Happy Birthday, Dad!

We just finished up birthday #4 in the birthday lineup. (In case you're wondering, we have 15 birthdays in our families between Oct 30 and Feb 26)! I kicked off the birthday season followed by Keira (5!) on Nov 9, my dad Nov 11, and Dave's dad Nov 13. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend the special days with Keira or Bill, but we did get to celebrate with my dad.

We celebrated on Friday night at our house with Ribs, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, baked beans, and Pumpkin Trifle:

I got attacked by Hudson, and here is William trying to fight him off. I was laughing so hard:

For my dad's birthday this year all of us kids (plus Garrett and my mom) pitched in and we got him a home brew kit. It takes about a month of fermenting, so we got started this weekend so it'd be ready for Christmas when everyone is home:

 Dad and Garrett pouring in the Malt Extract (side note: did you know malt extract tastes like molasses? YUM):

It's been a fun birthday week...and we have a small break until the next set of birthdays: Dave's grandma, our brother-in-law Jeff (Dec 22), Hudson (Dec 31), Tasha (Jan 3), Dave's sister (Jan 9), Dave (Jan 13) and Trent (Jan 22)... and the list goes on and on.

the little people

I just love these little guys!!

I haven't seen these guys since Monday, and I can't wait to give them kisses tonight!!!! 

Trick-or-Treat!

Yes, we celebrate Halloween. For us, it's all about the costumes and CANDY! We steer clear of the super scary houses, and my kids are not allowed to pick scary costumes. Other than that, we just have FUN!

Anyhoo, we had a great time last night! We had 3 families over who have kids similar ages to our kids, and we hit the streets at 6:30 sharp! We only lasted about 45 minutes, which was plenty of time to fill their bags. One of the perks of living in a neighborhood with houses so close together is that you can cover A LOT of ground in a short amount of time.

Ready to go:

 "Who wants Candy?"

 We hit our next-door neighbors first (no, not the dog neighbor. We did not grace their doorstep)

 Hudson needed a little candy fix before hitting the next house:

 the Loot:

 of course, the men had to watch the World Series game (too bad the Rangers lost):

It was a FUN night!!

The big day!

So, the inevitable finally happened: I turned 30. I've been dreading it for months. Not because I knew I was going to all of a sudden feel old, but because labelling myself as "in my 30s" just sounds so mature! There's no denying it now-- I am an adult. I guess I better start acting like one now...

For the past month or so no one would tell me anything about the going-ons of my birthday. I knew there'd be something good after what I did for Dave's birthday. I didn't think there'd be a surprise party, because I've been to so many surprise parties in the past few years. That was too obvious. But, seriously, I had NO idea what it could be or WHEN it would happen.

Friday night (my birthday eve) my mom had us over for a family birthday dinner. This was not unusual, as we always do a family dinner together, usually the day before the actual birthday. She wanted to do it early (5:30) so that we could skype with Tasha and Christian (in London, 6 hours ahead of us) and Trent and Paige (in Brazil, 3 hours ahead of us). So, again, not too unusual. We had our "virtual birthday party" with opening of the gifts and blowing out the candles.

This was my big present a Nikon D5000 SLR digital camera!! All of my family plus Dave's mom and dad contributed to it, and I'm LOVING IT!!

Blowing out 30 candles is hard work! But as you can see, I had helpers:

 The virtual party: Trent and Paige (left computer), Lauren (middle computer), Tasha and Christian (right computer):

After we hung up from all the Skype sessions, we proceeded to eat dinner. It was a light dinner of Cobb Salad. This, also, was not unusual as for the past 3 family birthdays for people turning 30 we have done cobb salad. Of course, my mom does it up nice, so we had ALL the fixings. It was delicious.

After dinner we were just hanging around the house. My mom had told me that a couple from our church was going to come over at 7:30 to play Settlers of Catan (our family favorite) for after the kids went to bed. Finally, about 7:40 there was a knock on the door. I went to answer the door, assuming it would be DJ and Kami. But no. It wasn't. It was 11 of my girlfriends, decked out in their finest "going out" clothes. They were ambushing me, taking me away for the night...IN A LIMO!

My "accessories" for the night, thanks to Jen:

 my girlfriends, my mom, and me

 riding in style!

Our first stop was Reata. It's a super nice, yummy restaurant downtown Fort Worth. We went there for drinks and appetizers. I had this cherry limeade with a vodka twist, and boy was it YUMMY!!!

Ashley, Mandy, and Sherrie

 Jen (the mastermind of the evening), Lisa, and Erin

 Kami, Stephanie, and my mom

 Brandi, Lizzie, me, and Dana

After our yummy drinks and food, we headed to the Four Day Weekend comedy club. This is an improv comedy club (think Whose Line is it Anyway) that we LOVE. I hadn't been in over 4 years, so I was so excited to be here. My good friend, Stephanie, was the genius who had this idea! 

