34?? Am I really that old??

I was not excited about turning 34 today. I was okay with 30-32. I still felt young. Last year 33 was starting to worry me, but 34? That's getting too close to 40. But you can't stop time so I just need to roll with it. Even though I wasn't excited about my new number, I had a great day! Scottie was home all day long, and made the day special for me. The kids slept in, which was awesome. Last year I was sick and sleep deprived, so this year was definitely a lot better!

I came downstairs to find breakfast waiting for me courtesy of Grace. Unfortunately she made the cereal when she first got up, so by the time I got down there it was pretty soggy. I gulped down a few bites to let her know I appreciated her efforts. She was so excited to make breakfast for me. She also stayed up late making that bunny. She used a half&half carton and some stuffing from an old toy. I can't believe how creative she is, she definitely didn't get it from me! :) Grace can bring a lot of drama into our house, but she has the sweetest heart. I love her!

**FYI: a big bowl of Cheerios and two pop-tarts are not standard breakfast fare for our family. In fact those are the first pop-tarts we've had in the house for months. Grace talked me into it the other day. I guess she wanted me to feel really special!

Jude tried to sneak one of my pop-tarts. Of course I gave him one, because I'm really bad about spoiling my baby boy!! ;)

Scottie's dad came over yesterday and cut the legs on our table and chairs. The counter top height was too much for our little ones. Avery fell off the chairs on a daily basis and got hurt a few times. I'm so happy with our "new" table and chairs!!

Avery shocked me by sleeping in longer than anyone. It's probably because she got up 2 or 3 times during the night. She ended up in our bed and snoozed the morning away.

Scottie decided to bless me with some french toast this morning. I should note that he NEVER cooks. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times he's cooked something for our family. He always does a great job when he does cook, maybe I should try to recruit him more often. Yeah right, that's not going to happen! ;) So it makes it special when he does take over the kitchen.

Do you notice Jude right there watching Daddy's every move? He pushed the stool over there himself. He has to watch people cook. We have to keep moving his stool so he isn't so close to the heat. (Don't worry, the stove wasn't on in this picture.)

Here's my awesome present from Scottie! I told him I've been wanting a speaker system for the ipod. I'm a big advocate for playing music at all times. I really wanted something I could use in the kitchen when I'm cooking or cleaning. This one can be plugged in or I can switch it to the battery and use it anywhere. It also has a radio feature, which was a nice surprise. I love listening to the radio too! I was very happy with my present. Thanks honey! :)

Grace made that card for me. She cut out strips of paper and glued them onto the card. She wrote a really sweet poem inside. Again, she has the sweetest heart!

I was so thankful to have my little family with me for the entire day. I feel very blessed!

Next up... Chicago!! It's going to be a blast!

A Fun Weekend With Kelsey

We were so excited for Kelsey to come up from Florida for a weekend. Grace was so happy to have her Aunt Kelsey around for a few days. Whenever Kelsey's around Grace basically ignores everyone else. She loves her aunt like crazy!! I just wish we lived closer. :(

**Shara, if your reading this, Grace found your headband but she gave it back to Kelsey. :)

No trip to Brazil would be complete without popcorn with Grandpa. The kids are totally mesmerized by the air popper.

On Saturday all of Kelsey's bridesmaid, except for our cousin Tracy, were able to get together and shop for our dresses. We were all so busy trying on dresses that I forgot to take pictures. But trust me everyone is going to look great!!


After lunch Mom, Kelsey, Grace, Shara, Amy, and I went to Hobby Lobby to look at flowers/decorations. The wedding is in November, but since we won't get to physically shop with Kelsey very much before then, we wanted to get some ideas while she was here. Unfortunately Kelsey and Grace have the same bad habit of squeezing all the plastic grapes whenever we go there, so they weren't a lot of help. ;)

If I didn't know better, I would swear that Grace is really Kelsey's child. They are so much a like it's a little scary sometimes.

The fun just kept coming on Saturday. Part of the Jenkins crew came down to visit and as usual it was a blast!! It was *just* warm enough for the kids to play outside. I thought it was cold, but I guess I'm just getting old. It didn't matter to them, they had a lot of fun together. I love this picture. Next time we'll have to make sure to get the three little ones in it. We're missing Sean, Jude, and Hannah.

Avery and her cousin playing on the Ipad. He is so sweet with her. I think they are going to be buddies growing up. They share a passion for all things candy. :) After I took this picture she looked at him and said "you're really good at smiling." So cute!


It's probably hard to see, but Jude is laying on the floor holding on to Papa's walker. I guess he didn't want Papa to go anywhere. :)

We played a game called "Things" and it is so much fun. There were ten of us and it was getting hard to remember all the answers, or who's answer was already picked so we got creative. I grabbed mom's chalkboard from the kitchen and we kept track of answers that way. It really helped move the game along, which is good since there was such a large group. I can't even begin to tell all the funny things that happened during this game, but there were many. I love playing games with my family. We have yet to play something and not laugh the entire time. I can't wait for the next get together!!!

Precious baby H!!! Love this sweet little girl.

Then on Sunday we got to visit with some of my Dad's side of the family. It was Uncle Bill's birthday so we had a dinner after church. I won't tell you how old he is, but if you look closely you might be able to see the number on his red cup. I thought I'd make him feel better and wrote "almost 34" on my cup. I'm not sure it really helped. Ha! Ha! ;)

Jude slept through the dinner so he got the table all to himself, except he had Grandma for company. He was so tired by Sunday. I don't know what his problem is, but he has a hard time sleeping at other people's houses. I love coming to visit, but I also dread it a little bit since I know I won't get a lot of sleep. Plus driving for three hours by myself on little sleep isn't much fun either. But I'll keep doing it because I love coming home and seeing everybody!

This is how I felt at the end of the trip. But it was so worth it to see Kelsey and the rest of the fam! Can't wait until she can come up again. We miss you Kelsey!! :)