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!!!

Happy Birthday/Mother's Day To Me!

 I arrived home from my amazing weekend in St. Louis late in the evening on my birthday.  I didn't expect anything spectacular that day, but it was nice to see that Jon and the kids had thought about it while I was gone.  There were cake, presents and balloons.  I'm sure Jon felt much pressure since I love my birthday and I often remind Jon of that fact.  I was pretty good about reminding him that I would be gone all weekend and he would be home all weekend with the kids and that he would have ample time to prepare for these two big days.  I know, I'm awful and selfish...

 My Mother's Day morning started out with a delicious breakfast in bed with one of Ben's famous omelets.  (:

I was then presented with all of these beautiful flowers that each of the kiddos picked out for me.  So pretty!

 Happy Mother's Day to me!  I love these kiddos so much!

 Abby was actually willing to have her picture taken, so I had to take advantage of this rare opportunity.  Such a pretty girl!

 I love these pictures of me and my man!  (:

 Jon slaved away in the kitchen making this fun birthday cake for me!

My family did a great job preparing for my birthday and Mother's Day. I wish I could say that it was a super fun day, but it didn't exactly measure up for several reasons.  Jon worked on homework most of the day...  Jon and I had a meeting to go to in the evening...  Our special dinner out didn't happen because I fell asleep...  Jon and I got into a heated "discussion" at the end of the day... I really wish I didn't set myself up to be excited for a day that is all about me.  I wish I could just be happy with whatever Jon and the kids decide to do for the day.  I just always feel like I do so much for them on their special days that I want them to do that for me too.  Why do I have such expectations?  What really matters is that I have a family that I love and that loves me.  And I am thankful for that!

Christmas...Birthday...Mother's Day Weekend

 Back in November, Rebecca called and told me that Mary Poppins was coming to the stage in St. Louis and asked what I thought about us girls going in together to get Mom tickets as a Christmas gift.  We could all meet in St. Louis for a girls weekend to go see the play together.  I knew this was the perfect thing for so many reasons.  1.  Mom loves those kind of gifts.  2.  Mary Poppins is my favorite Disney movie.  When I heard (Quite a while back that it was going on Broadway, I really wanted to make a trip to NYC to see it!  3.  Who could turn down a girl's weekend?  I rarely get to see my mom and sisters, especially without the kids around!  4.  The play was running over my birthday and Mother's Day weekend.  Nice!!

Mom was thrilled when she opened her Christmas gift!  Thanks to Skype I was able to "be there" when she opened it and saw that pure excitement on her face.  It was priceless!  I was so happy that we were able to come up with something so great and that we could all enjoy together.

Mom wasn't the only one excited.  I was.  As the time drew nearer my excitement continued to grow.  I was so excited to be able to go see my family and to have a getaway without my kiddos.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kiddos, but things have so busy around here, that it felt like a well deserved break.  Not to mention that it was my birthday weekend.  I love my birthday and it almost felt like we were going away for me!  Selfish, I know...

 One thing we knew was on the agenda for the weekend was to go to Olga's.  We all love Olga's and hate that the only time we can ever go is when we are in Michigan.  A few years ago we discovered that there is an Olga's in St. Louis.  Sweet!!

So...that was stop #1!
The food was great as always, however, the Orange Cream Coolers were slightly disappointing.  Just not how they used to be.  Come to find out...they've gone lactose free... YUCK!  Oh well..

 I had no idea that, even though it was my birthday weekend, that there would be cake and presents!  Mom made my very most favorite cake!  White cake with white fluffy frosting with coconut...DELICIOUS!!!  I haven't had that cake in so long and it was just as good as I remembered!  Mmmm...I want some now!  Since I never get to see anyone in my family for birthday (or any other special occasion, for that matter) it made my birthday that much more special. 

Thank you, Mom, Kris and Rebecca for making my birthday so special!

 We spent some time wandering around Downtown St. Louis.  I don't care how many times I see the Arch, I still think it is so cool!  It is so pretty and amazing!

Kris and Rebecca were on a little bit of a mission to find a few local breweries so that they could take some beer home to their husbands (who really enjoy brewing their own beer).  They were successful and I'm pretty sure Scott and Neil were happy with their loot!

