Monday, we had lots to do. We had Kevin’s birthday dinner to get ready, and I needed to get a few things done before my Tuesday night Young Women activity with the girls. Our activity was planning the camp fundraiser, which meant I had a few craft I wanted to finish to display for the girls. I saw an idea Sunday on Pinterest…yes I finally caved and signed up. But then, I needed the supplies for that project. So, Monday morning we got up and got going. We were out the door before 10 am, which is an accomplishment around here. We headed to Michael’s first for supplies. I needed medium transfer gel, and it was no where to be found. I had 2 ladies helping me look, and we finally found it facing the wrong way under the wrong sales label. Meanwhile, my kids were rearranging the opposite side of the isle. Anyway, it was finally found, and we pressed forward. Next stop was Home Depot where we got our wood and had it cut, along with a sander. I thought about wrapping it for Kevin, but really… I wanted it. Next stop, post office. Rose (the kids favorite post office worker who always gives them candy) was off on break so we were able to make it in and out pretty quick.

We continued on our was to the bread outlet store. The kids love going, because I let them pick out a box of donuts. They’re only $1, and I let them eat them as soon as we’re in the car. As you can see, Ella loves the powdered donuts.

Then we headed to Staples to get pictures printed. For the project, I needed pictures printed with a laser copier instead of inkjet. I got a few pictures in case I messed up, and they were pictures mostly of the kids, and my sister’s family. The girl handed me the pictures and told me, “These are the cutest pictures ever.” Why thank you. I think our kids are pretty cute, and it is now justified. We left Staples and as we walked out, a man came up behind us asking if I could get him some food. The fact that he asked for food an not money… sure, no problem. We walked into Safeway next door (which was our next stop anyway) and bought him a sandwich along with one for myself. Then we started our shopping excursion to get stuff for Kevin’s birthday dinner.

Are you tired yet? I was. We got home, put Ella down for her nap, made the birthday cake, and then started vacuuming while I waited for the cake to cool. I was determined to get rid of any trace of dog hair around the house, so everything was vacuumed, dusted, and febreezed. In the process, I realized I was supposed to go visiting teaching at 3:30. So we hurried and finished, then woke up Ella, and headed out. Made it back home, realized we didn’t want to have dinner by ourselves, so invited some friends to join us last minute. As I was cooking dinner, Kevin text me to let me know he was going to be late. Really!? On your birthday? I was far enough into dinner that I needed to keep going. So, we ate Kevin’s birthday dinner without him.

Kevin managed to get home in time for cake and a present. The kids helped him blow out his candles.

Kevin was able to get a nap in after dinner festivities. His friends had planned to come over with cake later on. They did their run for the night, and then had their own little celebration. While they were gone, I started my project. I know, you really want to know what it is. 🙂

So Happy Birthday to my man who is finished up his twenties. It was a long busy day, but we got everything accomplished. I’m glad we were able to take a family vacation the weekend before to help celebrate his birthday, because Monday wasn’t the best day for him. Maybe next year, we’ll do better.

(Part 2)

***I had to look up the correct plural of octopuses. Apparently, octopi is accepted but nor actually correct. And, there is a big debate over it. Who knew?***

Friday was rainy most the day, but that didn’t stop us. We’re used to it by now. As we were getting ready, a seagull landed on the balcony. The kids grabbed some cereal and started to feed it, causing it to squawk for its friends. Luckily, no more showed up.

We got ready to go see Hatley Castle. This is the castle of the mutants in X-Men. So we told Jameson we were going to see where Wolverine lived. He was excited. We got there, got lost on the campus, and then found out that since school is in session, they don’t offer tours. What? Their website didn’t say anything about that. The website offers tours. So we went in the lobby and looked around.

Check out the radiators…

The picture with Jameson is looking out the front door to the building across. The one with Kevin is the front of the castle.

We walked around the back for some more inspection. I’m sure the vines are awesome in the summer, but they look a little creepy right now. Keep in mind it was raining on us the entire time.

The opposite view…

The back of the castle.

It looked pretty awesome. Wish we could have seen the inside more, but oh well. We headed back to down town, and stopped by the parliament buildings. We didn’t do any tours… don’t think the kids would really enjoy that, but the kids loved running around the grounds.

How cute is she…really? I even think a few other people took pictures while she stood on the steps yelling, “Cheese!”

Here is my belly shot at 25 weeks and 4 days.

A better view…

Even Kevin enjoyed playing on the front lawn.

After running around the parliament building, we went to the Undersea Gardens. You basically go aboard a boat, and then go down 15 meters under water to see the fish.

We thought there was a touch pool, but then another guy came walking up and read the sign which said something about not touching the animals. Oops. But seriously, one side of the sign implied that you can touch the animals, but the other side said don’t. Totally confusing.

At the end, there was a little theater area for a show. There were 2 scuba divers that held up different animals in the tank. The favorites were the crabs and the octopus. Octopi really, there were 2 of them.

Later that night, Jameson and I checked out the view from the top floor. Pictures didn’t turn out so well, but it was pretty.

Once we checked everything out, we went to the front to get a movie. Natalie, the desk clerk, loved Jameson. He picked out a movie, and then proceeded to talk to her for like 45 minutes. She loved it. She even had him sign the slip to check out a movie. It was pretty funny. Of course, he didn’t sign on the line, but he did get all the letters of his name on the paper. So we headed back up to watch our movie and go to bed.

