Mommy's 29th Birthday Weekend!

Right in the midst and the most hectic time of VBS, falls my birthday! You read about VBS in another entry. My 29th birthday fell just two days before our first day of VBS this year, and I had a lot to do, but I am so glad that I took a couple of days from being so very busy with all of those responsibilities to spend with my family and friends.

On Friday, June 5th, three of my girlfriends had a yummy birthday breakfast for me. The breakfast was complete with super yummy donuts from my favorite donut shop, chocolate covered strawberries, and delicious egg and ham casserole. It was so yummy!

After breakfast and our Bible study, we headed to the Indy Air Show. It was practice day (basically like a dress rehearsal so to speak), and much cheaper than going for the actual show later in the weekend. We packed our lunches and got a lot of sun that afternoon! The highlight of the show was the Blue Angels. The girls loved being with their friends and seeing all of the loud and fast airplanes.

The girls, with Hannah, riding around checking out all of the airplanes.

Look out! Emily's behind the controls!

Going on a plane ride?

Emily and Hannah - so cute!



One of the Blue Angels

Watching the planes way up high!

A wonderful day with sweet friends!

There was a time that afternoon when Emily decided she wanted some special time with Scott. (Scott is Jill's husband, Daddy to "Nannah," "Ben-Ben," and "LUUUUUke.")

"Fat Albert"

Blue Angels

Airplane!

Emily yelling, "AIRPLANE!"

We had been gone since 8:30 a.m. that morning, and we were pulling back into our neighborhood at 5:30 p.m. We were all exhausted, but Elaina and I were going to hurry to change our clothes, spray some smellies, and head back out the door to go to our dear friend, Sarah's, first dance recital. As we pulled up to the house, I saw my parent's car parked in front of our house. I was so confused because I had planned for a couple of months to spend some time with Elaina and take her to this recital. Jeff knew this, so I wasn't sure what was going on. Jeff had secretly asked them to come down to spend the night and spend the next day (my actual birthday) with us. He was hoping that we would have a chance to go out to dinner before the recital, but we got home from the air show later than he thought we would. So, Elaina and I headed out to pick up Jill and Hannah for the recital and had a really special night together. The dance recital was almost three hours long, and it was really neat. The last half of the recital was "Mary Poppins" and Elaina loved it. She had never seen "Mary Poppins." Sarah did a great job! My mom, dad, Jeff, and Emily stayed at home and enjoyed each other's company. It was about 10:45 p.m. when Elaina and I got back to the house, but Emily was still up! She was not going to go to bed without having some of Mommy's birthday cake that MeMe brought with her! :) So, at around 11:00 p.m. that night after being gone since 8:30 a.m. and having an absolutely wonderful but exhausting day, we finished it off with birthday cake! Yum-yum!

Emily putting candles on my cake! You would have thought that she was exhausted after such a long day, but she was running around like a crazy girl!

My loving Elaina Joy. She was SO tired, but she was definitely ready for some cake!

Emily singing, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" She cracks me up!

More candles!

That night, sometime around 1 a.m. (so, morning, I guess) Jeff informed me that I would have no time to work on any of my VBS responsibilities on Saturday either. My blood pressure began to rise greatly at that point; I'm sure. I knew I still had a lot to do to get prepared for VBS Monday morning, and now he's telling me that instead of taking one day off from VBS preparations as I had originally planned, that I was taking two days off???!!!! He knows how I work and how my brain works . . . what was he thinking!!!??? It didn't matter though, it made me so happy that Jeff had planned ahead for me. He is totally a last minute kind of guy, and he really wanted to make my day extra special for me. He knew I had been working so hard for several weeks on VBS, and he wanted me to relax and enjoy my birthday.

So, Saturday morning (June 6th - my actual birthday) we woke up and had a late breakfast out with my parents. It was so nice to see them and spend some time with them. After breakfast, we all went bowling. We had been together last year on our vacation, but it was candlepin bowling, so the balls are very small. This was our first attempt at regular bowling with the girls. They were so funny, and had a great time. They both wanted to be so independent and do it all themselves. They figured out very quickly that the balls were so very heavy for them. Elaina was really into the idea of bowling. Jeff was constantly trying to teach her, and finally after much instruction from Daddy, Elaina looked at him, pointed at him sternly and said, "Daddy, you go sit down over there!" By golly, she was going to do this all for herself! So funny!

Cheering on and encouraging their bowling balls. They went SO S L O W down the lane . . . oh my land!

This was the stance Elaina took every time after she rolled her ball down the lane. Feet apart. Hands on hips. Mind you, she had to stand like this for a very long time because again, their balls went SO S L O W down the lane. It became painful to watch.

So proud of her bowling skills.

Emily saying, "Cheese!" So cute!

I LOVE THESE TWO GIRLS!!!

After bowling, we went to back to the house for a break, and then Jeff told me that we were going to go on a picnic. He had already asked my mom to prepare my favorites for lunch, and we were going to pack up and head to the playground for a picnic as a family. He did ask me if I'd rather go to the playground or just eat out on our deck and play in the backyard. I preferred to stay home. Even though I know he would have packed everything up and my mom would have lovingly helped and I wouldn't have had to do anything at all, it just sounded better and easier to stay home and have our picnic in our very own backyard. It was very yummy and so very relaxing. I spent some time on our swing, and that was so nice.

Not long after lunch and after an absolutely wonderful morning celebrating and being pampered by my family, Jeff told me that it was time for me to leave. He had made plans for me to go to a friend's house and swim, float on a raft, and soak up some sun with some of my girlfriends for a while that afternoon. My great friend, Shawna, who owns the home with the pool, had offered to have a pool party for me a week or so prior, but I knew how busy everyone was (including her) and told her that it really wasn't necessary. We were going to be getting together really soon anyway for some relaxation time. This time of year with everyone's schedules with baseball and VBS is crazy! Well, after Jeff found out that she had offered that to me, and I turned it down, he called her and just asked if I could come out and enjoy some "Mommy" time. It was nice. After a while of being out there by myself with some friends, Jeff brought the girls out after their naps, and we were able to have some fun time together swimming and playing in the pool as a family.

Thanks, Scott family!

Having so much fun with my girl in the pool! She loves the pool!

Stealing a kiss!

The day was not done, my best friend, Jill, was hosting a cookout at her house that evening with a lot of our friends. Another wonderful friend, Hilary, and I share the same birthday. (She is 7, I say 7, did you hear me, 7, years older than me.) We have many mutual friends, so everyone gathered at Jill's that evening for some yummy food, family fun, and delicious strawberry shortcake!

It was a wonderful birthday! I am so thankful for my incredible friends and family for making me feel so very loved! You are all the best!

Jeff, you are an amazing husband and an incredible Daddy. Thank you so very much for loving me the way that you do. You truly are the best, and I appreciate you more than you know.