Halfway to 70

THAT is what my wonderful dh has been telling me now for the past few weeks. My 35th birthday was yesterday. Man! Where does the time go?? I certainly don't feel like I'm 35 & I'm really hoping I don't look like it either! [big grin]

The remains of the cake & ice-cream!

The day was nice but went by way too quickly. I had a lazy morning. My youngest had me up at 6:30 & I went & crawled on the couch after tossing some cereal bars & granola bars around the starving masses of children. I dozed on & off there until 9:30. That's when I realized it was communion Sunday at church & I really wanted to go. I told my hubby I was jumping in the shower quickly & then heading to church. Since he was just waking up, I knew I'd be heading off alone. He does not move that quickly first thing in the morning. [Sorry, honey, but you know you don't. Still love ya!!!] He did offer to keep all the kiddos at home with him so I was able to enjoy the service without a wiggly five year old asking me when it was time for the "train." When the children are dismissed to Children's Church they play Gospel Train & they all file out. He is a train freak & loves this part the best!

When I arrived home I checked my calendar as I knew my oldest had his Christmas play practice. It was at 1:30 instead of 4:30. Ugh. That meant only about an hour at home since church ran late. DH was up & working on sheet rocking our new addition. He is making a lot of progress on that! By the end of the weekend he had 90% of it all done. He kept the two little ones at home & B & I headed to the other church a bit further away where they attend Awana.

This was my first time watching the rehearsal. I hope they are able to pull it together. Their performances are the weekend of the 16th & 17th. They have a lot of work to do between now & then. They are having an extra rehearsal this week on Thursday night before Awana. That makes for a long evening for me. The church is *just* a bit too far away to drop B off at 4:30 for rehearsal & then go back at 6:15 for Awana. So I go with the two younger ones & hang around in the truck or the playground or the church. I may bring some things for them to do & find an empty classroom this time. It's getting too cold & too dark to hang around outside now. If my dh doesn't have a meeting, he will usually take J (the 2 year old) home around 6pm after he gets out of work & then I can hang out for Awana alone. He's pretty busy this week though.

Play rehearsal ran over so we didn't get home until about 3:30. I hadn't had a chance to check e-mail - one of my favorite things to do - so I was hoping to veg away the afternoon doing just that. My MIL called though & offered to cut B's hair - which he desperately needed! I sent him right over! Then she also offered to help me make a dress - something I had been asking for.

About four years ago I had a friend offer to help me learn to sew so we went out & picked out a pattern & enough fabric to make two dresses. Then life got busy & it never happened. I've been hauling this bag around now for a long time! My dh's office Christmas party is Saturday so I thought it a good way to save some money and get a new dress. So I headed over there around 4:30 & started work on ironing the fabric (I had already washed it a couple month's ago) & pinning the pattern & cutting it. Over the course of the night I was able to completely cut out the whole dress. I really wanted to learn to sew it myself. However, it's not happening with this dress. I need it for Saturday. My MIL & I do not have a night this week when we will both be home so she can help me. She has offered to sew this one for me. She's the best!

Right now I'm at my sister's house babysitting her son & her two large dogs so that she & her hubby can enjoy a nice night away. Tomorrow they celebrate their 8th (I think?? LOL) wedding anniversary. So I have their 4 year old son, my 10 year old son, my 5 year old son & my 2 year old son. Thankfully they get alone well - for the most part! I can't complain too much though - she made sure to have plenty of snacks & she has a DSL connection! Yippee!!!!

Okay, so finally - my party. You all are wondering what I got right?? Well, my MIL actually bought my gift for me a few months ago. We went to New Hampshire shopping & Michael's was having a sale on mini-scrapbooking totes - small organizing/tabletop ones. She bought me one as an early present. It's very cool & I've enjoyed using it! She did give me some yummy Bath & Body works body wash as well - in my favorite scent.

One happy 2 year old boy enjoying birthday cake!

My mom, sister, BIL & hubby all chipped in & got me a digital camera! I was pretty happy with that. I've been trying to decide if I wanted to go digital or not. My hubby did all the research & ended up getting me a Nikon CookPix L3. It has 5.1 mgp & 3x Optical Zoom. Just enough to do what I want. I really just wanted something tiny to toss in my bag & carry with me everywhere. I was tired of missing out on photos because my regular camera is to bulky to carry. I use a 35mm SLR Cannon EOS Rebel. My bag is huge for that! My new Nikon is smaller than the detachable flash I use on my Cannon. It has all kinds of neat settings as well. I'm going to have fun with it! So be watching for lots more photos on here!

Today when I arrived at my sister's she had some more gifts for me. She got me my long anticipated Kitchen Aide mixer!!!! Okay, before you think my sister is made of money I should probably tell you that the mixer is only about two inches tall. Huh? I collect mini-clocks & every year my sister gets me one. This year it's in the shape of an authentic Kitchen Aide mixer! It is way too cute! She also got me a CD of Celtic music (some of it is even Gaelic!). Our heritage is Scottish & I love anything Celtic - but especially the music!

My new mixer!!!!

All in all it's been a pretty good birthday.