 4 day weekend: 

 all of us at the 4 day weekend:

After the comedy club (which, by the way, was so funny that several times I wondered if I was going to pee my pants), the limo picked us up again and we cruised downtown. There was a band playing outside, so we stopped and checked that out for awhile.

Our driver took us to these pretty lit trees and we all got out and he took our picture for us:

 jen and me:

I got home around 1am. It was the PERFECT night. I couldn't have asked for a better surprise from my good friends. Of course, it would have been nice if Cindy and Natasha had been there (along with a few of my other friends that couldn't make it). I am so thankful for the girlfriends I have, and how much they all love me! Thanks everyone for a great night!!!

SO, lest you think that's the end of my birthday celebration...
We got up on Saturday morning (my actual birthday) and took the kids over to my parents for the day/night. We headed to a town called Saint Jo, Texas- about 1 1/2 hours from Keller. We checked into our Bed and Breakfast, and then went to this place known for mountain biking. I'm not a big mountain biker, and neither is Dave. In fact, I think it's been about 3 years since I'd even ridden a bike. But, Dave thought it would be fun, and it was PERFECT weather for it. I wasn't expecting to love it, but I wanted to go with the flow. It was SO much fun!

After our mountain biking expedition, we headed back to the hotel. After some relaxation (and a nap) we showered up and got ready for dinner. We went here to a place called Ancient Ovens. It's a family run restaurant that cooks everything you eat (a 5 course meal) in a brick oven. It can only hold 60 people, and it's by reservation only. Apparently, they are sold out nearly every night (they're only open Thurs-Saturday). Check them out here. It's located on 110 acres, and it's beautiful:

 Dennis, the owner, cooking our appetizer in his brick oven:

 We had a great spot: right in front of the fire, so we could watch him cook everything:

It was the PERFECT place for a dinner, and the perfect ending to a great birthday celebration. Yummy food, Beautiful setting, and Great company. I wouldn't have my 30th birthday any other way.

Camping

This trip was MUCH better weather for camping than last time. In fact, it may have been a little too cool. Not that it mattered to me or Hudson-- only Dave and William camped out!

It really was perfect weather: warm during the day for playing outside and exploring, and then cool at night for bonfire, hayride and camping. Our friends, the Hambys, also have a 4 yr old (Blaine), so the 4 "guys" camped together.

My dad built us a HUGE bonfire. While that burned down a bit, he pulled us on the best ever hayride. It was perfect weather: cool, but not cold. The kids thought it was THE BEST!

My good friend, Jen, her daughter Sophie, me and William

 Dave and Philip couldn't peel themselves away from the Ohio State game...

 the kids, watching my dad build the fire:

 all of us (minus my dad):

 Sophie, my good friend Sherrie, and her daughter Lily:

 Jen and her 2 daughters, Emily and Sophie (her hubby couldn't come because he was deployed in Korea...but he's home now!)

 so, ya, getting these 2 boys to look (and smile) at the camera is pretty near impossible:

 Of course, Hudson would only let Papa help him with his s'mores:

 Me and my little man:

So, it was an amazing trip to Oklahoma, as usual. The kids L.O.V.E. it up there (and well, so do I). When they were whining about leaving, I reassured them that we'd return at Christmas. They were particularly excited because I told them that Keira, Emery and Aunt Paige would be with us then. 

But, as soon as we pulled on to our street on that Sunday night, Hudson started crying "I want to go back to Okahoma!!!"

Pre-Halloween @ Kiddie Park

One of the reasons for our trip up to Oklahoma this past weekend was because it was a special weekend at The Kiddie Park. Normally, it's only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But, it's open for 1 weekend in October for "Spook-A-Rama" and all the kids wear their halloween costumes, and the place is covered in Halloween decor. I have to say, it was SO nice to have cooler weather, since we're normally there when it's scorching hot!

2 of our good friends from our church joined us: the Hambys and the Smiths. It was perfect because they each have 2 kids, aged 2 and 4. So, we had 3 2 yr olds and 3 4 yr olds all weekend. 

I will let the pictures do the talking:

sophie's first experience with cotton candy:

Yes, that is me in the orange shirt. What you can't see is how fast we were spinning. You know, it's one of those where you spin it as fast as you can and then hold on for dear life. It was so much fun. If I'm going to be totally honest, I would have liked to ride that sans kids to really see how much speed I could generate:

 Hudson and Lilly:

Not sure if you can tell, but William is "flying" the plane like Superman:

the last of the night and favorite:

Our only complaint about the evening was it was SLAMMED. In the summer when we go, we typically don't have to wait more than 2-3 minutes for each ride. This time, we had to wait at least 10-15 minutes per ride. It was a real bummer, but the kids still had a blast!