Buck's Birthday

Right on the heels of Gabby's birthday, arrived Buck's (seems like that happens every year ;) For breakfast, we ate the cinnamon rolls he brought home. For lunch, we ate the cheesecake he brought home (although we did top it with cherries that were already at home :) 

With school and work schedules all over the place, our day ran a little differently than usual. Buck watched his Thursday-release shows in the morning, instead of at night. Caelan came home at cheesecake lunchtime and we sang the song and opened the gifts. Gabby was excited that he couldn't guess hers, even by shaking it :)

While I checked the boys' schoolwork, Buck and G$ installed the speaker the boys bought him to replace the rattling one in his truck. Meanwhile, Brennen got done with just enough math to get to work in time for his second six-hour shift, ever. 

For dinner, we made reservations to eat sushi with our NGFs. I was glad to see there were cooked options on the menu, too! We ladies decided it would be fun to dress up, and the guys sort of agreed. We both planned to wear our green dresses, and instead ended up wearing black. Funny how that works out.

The weather was warm and windy, and we had just enough time to stop into a popular ice cream shop for an after-dinner treat! It is hard to walk in heels on brick roads and eat ice cream in the wind, but we made it work.

Our next stop--the theater, because we were fancy and that's where fancy people go! I've been curious about the storyline of the show Wicked since I first started hearing music for it on the radio. There are some powerful vocals, brilliant colors, unique costuming, amazing sets, and interesting characters in the show. Some parts were a bit slow, and it seemed very long, but overall I'm glad I saw it and that Buck was willing to see it with me :)

After the show, we walked back to our cars with our friends and said goodnight. While we were away, Gabby attended her first college Bible study with Caelan and Noah. Brennen was working, and Graysen was at home alone watching the NFL draft for hours on end (and playing Lego Starwars). We got caught up on all their stories, and they got caught up on ours.

Hooray for birthdays, hooray for Buck, hooray for special memories made!

Gabby's New Haircut

Since we're on a Gabby streak, I thought I'd sneak a quick before-and-after photo post into the mix :) Gabby decided she wanted to have her hair professionally cut, and set herself up an appointment. Buck had set himself up with an appointment to have his beard trimmed professionally, but after waiting almost two months for his appointment to arrive--the barber fell down the stairs and hurt his leg, so he cancelled at the last minute. Drat!! So, Buck jumped into Gabby's appointment; it was nice of her to share :) Here is her before and after--I didn't think to take one of Buck ;)

A Big Birthday in the Books

Gabby's birthday began with breakfast, as birthdays often do. She spent the evening before baking strawberry cream cheese filled bran muffins, my Aunt C's special recipe. To that tasty treat we added some bacon and eggs and called it brunch. The boys returned bleary-eyed and barely awake from a "sleepover" at which the storms of the night kept them awake (I'm sure video games with their buddies had nothing to do with it ;)

At the appropriate time, the boys awoke from their attempted slumber. Brennen got himself ready for work, and G$ got himself ready for battle. Ha, just kidding! I did tell him ahead of time, "Now, the place we are going is a surprise to Gabby for her birthday. I felt the need to let you know now, because it involves cats. You and cats haven't been the best of friends in the past." To which he more-or-less replied, "Yeah, they attack me. But Gabby will LOVE that. I'm in."

And so we pulled into the parking lot of a legit, true cat cafe! Gabby was happily shocked, "I didn't think these were real!" I was so happy we were able to find such a place within driving distance for her! We ordered really tasty coffees, chai, hot chocolate, and tea (that was a recommendation from the barista--G$ maybe would have gone another route :) and prepared for our 30 minutes of kitten "cuddle time."

All the cats at this shop are up for adoption, and our small entrance fee goes toward their upkeep, shots, and vet bills while they await their new homes. Because it was windy that day, the five kittens weren't able to make a public appearance at another local event, so we ended up with nine cats and kittens to play with. That might not sound like a lot, but when they are popping out of beds and holes and wrestling across shelves and window ledges, it sure feels like a lot going on! Especially for Graysen, who was a bit leery of the cats staring at him from atop their perches. He was ready for cuddle time to conclude a little sooner than the rest of us ;)

Never has a half hour flown by so quickly! The cafe was packed with the next round of cat friends ready to come in and take our spot with the kitties. But that was okay, because we had another very Gabby plan up next. Although it has been around for decades, for her special day we discovered a three-story warehouse full of artists of every imaginable ability--glass blowing, metal working, pottery, pastel painting, photography, jewelry, instrument-making, print art, woodworking, candle-making, engraving, etc. etc. Not only that, but it was an open house, so allllll the artists were present, giving demonstrations, answering questions, selling beautiful things, and passing out snacks!