Today was not much different of a day, except that my baby is 2. Tonight, I took the kids over to the small mall near us for some dinner and entertainment. I didn’t feel like cooking, and I found out it was open mic night. I had no idea what to expect, and when we got there, it wasn’t looking so hot. We ate our food, had a few rounds on the merry-go-round, stopped at the toy store, and then back to our table for some more watching. While we were in the toy store, I heard a few really good singers. By the time we got back to a table with our smoothies, we were treated to this gem.

It was his own rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Made me laugh. And reminded me of my wonderful husband who cracks up every time he hears this…

Oh so funny.

Grandma sent Jameson his birthday present/ Christmas present, and he was so excited. Can you tell? Ella insisted on sitting in it while I was trying to put it together. Not the easiest feat, but I got it done. Actually, they insisted on sitting in the next few days while watching tv.

What was funny, was the UPS guy delivering it. He got to know us pretty well while Kevin was restoring the engine in his truck. So he knocked on the door, then walked back to his truck and waited. When I answered the door, with both kids at my feet, he stopped and asked, “Do little eyes need to go somewhere else?” I was totally confused at first. I had to remember what was being delivered. Once I did, I laughed and told him it was actually a birthday present so we were good. He pulled the box out which had a nice picture of the contents on it. The kids got so excited, and I was thankful the UPS guy is careful.

Thanksgiving was also a birthday in our family this year. So which do we celebrate first? The day started with Jameson finding his birthday present. He and Ella were all over the tools that morning. Doesn’t he look so excited?

That’s my girl. In her brother’s hand-me-down pajamas with a power drill.

Then, these two got a hold of the camera. I have to say, up close and upside-down, these two could be twins.

After naps, our Thanksgiving feast began. I made a turkey, along with potatoes, gravy, rolls, and ice cream pies. Our friends, the Larsens, joined us. They brought some delicious stuffing, carrots, bacon wrapped green beans, and apple pie. We had tons of food, and a handsome turkey carver. Only problem, he doesn’t know how to carve a turkey. I’m sure there’s some specific way, but we do what we can.

After dinner, we let Jamo open some more presents from us. He is big into heroes right now. So, super hero pajamas are only appropriate.

Ella was just as excited.

He also opened up some capes I got at the swap meet while at my Mom’s. He loves them, and I got a deal on them.

A cross-eyed batman. These two super heroes ran crazy for a while.

After presents, Kevin tried to roast marshmallows with the kids. We found out that our house is too drafty. While trying to keep a fire going, if we didn’t leave a window cracked, the smoke would come back into the house. So, we did one round of smores and called it good.

After some smores, we sang “Happy Birthday” and had Jameson blow out his candles before they melted our ice cream pies.

So that was our dinner and birthday. After cleaning up and getting kids to bed, I prepared for some black Friday shopping. I got the honor of taking Lauren out for her first time. We started at Target, ventured to Kohl’s, and then Old Navy. We actually made it home by 3:15 am and got almost everything on our list. It was tons of fun, and Kevin kept the kids quiet the next morning so I could sleep in. Love that man!

Jameson has kept asking when his birthday is. We told him it was on Thanksgiving and it was coming. I decided I would wait to do a friend party till my kids turn 5. They don’t remember before that, right. I don’t really remember birthdays before that. So starting the week of his birthday, our discussions went like this:

J-It’s my birthday?

M- Yup, on Thursday. The day after preschool.

J- And I get a party.

M- Umm, nope. Not this year bud.

J- Yes huh. And my friends are coming over.

M- Umm, no their not.

J- Yes huh, and I get presents.

Well shoot. So, the Monday before I sent an email to a few friends asking them to humor us and come over for lunch and cupcakes. A few friends came over and helped me give Jameson a “birthday party.” So after our preschool group, a few more joined us. We had some chicken nuggets and fries, and then let the kids decorate some cupcakes. They were sweet and brought some presents for him. He was so excited.

Kevin was actually in between jobs this week, so he got to participate in the party, too. Well, once he and his friend got back from shooting that morning. They got back in time for presents and cupcakes. Once the kids went to bed, I got out his present from us. I got this over the summer from someone in the ward. She has stored it for about 10 years and was finally getting rid of it. I’m surprised I was able to hide it in the garage for 5 months.

The next morning, Jameson came running in our room. He looked at dad and yelled, “Dad, guess what Santa brought me?” We laughed and told him it wasn’t from Santa, just us. He was so excited.

We’ve gotten to know the missionaries in our ward really well over the last 11 weeks. They wanted to meet with us every week and give us challenges to do missionary work. These challenges were things like, get to know your neighbors, or to create a profile on Mormon.org (which I have yet to accomplish, but I did try.) The missionaries have been coming over every week to discuss our experiences throughout the week. This means, we have gotten to know our missionaries really well. We actually met one of them, Elder Taylor, when he was first out and I was still pregnant with Ella. He was a new missionary and we were in another ward. Now, we get to have him finish his mission with us. It was his birthday on the 5th, so we celebrated with them on our normal Thursday visit with some dinner and peach cobbler. (His request.) It tasted good, but I don’t think it turned out quite like it was supposed to. It was my first time making it, though. I also stopped by the Rootbeer store, and picked up a bunch of different kinds for us to have with dinner. His present? A few rootbeers to go. He had to have at least one present on his birthday, but I didn’t want to get anything he’d have to haul around since he’s about ready to go home.

So happy birthday to Elder Taylor! And Elder Minter is a good sport about all the going home talk. He was a newbie when he was sent to us. Poor guy should not have been paired up with someone going home, but they have been working hard. They have kept us thinking about being good members of our church, and have been fun visitors every week.