{The Big 3-0!}

It's true.
I'm thhhh....
I turned thirrr...
I'm, ahem, thirmmermm...
I had my second 29th birthday!
Happy Birthday to me!
...and even if I don't like the number, the days of partying were so worth it!

Everyone needs a sister like Laura. The kind of sister that even though you planned a lunch/shopping day the after your birthday with the momandsisters she refuses to let you sit a home staring at either A) towers of boxes or B) snow falling outside. In May. On your birthday. So said amazing sister kidnapped me away for lunch at "The Black Bean Store" aka Bajio, and shopping for the perfect new outfit for my hot date later that night. She even talked me out of the funk I talked myself into about how horrible 30 had the potential of being. Laura, you officially saved my birthday. That's why everyone needs a big sister like mine. Best phycologist/personal shopper ever. Love you!

My girls decided to make me birthday cupcakes. We are firm believers around these parts that no one should have to make their own birthday cake. Besides, who can say no to this face?!?



Not me, that's for sure.
The girls put in tons of extra love, which I'm hoping counteracted all of this:


Elizabeth, you are so busted.
Oh, the mess...

...was so worth it!

Smoke cloud. Cough, cough, sputter, sputter.

Somehow the girls talked Todd into taking them to do a little surprise birthday shopping for me at the dollar store. Now Todd is an amazing dad, and he would do almost anything to make those kids happy. BUT (with a capital "B"!) I think he would have rather had his toenails pulled off with pliers than go to the dollar store with three kids. (Can you blame him?!)

But he did it anyway.

That's how much he loves me.

Or them.

Lots of love going around.

And since Mother's day was just 3 days after my birthday he helped them pick out two presents.

My hero.

You should hear him tell the story.

Anywho, after a full hour, they finally made their extremely thoughtful purchases and escaped the store.

Caroline got me the super blingy-ist fingernail file ever. I. love. it. And for Mother's Day she picked out a set of pink pens. Again, I'm. in. love.

Elizabeth got me apple body body wash, which smells surprising good considering it came from a dollar store. For M day she got me air fresheners that clip onto the vents of your car. Those smell a little more like where they came from. I wondering if she thinks I'm a stinky mom...? hmmm....

She also wrote me a beautiful poem.

Louis was talked out of everything on the bottom two feet of the store and into a pair of new scissors (which I was ecstatic about since mine were lost in the move), and a giant fingernail scrubber. Something I have a feeling both of us will be using a lot this summer.

Super shoutout to the best babysitter ever -- Katey braved two days of babysitting so Mama could go out and par-tay!

We pay her in cupcakes.

As much as I would have loved to to something creative and involved for the big 3-0, Todd and I were a little worn out with the whole moving thing so we opted for the classic dinnerandamovie date. We went to eat my favorite lobster ravioli (...hold on a sec while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.... alrighty...!) and we had a few minutes to kill before the movie started. Just enough time to run to the store right next to the theatre -- Sportsman's Wear house.

I know what you're thinking -- sarcastically -- soooo romantic.

Au contraire mon frere.

Sportmans has it going on with the camo nighty.

Super. hawt. ya'll.

Here we are rockin' the aviator.

But Todd really does look his best with the 3D movie glasses on, don't you agree?

Love this man.

He's not even the least bit ashamed to be married to a 30-year-old woman.

{We Have Arrived!}

I cannot describe my outer joy
(which is nothing compaired to my inner joy!)
I. love. this. house.
LOVE!
Oh, the elbow room.
Sweet, sweet, elbow room.
*sigh*
I know you'll want pictures.
As my mama says,
patience is a virtue.
I'll try to make it worth the wait.
Here's a teaser:
My shoes are crying right now because they are so happy.
Until then, know that I, too, am happy
(and still surrounded by stacks and stacks of boxes).

{Miracle}

Some people find pictures of the virgin Mary burnt into their toast or in their hard water stains.

Us?

We find random smiley faces while mixing up our eggs for Sunday morning french toast.

Our own little happy miracle.

Remind you of someone?

Happy Sunday everybody!

{Elizabeth is 9!}

That's right.
Nine.
How/why/when did that happen?!?
I. feel. old.
I even told her so.
She said, "It's OK mom, it's not like you're 30."
To which I replied, "Girlie, I'm gonna be 30 in 3 weeks."
To which she replied, "Oh, never mind then."
Sheesh.
I let her have a birthday party anyway... I'm that awesome of a mom.



Here's Elizabeth and her besties: Karly, Hannah and Sara. I sure am going to miss these smiley faces popping in and out of my house every day. I have a feeling we're going to be driving into town for a lot of play dates this summer! Thanks girls, for making Elizabeth's day super special!


...and thanks to the usual rowdies that came to make this party a PAR-TAY!!!
You know who you are.

We even got Elizabeth the pink cowgirl boots she wanted... and I'm happy to report she's worn them every day since. The girl can rock a pair of pink boots, I tell ya.



Then somehow, the grandparents just couldn't stand by and watch the kids have all the fun anymore. It all started with a friendly little race between Nana and Papa...




She won the first one, but for Papa's pride I will document that he did beat her two out of three races. Barely. *snicker*

And I guess Todd's folks figured that if my parents could do it then they could too...
Not to be out done, I guess.

Here's grandma (who has had both knees and one hip replaced, by the way) pretending she's nine again. Louis gave a few pointers along the way, "Just CRAWL grandma!!!" I'm happy to report we got them all out of there without having to deflate the bouncy thingy. That was my back up plan, anyway.


We partied until we were pooped. Not party poopers, just pooped partiers. Hey, you only turn 9 once, right?!?

{It's been a good day...}

Any day that starts out like this -- well, you just know it's gonna be a good one!

But wait, it gets even better! Lookie at what's in my little package! It's my blog book from blurb.com! YIPPEE!

I'm going to hug it and squeeze it and pet it and love it and and name it George!

I'm so happy with my new book! I kinda want to scream like a group of 14-year-old girls right now...

...but instead I went out to hunt down a new store I just heard about. Here's a little peek at a little somethin'somethin' for the new house (more screaming!!!)

I told you I had a good day.

Now I need to go pack boxes...

{Hoppy Easter}

Nothing warms the cockles of my heart more than seeing my little carnivores gnaw on their giant chocolate bunnies. Check out that bunny's eyes -- I think it may be rabid! Run for you life! Rabid chocolate bunnies!



The diabetic friendly Easter basket:


...and in true Idaho fashion, an Easter egg hunt in the snow!


Caroline's got her crazy eye on one! Watch out!


Then the kids just had to watch out for the scavengers...
Happy Easter!

{Hot Stuff}

Spring brought out the crafty in me. I started haunting craigslist and found this desk for $40... then the chair from DI for $3. Three dollars! Three smackaroos. Three bucks. That alone made me happy. After a little elbow grease and one beautiful Saturday they went from this:



to this! Then I was super-duper-ala-ka-zooper happy. LOVE it!


Now Elizabeth will have a brand new desk for when she gets her very own room when we move next month. That's right, the gypsies are off again. We're moving. (Blech, just saying it out loud made me want to throw up in my mouth a little...) Same town, bigger place. That means no more weight bench in my living room. No more bright pink desk in my dining room (even if it is adorable!) No more sewing desk in my hallway. No more tile saw in my bedroom. No more deep freezer in my master bathroom. No more computer desk in the laundry room. You get the idea. If I could just twinkle all our stuff there, I'd be so excited! I can't wait until we're there and settled again! It's gonna be awesome!