Surprise Birthday Party!

When my Aunts came to visit a few months ago we found out that my mom had NEVER had a birthday party before. We have taken her out for dinner, given her gifts and celebrated her big day but she had never had a party. When we heard that, we decided that we would surprise her this year and make a big deal of it. Because of my trip to AZ we had to move her party to the following weekend, which only added to the surprise because she wouldn't be expecting it at all. We are very lucky that we have an extended camp/church family here in KC and they all turned out for her surprise. They even made the party easy for me by bringing the fruit/dip, cheese/cracker platters, holiday punch and other party foods. That is the easiest way to throw a party EVER!! I am very thankful that everyone helped me out and made it such a special day for mom.

Here is her special cake. It was Almond Sour Cream (bottom tier) and Godiva Chocolate (top tier). Melissa really outdid herself with this beautiful creation! I wanted to celebrate Mom's heart journey thus far as well as her heart, spirit and soul. Each guest wrote on cards and recorded a special memory or something they loved/appreciated about mom. I am working on a heart album for her and plan to add these memories to her book.

We told mom about the party right after we set the cake up. We gave her a couple hours to get ready and to get used to the idea of a house full of people. She was so surprised and excitedly told us that she had never had a birthday party before. I told her that we had invited 30 of her closest friends and she laughed until she realized we were serious and she said...Oh! This is her sitting in her special seat while we got the table set up and waited for our guests.

This is moms heart surgeon Dr. Miller. He is such an amazing man and I want to adopt him. :) He stayed for about 30 minutes and spent the whole time talking to mom and ended with giving her a pep talk. I had to ask my Dr. questions and of course that included...when will we know when she is ready for her next open heart surgery? He said that mom would know when she was ready. He encouraged her to get stronger and to do her exercises to get ready. We had a great time talking with him and I am just so pleased that he took the time to come to her party.

Our great friends Cheryl and her daughter Denise with her adorable son Wyatt. We haven't spent much time with them lately and it was great seeing them again.

Thank you dear friends for helping us surprise mom for her birthday. It was a fantastic party and mom still talks about it. Happy Birthday Sweet Mom! Keep getting stronger so we can celebrate many more birthdays! I love you!!

Things That Happened Today That I Loved...

1. Noah made coffee all by himself...and made enough for our whole family...(I've been waiting a lifetime for that!!)

2. Lucas bragged about me while we were at the Y today...he was talking about how I am the only women there who has ever leg pressed over 400 lbs... (it's true...I set a record!)

3. That all 3 boys wanted to come work out with me. They inspire me to work harder and Eli and I walked/jogged/ran side by side on the treadmills.

4. When our puppy minds me the first time...She keeps adding to her list of tricks...

She sits, she fetches (and drops the ball when told), she rings the bells to go outside to potty, she shakes your hand, she drops to the ground for a belly rub, she goes to her kennel and her bed on command, she sits and won't eat until we tell her to eat and she is working on sitting and staying when we open the front door. She is such a smart little girl!

5. That Lucas learned how to multiply and divide today using pennies. We have worked on it several times before (without props) but he really seemed to grasp the concepts today...over and over.

6. I discovered that using English Muffins for french toast is amazing!!!

Arizona Scorpions...To Eat Or Not To Eat...

When I went to Tucson I got the kids some Scorpion gifts and painted rocks from Sentinel Mountain. Each time I talked to them they were begging to know what I got them so I gave them cryptic hints. I told them things like...your gift is going to freak you out...its something you can find in Arizona...one of them is kinda sweet and cute and you will think it's cool but after about 10 minutes I don't think you'll be able to handle it...and so on. It was fun giving them hints they couldn't possibly figure out. (insert maniacal laugh here...) When I saw the boys at Noah's musical I had them close their eyes so I could put there gift in their hands...and grandma gave me the silly idea of giving them the rocks...so I did. Of course I had one of their other gifts but it was great to see their faces and I was really impressed because none of them complained that all they got was a rock! :) Eli and Lucas got Scorpion necklaces and Noah got a big Scorpion key chain. When they came home on Friday, we gave them their other gift...the scorpion sucker...and they started them right away. Here are some highlights as both Noah and Eli ATE THEIR SCORPION!!! Lucas made it half way and decided that was enough for him and I still can't believe the other two ATE IT! YUCK!!!

Arizona

I had a chance to go on a free trip to Arizona last weekend and while the company left much to be desired, the mountains were very therapeutic. I met some very interesting people during my adventure and I had a chance to explore Tucson on my own. I love the southwest and would move there just for the churro's! That is the breakfast of champions!! :) Instead of recount all the JH drama from the trip...I think I will just share with you some of my favorite pics.

The resort was just beautiful...5 pools, perfect weather...

This was part of our resort...I had an amazing view of the Mountains.

The view from my balcony...

This is gorgeous but I have no idea what it is. Do you?

I took a tram ride into Sabino Canyon and hiked 4 miles back down.

The canyon was just what I needed to let out stress and get back to nature.

I was there at sunset so the light was amazing.

Cactus are awesome...

