Our Family

This past week I celebrated another birthday.  "One year older and wiser to..." not sure about the wiser part.  Last year I looked forward to turning 30.  It spoke to me, it felt appropriate to be turning 30.  I was comfortable with the idea.  31?!?!?  NOT SO MUCH.  It's all down hill from here :)  Just kidding, but it didn't hold the same spark as 30 (I have a feeling this is the new birthday norm).

The day was great.  I started off by going to my Total Body workout class, where my dear friend tried to cripple my legs with endless squats.  Then I went to the dealership to get a new glove box installed in the van.  Yes, you read that correctly...we are now a minivan family. (Ben's car died, he took the Pilot and we bit the bullet and got a minivan...happy birthday to me).  After that I took the boys to playgroup at the park where I was greeted with a song and lots of cupcakes and goodies to eat (my friends are sooo good to me).  After playing I took advantage of another friends kindness and Ben and I were able to go on a lunch date with out any little people.  We just hit up smashburger...nothing fancy...but it was nice to just sit and talk.

Once Natali got home from school we opened cards and gifts that came in the mail.  We had some coupons for Jason's Deli (just opened up here) and went out as a family.  It was nice and it made the kids feel like the day was special.  That morning when we woke up they were all REALLY disappointed when the birthday fairy had not made an appearance....where were the balloons, the cake, the presents...why isn't there a big special breakfast..."This is not a birthday MOM...this is like any other day!!"  Apparently I had ruined my birthday for my kids, selfish ME!  But after dinner I think they forgave me.

I ended the night by going to my favorite Zumba class and working off some of the extra goodies I had eaten.  Between the date with Ben, great friends, lots of birthday wishes, good work outs, and not doing any  real cooking...I'd call the day a TOTAL success!!!!

Here's to hoping that 31 holds some great things in store.

A few weekends ago I had a chance to have a little get away.  I went up with some ladies (Meg & Shauni) to Dallas and attended Time Out For Women.  It was my first time going.  I was so excited to have a break from the every day routine.   We took off Friday morning and spent the day shopping...and well...eating.  It was GREAT!!!  We we spent a fair amount of time at Sam Moon, and then made our way over to the Highlands for lunch and more shopping and pedicures!  HEAVEN.   (thanks Shauni for capturing my "relaxing" face)

Later we found our hotel...and right next to it was a QT!!!  Shout out I-O-W-A.  The whole car squealed in delight.  You would have thought we spotted a unicorn from the way we reacted.  It was a special moment.  I think we were all little giddy just simply from spending the say without loading our kids in and out of the car.


We attended TOFW and enjoyed the messages that were shared.  I think I laughed the hardest during the speakers Kate & Sara from Our Best Bites.  I love those guys!  I made us go up and take pictures with them after.  Such sweet girls.

After the first night we headed out to find a quick and fast bite to eat.  The fates must have been smiling down on us.  We took an off ramp and glowing in front us was...IN & OUT!  I think I audibly gasped.

I love this little guy.  He is full of lots of spunk and hugs (he gives them out freely...to almost everyone he sees).  His soft chubby cheeks make me happy.  His full body tackle into the back of my legs when I least ecpext it...not so much!

Easter week was a busy fun filled week.  Between preschool egg hunts for both boys, a music makers egg hunt, the S&W egg hunt, and decorating sugar cookies & dying eggs with LOTS of friends...we stayed busy.  It was a blast!  Thanks to Meg, she reserved a pavilion at the park, and we all came with eggs, dye kits, cookies, sprinkles,  frosting, etc.  The kids ate and played for hours.

A few weeks ago Flat Stanley came to visit us all the way from Utah!  Our sweet niece Mary sent him to us to learn about Texas.  So, of course we had to take Stanley out to see the blue bonnets.  Guess what....he loved them!  We got Stanley some treats to take back to Utah (confetti eggs to crack on peoples heads).  I sure hope he had a fun visit with us down here!

Isaac's preschool recently went on a field trip up to the Waco zoo.  Spencer and I were able to tag along and enjoy the day out in the sunshine.  It was fun to be out with my boys and spending the day together.

Over Spring Break we were very fortunate to get some visitors.  And some of the best visitors at that....GRANDPARENTS!   Grandma & Grandpa Fluhman braved the airport and make the trek down to Texas.  They kept commenting on how green and beautiful it was down here.  We had to constantly remind them that this Spring has been the greenest we have EVER seen Texas since we moved here.  Good timing!  The blue bonnets were out and the trees were blooming and starting the spread their leaves (and pollen...my allergies are HORRIBLE right now).

We picked them up on Monday down in Austin and we had them all to ourselves till Saturday.  We did a lot of eating, talking, and playing.  Ben was able to take Tuesday off as well so we went back down to Round Rock to shop at the outlets, IKEA, and eat at Mimi's.  I think we almost killed Grandma off that day.  I just have to say it felt good to be outside the bubble of Temple.

Wednesday we ran a few errands, picked up 91 cent chick-fil-a sandwiches for lunch, played at the park, met Ben at home for his lunch break, and spent lots of time playing with Grandma on her ipad.  Ben and his dad I am sure were off in the office in the evening opening baseball/football cards....reliving childhood memories!  The guys were very kind though and sat and watched The Help with us.  Love that movie!

Thursday we enlisted Grandpas help and finally got our little garden box planted.  We did squash, tomatoes, basil, and snap peas.  I hope this year is better than last year with the drought and heat!  After we took all three kids to the Lorax.  I was nervous...but with Man to Man coverage on the kids they did well.  Cute movie.  That night we decided we need to show Ben's folks what Texas bbq was all about and we took them out to Rudy's.  It was a hit!

Friday was pretty low key.  Grandma needed a little extra rest so I took the kids to Sam's Club to get some new tires (such a fun way to spend money) and keep the house quiet.  That night I got a babysitter so the adults could have a nice calm quiet dinner.  Best of intentions but poor Grandpa got food poisoning we think.  It's never fun to be sick on vacation and away from your bed.

Saturday came way too fast.  We hung out, had more ipad time taking pictures and making videos to show cousins back home.  Grandpa even taught the kids how to sound like a bagpipe....truly inspiring I tell ya! It's so fun having Ben's folks come.  It's a reminder of how great family is and how important it is for our kids (and us) to have these opportunities to reconnect and be apart of each others life.  It's hard too though because with that reminder is the sting of knowing we aren't geographically close and that our next "gathering" might be in awhile.  But either way, I am grateful for the time and memories we made together.    We love our Grandma & Grandpa!