Happy Birthday, Mama!

Yep!  This weekend (well, nearly all of it) was all about Mama and I'll be honest - I was ok with that.  I officially turned 34 on Sunday, May 22nd.  My last year until "mid-30's."  Not sure I'm too ok with that, but what can I do? 

The weekend started out with (this is the part that wasn't all about me) Avery, myself, a friend of Avery's from school and her mom going up to Providence to get fitted for her uniform for St. Philomenas next year.  Wow- what a process!  It doesn't help that if she fits into an XXS in one thing, it doesn't necessarily mean that she will in all.  That said, we had to try EVERYTHING on.  Not an enjoyable activity when your daughter is, well, 4 and not really interested in trying on clothes.  Couple that with the fact that she was there with a friend and as a result, a bit more hyped up than normal and it turns into a long morning of being fitted.  But, regardless, she had a good time and we bought some clothes. 

And, by the time we were all done, it was lunch time and I knew that the girls would not last for another hour in the car with no food (nor would I, for that matter), so we stopped and had lunch, which was nice.  The rest of the afternoon was spent outside, as it was FINALLY nice out.  High 70's and sunny.  Perfect.

That night, Josh and I went out to dinner by ourselves.  We tried a new restaurant that we had a gift card to and unfortunately, it wasn't overly impressive, but it was still nice to get out without kids for a night.

Sunday, I decided that I wanted to go to the zoo with the whole family in order to celebrate my birthday.  We had a great day!  The kids both LOVE the zoo and had a great time running around, looking at the animals.  And, since it was my bday, I insisted on documenting the occassion with pictures of ME (what a novel concept, huh?).  Ok - we'll start with one of Josh because it is that typical zoo pose of kids and dad looking at animals...

 Mom:  "Hey guys, say, CHEESE!" 
Avery:  "Really mom?  People are watching us.  That is SO not cool."
Alex - "I really want to smile, but because you asked me to, I'm not going to!"

 Avery:  "Ok, FINE!  Alex just do it so that she stops bugging us.  It is her birthday, afterall..."

 Mom:  "Alex, can we try to look a bit more excited here?  Ok, you asked for it...I'm going to do it!"

 Mom: "Alex - say CHEESE!!!!!!"
Alex:  "Mom, it didn't work the first 3 times - it certainly isn't going to work the last 3 times either.  I'm totally over this picture thing..."

 After the zoo, we went to lunch at Chili's.  Ahhhhh, Chilis...home of my most favorite, most deadly junk food ever (literally - it was at one point rated the most unhealthy thing you can get at a restaurant)....Chicken Crispers!!!!!  But, alas, I was good and did not get them.  Although, being the smart mom that I am, decided that Alex should get them!  Good thing I just admitted to giving my son the most unhealthy thing at a restauarant. He had broccoli with it and only ate one, so cut me some slack...and, it was a good thing he only ate one - surely he couldn't have handled the other 2 that mama ate for him.

 Sunday night, we had Josh's dad over for dinner.  Grammy is out of town with a group from school, so it was the perfect opportunity for us to provide dinner for Grampy AND to have another guest over to celebrate my birthday!  As you can see, Avery was thrilled to have another person to push on the swing.  Not so sure Grampy was quite as thrilled.  Nor was Alex given the look on his face...

 Josh made a nice dinner - kept it traditional Wisconsin with brats, potato chips and veggies.  I felt like I was right at home.  He also let Alex pick out my cake while they were at the store earlier that day.  Apparently, Alex was still pissed off about the "Say Cheese" episode, as he selected the "Mexican Flourless Chocolate Tart."  The woman at the counter said that it was different than a normal chocolate tart, as they added a bit more cinnamon to it to spicen it up.  Apparently, by "a bit more cinnamon" she actually meant, "a TON of something similar to red pepper flakes that will burn the crap out of your mouth and taste horrible."  Holy cow!  I mean, it was really spicey!  And, not really all that good, to be honest.  But, good try on Josh's part.  Thoughtful nonetheless.

 And, as it turns out, it was fine that my bday cake wasn't really all that good because Lindsey had brought over these cupcakes earlier in the day, so now, instead of both the cake and the cupcake that I was planning to eat, I just stuck with the cupcake.  Anything to cut calories, you know (insert sarcasm)?

 And, no birthday is complete without running and jumping on the packaging that came in the crate and barrel box from Aunt Lexi!

Thanks everyone for all of the birthday wishes (facebook is a wonderful thing - I haven't spoken to some people in over 10 years, yet they wish me a happy birthday!) and thanks to Josh and the kids for making my day so special!