Smack dab in the middle of the city...art!  Such a neat place nestled in amongst the tall buildings.  I loved it!

The picture in the top left corner is of both hotels that we stayed at on our trip.  The Renaissance Marriot and the Embassy Suites.

Jon was able to use some of his points to get us this amazing hotel room.  It was completely huge and amazing.  I'm so thankful he was able to do this for us!

And the moment that we had been waiting six months for!

TIME FOR MARY POPPINS!!

AMAZING!!!  That is the only way I can think to describe the play.  We all LOVED it!

Part of me wished that Abby could have been with me.  Maybe when it comes to Tulsa???

What an amazing weekend! I can't think of anything that would have made our time together any better or more fun.  I felt so happy, spoiled, free, special, loved...it was just fantastic!  I am so thankful that I have Jon who was willing to take some time off of work and hang out with the kids all weekend so I could go have some fun!  I would love to make this girl's weekend an annual event!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am one blessed mom!

I had a super Mother's Day! There was NO cooking, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers, breaking up fights...you name it, Jon and the kids took care of it! Even gifts! Abby made me cry by being so sweet! She made a whole bunch of gifts at school. I love those school made gifts! I Have to share a few of the things that she made!(You can click on the pictures to enlarge them so they are easier to read.)
I love my baby girl!!

After church we headed to Tulsa to go to our FAVORITE Mexican restaurant! Delicious! This is how Luke spent his time waiting for our table to be ready:
This was one of the most wonderful gifts I could ask for! Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby! That nap sure helped the rest of the day be more enjoyable!
After eating we did a little bit of shopping and enjoyed a delicious (half-price!) frappaccino from Starbucks! What more can a mama ask for???

I love my kiddos and am so thankful to be a mom!
Thank you, Lord for this blessing!

Mother's Day Continued.....

I don't know how I could have forgotten to include this is my Mother's Day post! While we were on our way to Tulsa for lunch Jon was asking the kids questions about me and what they like, don't like, would change, etc... He asked them to really think about their answers and not say give the, "Because she loves me...", "Because she buys me things" responses. While they were talking I scribbled down their answers the best I could. Here's what they had to say:

What's your favorite thing about Mom?

Ben: She spends time to make cookies and stuff instead of buying them at the store.
She teaches me to do the opposite of what other kids are doing. Teaches me to do the right thing.

Abby: She loves me and buys me new clothes. (She's such a girl!)

What will you always remember about Mom?

Ben: When Mom hid in the trash pantry when we were playing hide and seek and scared me!
When she let Luke and Sam come down for my birthday! (I think that will always be one of Ben's lifelong favorites!)
How she says, "Mom". (In my fading Michigan accent...)

Abby: The night we went to iShine!
When me and Ben would hide in the hamper and she would say, "You silly!"

What do you wish that Mom would do differently?

Ben: Jump on the trampoline with us
Make eggs every morning
Make fried chicken
Expand her likeness of shoes in my size

Abby: Go shopping everyday!

On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is not very good and 10 is very good, how do you feel about your relationship with Mom and I?

Ben: 9 1/2 to 11
Abby: 10

So much for not getting those simple responses! Abby is just simple! Gotta love her! I have to say though that I was a little bit nervous about what some of the answers would be. They ended up being great! I think I must be doing something right...Right? The answers could have been sad! Thankfully they weren't! :) I think I might have to do the same kind of thing for Father's Day!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was busy, busy this year since Luke and I had to share the day. (I guess that's ok... :) )

I am so glad to be the proud mommy of these three!
We went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch! YUM!! You can't go there and not get cheesecake! My favorite right now is the chocolate coconut cream! YUMMO!!!
(Yuck...terrible picture!!)
What could be better than a good snuggle with the little guy?!
Gift time!
My kiddos are so sweet!
Abby wanted us to have mother/daughter necklaces. She's such a sweet girl!!
You might have to click on this one to see our matching necklaces. She was so proud!
Jon and the kids made this a great Mother's Day for me! Thank you guys! I love you!!