Wonderful Birthday Weekend

This kit was cool--it had a base to build the gingerbread walls.

Wow, a lot happens in a week :) After that busy afternoon of traveling and singing, I made the kids some soup and we called it a night. My husband, however, is not a huge fan of soup as the main course, so he decided we should start celebrating my birthday. He left work early and brought home a table full of P.F. Changs! Yummylicious! Then, he and the kids pretty much spoiled me for the next few days :)

Finishing touches on the house and the brownies.

The next morning, I awoke to Buck in the kitchen making omelets--my favorite! The kids did the meal planning, so breakfast also included sausage patties and cinnamon rolls. They could hardly wait for me to open gifts, so as soon as the dishes were cleared the kids brought out my bounty :)

Little Buddy wanted me to have "fancy chocolates," so they found me a box on Amazon from France :) Gabby gave me the pretty light up JOY sign, and C and B went in on a darling little tea pot. I'm hoping at Christmas the giant tug of powdered chai tea will be coming down the line, thus making my darling little tea pot also quite useful :)

They even color-coordinated my gifts :)

The plan--a relaxing day together. The kids worked on decorating a gingerbread house, while Buck and Caelan worked on making me brownies topped with fudge for my birthday cake :) It's funny, but they've done this more than once without realizing the pattern. Apparently they've notice that I like chocolate, ha!



For lunch, the kids wanted to take me to a fancy restaurant. We were happy that the "birthday" room at Olive Garden looked set up just for us! It's a little nook where there's just one table with windows looking out on the snow . . . which was seriously beautiful that day! Huge flakes, like a snow globe! Our meal was delicious, and they even brought me a tiny dessert. I told Buck, "Surely they don't sing here; I'm taking the girls to the bathroom." I get back and he said, "They totally sing here . . . a whole group came up and saw the empty chair." Lol! I guess I timed that exit well :)


After dinner, we did what everyone does on their birthday weekend . . . we spent two hours at the car dealership! Ha! Brennen found the process fascinating, and everyone else was a good sport. Caelan, of course, brought knitting. We though perhaps we could take advantage of the holiday sales event and secure our new ride earlier than the planned 5 months from now. After a whole lot of figuring out what was out there, we discovered the vehicle with all the specifics we want in the color I want isn't in the "five-state area." Which is fine, at least we can show them exactly what we're looking for when the timing is right.

We drove home through the pretty snow, in our stinky old van and I told Buck, "Let's go back! Make the deal, make the deal!" Lol--but I was joking of course. At home, we changed into pajamas, turned on the Christmas lights, and Buck and the kids played board games while I read a book. They did all the chores (even laundry), so I could just . . . read a book! For dinner, Buck made a grilled chicken salad (because he rocks at salads). I wish I had taken a picture of the tray  he set up . . . peppers, cheese, fruits, veggies, all sliced up in perfect little strips, color-coordinated like art! It was really pretty :)

That night, the chest cold thing I get every fall came on with full force :( I was up coughing and did not sleep well at all. When morning arrived, Buck told me I was not getting up for church and that we were all staying home til our reservation times began to appear on the clock. It was very nice to sleep a bit more. It was disappointing to miss church though, because Buck usually leaves for work towards the end of service--so to drive there and home in one vehicle (even if it is an old, stinky one ;) and experience the whole church morning together would have been really nice. But Buck didn't want me to be a sick, grouchy birthday girl, so I rested.

By 11, I was feeling pretty good. We had brunch reservations at this crazy little restaurant that makes no sense in our community, but serves really yummy food :) The kids each ordered French toast towers and shocked the wait-staff at how thoroughly they consumed them. I just ordered three pieces, and Buck ordered something fancy from England :) My gift at the table was a sweet little "Mama Bear" necklace with all the kids' names engraved on it! I have been looking at these, but Buck didn't know it, and I've been wanting a piece of jewelry for years that had the kids' names on it . . . I don't know if he knew that either! I love my pretty little necklace! And my thoughtful family :)

We took the kids home and waited for our neighbors to get home from church. Then Buck and I set out--solo! You'll never believe where he took me--to a castle! There's an historic home, about 100 years old, that we've been wanting to tour for years. But, the opening schedule is very limited for tours. He remembered, called, and found out there were three tours on my birthday. What a sweetheart! And the stately mansion was decked out for Christmas, which is my favorite time to tour old homes :)

Now, this one is still kind of in the process of being restored. There's not a lot of furniture in it, and some areas are still under repair. However, the marks of opulence they described are still evident in the amazing woodwork, detail, and expensive extras this family saw fit to add to their castle-like home!