We could have stayed for absolute hours, and we did wander for quite some time. However, Mr. $ had a job interview at mid-afternoon, so we headed home to get him ready for that.

Brennen was just arriving home from his time at work when Noah showed up at our door. The girls and the boys headed to the mall for some fun graduation clothes shopping, and Noah trying on hats :) They also got boba tea (even though Brennen could barely keep his eyes open). Gabby found a super pretty dress for her upcoming party, and I'd say from the stories I heard, this mall time was a highlight of her day (Brennen's filter was down given his lack of slumber and I guess he's pretty funny when he's not thinking straight :)

The kids met us at the Mexican restaurant for supper, Gabby's request. If you look closely, you'll see Buck's friend, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, photobombed our birthday dinner pic ;)

While the teens were on their shopping excursion, Buck spent his time making Gabby's request of lemon bars. She sent the Sally's Baking Addiction link to us, and Buck's eyes got bigger and bigger as he read all the steps, ha! Sally is quite the gal. But he pulled off the sweets swimmingly, and we were *POW* in the mouth with each bite. Also, the birthday song ended with an unexpected cloud of powdered sugar as Gabby blew out her (some very tiny because I didn't have enough so I cut one in half) birthday candles. Another funny story is, we had JUST gotten them all lit when her grandma called from Cali, so Gabby took the call and Caelan blew out the first round of candles, ha!

Next up, gift opening! Caelan got up to feed Muri and when she came back Graysen was in her spot next to Noah on the couch. She said, "That's my spot!" and Graysen grinned and jokingly put his arm around Noah. Caelan said, "That's MY boyfriend!" We were all cracking up (and Caelan did get her spot back :)

Gabby received art supplies and shoes, a sunflower hoodie from C, a sunflower fidget ring from B, and funny t-shirts from G$ and Grandma J. Noah sent her a meme of Betty White dabbing that says, "Welcome to the old people's club." She thought that was pretty great, too :) Overall, I'd say Gabby had a good day! We were so happy to celebrate her and to show her some love 💗Exciting times ahead for Doodles!

Letter Jacket

Gabby decided she'd like her Christmas gift from her grandmas to be a letter jacket! We've been working on this project since November. We found a custom design website for the patches, and it takes about two months for each order to be hand-sewn and delivered. She ordered her name, school name, art, and choir patches first. Then she got inducted into the National Honor Society, so decided to order a patch for that, too! We got the final patch sewn on this week, and think it turned out great!

She's so cute 😍

Easter

With the weather app reporting *snow* for Easter Sunday, our church wisely decided to cancel the outdoor service. This crowded all the people into two services, which felt nice and homey. Five of us were assigned to children's ministry duties for the first service, and Gabby almost ran the slides (but the designated person showed up just in time). Buck and I had eight toddlers in the nursery, which kept us busy, but they were mostly girls and played nicely. Most of our kids' PaTch friends served, too! I made sure to snap a quick Easter friends picture before everyone headed out to their own celebrations of Jesus.

We reserved two rows in church to fit our Crew, the college kids, and my mom and brother. My sis-in-law was part of the worship team for the first time since before the wedding. It was so nice to hear her sing again!

After church we took a few pictures by the fireplace--which seems to be shrinking in size as the Crew grows older. Caelan didn't like being the shortest because of Gabby's heeled shoes; Gabby made sure to stand up taller in her heeled shoes so Caelan did indeed look even shorter, lol! I also often request the boys open their eyes a little when the smile, and Graysen gave me the most often response to that request :)

They headed to their rooms to change while "the Easter bunny" delivered their baskets. No seeking this year . . . after nine years of hiding four baskets, this little house is plumb out of secret spots. They still pretended to look though, they're such fun kids :)

Everyone pitched in to get Easter dinner ready and ready for transport. Our guest list kept growing, and was about to top off at 16 when my brother offered to move the festivities to his house (because our seating capacity, minus the inaccessible deck furniture is not sufficient for that guest list :)

Noah took Caelan and Gabby to pick up Dale from the dorms, and then disappeared to my brother's basement to play pool. We were upstairs setting out food and visiting while they played, so I didn't get any pictures. The food was great, Gabby made CO yeast rolls, Caelan made her sweet potatoes, Graysen washed potatoes for mashed potatoes, Buck did the ham and brussels sprouts, Brennen peeled eggs for fancy eggs. It was a feast!

After dinner, there was trampoline time and basketball hoop shooting on the concrete slab. For being a blustery spring day, I'd say everyone enjoyed themselves and the time together. We're grateful Jesus gives us not only an earthly family, but an eternal family for those who trust in Him and the reality that He died for our sins, He raised from the dead, and He lives forever, ready to welcome us into the beautiful place He's prepared for us. A very special day to commemorate, indeed!