girls for a delicious dinner!

Apparently Dr. Pepper is the preferred drink among 11 year old girls!
You could tell later in the evening that they had all had their fill of caffeine!

And then there were presents!
Thank you Anna, Sam and Hannah!!

After dinner we headed to the movie theater to see Soul Surfer. (Yes, that was out a while ago, but in my cheapness we went to the $2 theater for the movie.) The movie was great! We all loved it! I was so happy to be able to take the girls to a good movie with a good message! (I also loved that I never heard a single bad word!) I highly recommend this movie!


Since we went to the movie straight from dinner, most of us weren't hungry for popcorn. We decided that it would be more fun to go to Jared's Frozen Custard.
Sundaes all around!
Abby has some sweet friends and I think they all had a fun time!

I hope Abby enjoyed finally getting to have a birthday party! It was fun to do it for her!

Parade of Homes

I have never been to the Parade of Homes before, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity when I was asked to go! Especially when I knew it meant spending the day with some pretty awesome ladies!
Deborah says she needs these for her closets.
(Sorry Deborah! Don't hate me!)

Lanae NEEDS this bed! She was Mrs. Oklahoma, after all, so the crown is only fitting!

Lanae...I'm not sure what to say! I just know that Deborah doesn't work with feathers! ha ha ha!!!

I had a total blast hanging out with these girls all day! Thank you so much for inviting me! I can't wait to spend more time with both of you!