I'm a Little Behind...

Oops... my bad.

Here are some recent randoms of the kids to catch you up a bit.

After several bubble baths in a row, we've run out of Mr. Bubble and let me tell you... it is a tragedy. Will has asked every day if I "found some" at the store yet.

Fetch with Brutus.

She's starting to say his name correctly now and I'm bummed. I liked the old way that sounded like "Bru-da" with her tongue hanging out at the end. ;)

This girl has some mad speed.

Why do we own a snow blower when Will likes to shovel this much?

That'a girl. Stay indoors with your mittens on and let the boys clear the driveway.

We had the Rethman girls over for sloppy joes one night last week and all the littles were digging the skinny pretzel sticks. This pic cracks me up of Stella. She looks like she's about to light her cigarette.

The table and chairs were temporarily in Sophie's room while the living room was painted so the girls hung out and read some Boynton.

Um? An unwanted hug? Soph, you're crazy. Will's hugs are awesome.

Craig came up with this headband idea for Sophie when he feeds her lunch because of his lack of patience with hair clips. It's an old nylon knee sock tied in a knot. Dear, you do realize she owns three or four actual headbands already, right? P.S. - I think she looks like Aunt Jemima like this.

Mylar balloons rock.

Will has been looking so grown up to me lately. Do you think so, too?

Such a Craig face.

Sophie has an obsession with Craig's old, wooden, toy truck from when he was a kid. She and Will each have a truck about this size that they race and "vroom" all over the house.

And oh my goodness... I am *this* close to removing this door between our kitchen and dining room. It is Sophie's hobby to slam it as hard as she can and take off running. Grr.

A sneak peek of the new, living room, wall color.

V.I.P. kids.

Love them!

For a long time, Sophie was terrified of the vacuum. Even now, when we turn it on, she'll say "oh, no!" But she's much less afraid anymore and Craig has taken to making a game of chasing her with it. She laughs and laughs.

Graham crackers = smiles.

They're a handful.

But they're so much fun. :)

30th Birthday Weekend!!

I spent my 30th birthday weekend with some of the best women on the planet.

Better than any present, is just knowing that I have such awesome women in my life.

I feel so lucky to know them.

This will go down in history (well, MY history) as one of my best birthdays ever.

It was so fun and relaxing - a very-much-needed getaway from the stress of life right now. In attendance were: my mom and my Aunt Shirley (who is my Godmother and my mom's sister), my sister Casey and I, two cousins that are sisters (Brittany and Brianne), and the girlfriends of my brother and cousin (Amanda and Kelly). We ate, drank, shopped, danced, played games, teased hair (LOL) and talked.

Here's part of our group on the drive down to Columbus. From left to right: Brianne, Casey, Amanda and me. My cousin Brittany lives in Columbus.

Our first stop in C-bus was to a huge accessory store called Charming Charlie's. It was overwhelming to say the least. And very cool. I picked out a cute, new purse there as a gift from Casey! Thanks, Case!

Brianne and Brittany in Brittany's condo.
This is the chocolate chip cookie cake that Aunt Shirley made for me, decorated with some funky candles that my mom brought. How did she know this is my favorite type of "cake"?

We ordered pizza, changed into jammies, snacked on veggies and fruit salsa, talked and talked and talked...

...and laughed at Amanda's amazing talent. (Can you touch your tongue to your elbow? It's supposed to be impossible. This chick can do it! But she made me promise not to show the evidence. :) )

Then we played The (infamous) Name Game... ...and laughed some more until 2:30 in the morning.

We stayed overnight at Brittany's on Friday. Then Saturday morning, we were up, showered and ready to shop. Somehow, everyone managed to borrow an article of clothing or an accessory from someone else. Haha! (Thanks, Amanada, for loaning me the bracelet so I wouldn't be left out.) My grandma sent along some of her sweet rolls for our breakfast. And we bundled up and piled into the car to hit up Easton's outdoor shopping center in the arctic temperatures. (Boo for January birthdays!)

The most beautiful four-letter-word ever to display itself below one of my all-time-favorite stores: "SALE"!

Amanda modeling an apron that Brittany purchased.

One of the A's of Team WACA. Haha! A pathological picture taker, like myself.

Everyone loves Anthropologie!

My lovely mama.

This store has SO. MUCH. EYE. CANDY! It seriously hurts. I can't take it.

So many pretty dishes.

A plethora of aprons - remember my collection?

So many pretty displays.

A huge assortment of (very unique) drawer knobs and pulls.