Day 2 of my adventure. I explored the arts district in downtown Tucson, visited the Tucson Museum of Art, saw a great Ansel Adams exhibit, heard live music and climbed Sentinel Mountain.

I have a thing for windows...and doors...

This house was awesome...it is a vacation rental and is located blocks from the arts district.

My last stop before I left AZ was to the Botanical gardens where I got to see a butterfly exhibit. It was hot, humid and awesome. These are some shells from the Chrysalis exhibit. Great texture. I also ate a fantastic lunch in the gardens and it was a great way to end my trip.

Noah's 5th Grade Musical

Last week Noah had his 5th grade musical and it was so great seeing the boys in the middle of the week. We were really hoping that Scott would be able to see the boys at school during lunch time but he has just been too sick to do it all year. We talked about it last summer but unfortunately with LD you just never know what kind of day you're going to have. I hadn't seen the boys in over a week and they were dieing to see me because they thought I had gifts from AZ for them...so we enjoyed sitting with Lucas and Eli and listening to Noah sing.

Noah is on the back row right in the middle, red shirt with white stripe.

By the end of the musical he was all smiles because Eli's dancing was making him giggle...and I tried to keep Eli under control but when that boy hears a beat...he can't sit still and it started the giggles. (sorry noah)

FYI- the beg. and end of the video are a little rough because I was secretly recording Eli...it was hard to judge where the phone was pointing.

Yankee Doodle Dandy - Good Job Noah!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! Mom had a quiet day at home and got a wonderful surprise from two of her sisters. They sent her a gorgeous arrangement of flowers that really made her day! She also got a nice package full of art supplies. Our family gave her a new black and white photo of the kids and we enjoyed a peaceful dinner together. She really enjoyed all the cards that have been coming for the past two weeks and was happy to be home with us instead of in the hospital. I am very happy to have her here and am so blessed to be able to see, hear and learn from her generous heart every day. I thank God for her life and try not to take it for granted. I love you mom.

Halloween Birthday Party & Bowling

Noah picked the theme "Scary" for his birthday this year because we were celebrating on Halloween. We packed our day full of fun and started by making a Bat Box at the Discovery Center and then Lucas, Eli and I worked on his cake masterpiece. He wanted a scary cake...so I got a little crazy. Eli helped me carve, clean the pumpkin and decorate the carmel apple cupcakes. We used real carmel as the "frosting" and added gummy eyeballs. We carved the eye and mouth holes to fit the cupcakes and we slowly built our masterpiece. We baked a brain and added a gummy worm and spider on top of that and then used vampire teeth with a gummy tongue for the mouth. It was awesome. After some gory red marker embellishments we surrounded the pumpkin with the extra eyeball cupcakes. It was cool!

It was a small birthday celebration but the big gift was his new skateboard. This is really the only thing he wanted and even though we tried to trick him by using it as a table prop (under the skeleton tablecloth) he knew what it was right away. After his party, we enjoyed a delicious roast (thanks Sonja!) and then got ready for trick-or-treating. We spent about an hour hitting the nice, big houses in our neighborhood and even ran into our great friend Libby. The kids made out like a bandit and came home with a ton of candy. Lady had a great time trick-or-treating once she got over the shock of her kids in costumes. When she first saw Noah she wouldn't stop barking at him...she wasn't sure who was under that mask! She was so excited to see all the kids while we were out and she seemed to have a great time.

Notice that Eli and Scott are twins...Eli dressed up as Scott with a beard and all.

After our candy run we went to our local bowling alley to do their annual Halloween Bowl...but since they changed the time we didn't get to participate in the costume contest (Lucas won last year) but that didn't stop us from bowling in our costumes! Last year we bowled in our costumes for Noah's birthday and the kids decided then that it should be a yearly event....so we had a great time this year. Something amazing happened...I was actually good!! I had 2 strikes, 2 spares and took first place. Woo Hoo...that NEVER happens! Eli was so funny and kept us laughing with each new dance step he would create. Autumn really enjoyed her funky costume with pink hair and danced with Eli every chance she got. Lucas of course was a little dramatic when it came to "praying" his ball in to the right spot and he often begged God while down on his knees...he is a funny boy. Did you see his hot pink mohawk? Cool huh? Noah was the calm and quiet one who was a blur in most of my photos...but we had a great time celebrating Noah's birthday! Happy Birthday Noah!

Happy Birthday Noah!

Noah is 11 years old today! We can hardly believe it...seems like just yesterday he was itty bitty...and now his feet are bigger than mine, he's wearing cologne and he has a best-girl-friend!! Life is changing at our house as little boys turn into young man and we are anxiously awaiting the excitement that follows. We are very proud of Noah as he is working hard in 5th grade and taking on new challenges. It seems we talk about leadership every week while checking in on the goals we set this past summer. His teacher also mentioned his ability to be a leader and Noah is acting on that knowledge. He is intelligent, quiet, introspective, funny and has a great dry sense of humor. I love it when one of my jokes settles on his face and he slowly smirks...and then he tells me I'm not funny. :) I love it when he shares his real smile, his real laugh and when he takes the time to teach his brothers life lessons. He is an amazing young man and we are very proud of him. Happy Birthday Noah!!