Can't you just imagine reading in this room on a warm rug in the sunshine?

That chandelier is dipped in 18 karat gold . . . this was where the ladies spent their time after dinner 100 years ago, socializing in glam.

Most handsome guy to ever walk into the room.

This was above the ballroom in one of the castle's towers . . . I could make myself at home here :)

My favorite picture from the day . . . look at that fireplace!

One of the tour guide ladies offered to take a picture of us by the tree; she noted Buck's head was glowing in candelabra light like a halo :)

That door is solid metal filigree! I think the historian said it weighs 1,800 lbs! Inside is an elaborate mosaic entryway, seriously stunning!

We're still figuring out where to look for selfies on Buck's new phone. His other one stopped functioning correctly, just in time for the contractual upgrade. It takes super crisp pictures, even if we don't know where to say cheese :)

After our tour, we went shopping :) As always, a mix of practical and adventure must be worked into every outing. Gabby didn't have a winter coat or snowboots . . . so I gave her mine. Brennen had hand-me-down snowboots, but they'd lost some of their waterproofness . . . so we were on a winter gear mission. And.the.mall.was.packed. Whoa baby! We stood in line to get some hot chocolate and coffee to brace ourselves for the throng :) But I had coupons, and I wasn't afraid to use 'em! So, we found me a new winter coat (my first in a decade!) and B a pair of snowboots that will last (more than this year, we're not doing great at finding him a size that fits lately :) We also went into my favorite store . . . to get B some dress pants for his choir performance and his stint at church Christmas play narrator. But isn't it fun when your husband says, "Hey. You don't have very many clothes. You love this store. Buy stuff!" As wives, we are supposed to listen to our husbands right? :) I did find a few things, and I do like them a lot :)

Next . . . (yes, it keeps going!), we had to decide where to go to dinner. By now, I was a little weary and on cold meds (which is so unusual for me, I never take ANYTHING medicinal . . . though I have spent the last couple of weeks pretty much slathered with a variety of essential oils for health purposes :) We'd been away from the kids for quite some time, and that always makes my mama bear heart nervous, but our neighbor was backing me up and the kids assured us they were fine. We debated driving closer to home or staying in the city. I remembered that Caelan was out of shampoo and one our restaurant choice in the city was close to where we get her soap (see, practical again :), so we ended up eating at The Bonefish Grill. Oh my goodness! The catch of the day Mahi Mahi was delicious! And I had a stuffy nose and a significant head swirl going on from the extended-release cold capsules. We had such a nice dinner together . . . it was warm and drowsy and that lull of voices and tinkling silverware . . .

After all that, we did our quick trip to the specialty grocery shop and then headed home. The kids were excited to see our purchases (we always seem to come home with armloads of bags when we spend time together . . .). Chauncey, as always, figured there was something in those packages for him, and so made a general nuisance of himself, hee hee :) Then it was pjs, chai, and snuggling my honey on the couch. What a lovely weekend!

And I have to add, that as I'm sitting her typing this very lengthy recollection, I am doing so from the comfort of a brand new PADDED seat office chair! The replacement Buck bought when our last chair, literally fell apart, was more to his taste (slab of leather, bars of chrome), not exactly cozy for online shopping, bill paying, and blogging ;) My new chair, rocks! (oh dear, no pun intended--but it does that too :)

I enjoyed birthday cards in the  mail, calls, texts, emails, and notes on facebook (even though I shut my birthday notifications off last year :) Perhaps the most creative gift I received was a "set" of "personalized luggage" from my sister. We do kind of jokey birthday gifts each year, since we practically share a birthdate. She took my post about burning all the trash bags full of old laundry during our Colorado trip very literally. Thus, she presented me with a collection of new trash bags, ziplock bags, and even some space saver storage bags with my initials written in magic marker on each--my new, personalized luggage collection. Hilarious!!!

I'm sure there are more little treats I'm forgetting at the moment, but all together the royal treatment made me feel very special and loved <3 birthday="" font="" happy="" me="" to="">