And just bursts of color everywhere.

I know the pictures I took make it look like a kitchen store. But it's actually an everything store. Clothes, bedding, bath, books, a few children's items, home decor, furniture. I want to just pack my sleeping bag and live there.

I'll show you my purchases further down.

Outside Anthro, Amanda and I pose in a phone booth. Oh, and there's my cute, new bag from Case.

Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

Mom, Case, me and Amanda.

Thank you, mom, for this awesome weekend!!!

My cousin Brianne and Aunt Shirley.

Amanda and mom.

My delicious lunch - a Mediterranean-style veggie pizza with goat cheese and pesto and salad with vinaigrette. Yuuuummmm!!!

Following our day of shopping (during which I got several, cute, new, clothing items as birthday gifts as well!), we checked into our hotel - The Drury (sp?) in the Arena District. It was within walking distance of our evening destination that night... an awesome piano bar called The Big Bang!

This was just before leaving for the piano bar and the pose was NOT my idea. But Amanda and I were the ones setting the camera timers and there wasn't room for ALL our booties on the couch so I was told to lay across. :)

The Big Bang! SUCH and awesome place and great time. The talent was amazing. These people jumped from piano to drums to base guitar to fiddle and they knew EVERY song with ease. Clearly, this bar was a popular place. It was packed! Thankfully, Brittany got us table reservations, front and center, which was awesome.

Bumper stickers.

Ohhhh, I SO did not want this. I begged them not to make me get up on stage... multiple times leading up to our table seating. But the girls did not listen. You make song requests by writing them on bar napkins and setting them up on the pianos along with a tip. Apparently, that's how you let the piano players know of celebrations as well. I was not the only birthday girl there, but it was quite embarrassing to be under the spotlight.

But the piano guy was funny and tame and didn't make me do anything terrible. He just seranaded me and ad-libbed a little to add my name and a few inappropriate details... LOL.

Sisters - Brittany & Brianne.

Sisters - Shirley & Peg.

Our crazy-weird and hilarious waiter. He was awesome and totally goofy.

Margharitas were my drink of choice.

Sisters - me & Case.

The girls bought me a shot. Do you know what it is?

I'll give you a hint: this is me doing the shot with no hands. :) Got it? Thanks, girls. I loved giving my mom and Godmother that mental picture. But yes... I'm good at it. ;)

Thank you, Brittany, for organizing this night and being your rockin' hot self to get our tables for free!

The girlfriends - Amanda & Kelly.

(Nice gang sign, Mandy!)

This chick was awesome. She didn't smile a whole lot, but she had an awesome singing voice, a very cool stage presence, and she plays both the piano and drums like nobody's business.

The wait staff all wore these boy's brief underwear with the bar's slogan on the back. They got up to do an organized dance to a couple of the popular songs.

So then Casey went and bought me a hot pink pair. Haha! The "small" looked a little big...

...but they fit perfectly over jeans. :)

This picture cracks me up. We were totally rockin' out to the Spice Girls.

Kelly knows EVERY WORD of that "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want" song. Go girl! Haha! Look at Amanda laughing in the background. :)

Something coconut and limey - I think it was rum?

Mama and me.

The guy sitting on the piano was a fiddler. You might not think that sounds cool, but he rocked the house!

Okay, so ya... I didn't want to go up on stage when we first arrived.

Buuuut... a little tequila goes a long way at removing inhibitions, I guess. :)

They called all the birthday girls and bachelorettes back up on stage to dance and I totally went without any pushing. LOL

Umm, ya. What is this? I have no idea. But I do have somebody's spilled drink on my leg, which a total party foul. And I totally wore these jeans home the next morning anyway. :)

Walking back to our hotel. I love this pic! (I think it was Casey's idea immediately.) And I love these girls!

The morning after: pajamma pants, ponytails, Panera Bread, and heading for home.

I arrived home to my birthday surprise from Craig: a newly painted living room! I love the new color and I didn't have to help at all! He had the kids all weekend and, as soon as he put them to bed each night, he painted from about 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. What a guy! I'll give you the update pics soon!

Also, shortly after arriving home, I found new homes for my Anthro purchases.

Check out this super cute little bowl. I love this color combo and I bought it in two sizes.

The smaller one holds my daily necessities that I drop near the sink every night.

And the larger one is going to hold some fresh fruit next to my bread box in the kitchen. Also, these are the set of three new dish towels I got from Anthro. LOVE them! They look so good in my kitchen and with the rest of the colors nearby.

So that's it! I'm 30!