Spring Break-part 1

So far this week, the days have been great! The weather has held up, and it's been unseasonably warm. We went to the zoo on Friday, and it was PACKED!!! I have never seen the zoo so busy! we only stayed until 1 or so, it was so busy.
Saturday we went to Julie's house for her annual Egg Hunt. Fun, as always! The weather held up for that too! Usually, it's rained for the week before, so her yard is super muddy! This year, beautiful week before, but when it came to egg hunt time, it got cold and windy. The rain was misting just a bit. But the kids had fun! She set up an Amazing race hunt for Andrew and Sebastian, the 2 oldest, and they did great! A craft for those who wanted to do one was also available. After Julies we went home and thought about what else to do. We ended up at the drive in to see some movies! If you haven't heard, The Field of Dreams Drive in is amazing! we saw How to Train Your Dragon and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Both were very good movies! After the movies, we got home, and I went back out for bunny shopping. Our night did not end until 2:00 am when bunny eggs were hidden!
Sunday, the kids got us up at 7:30...ugh. They had a good time hunting for their eggs and baskets. Then we began clean up for the family party at our house. It was a family affair, we all pitched in! (Although we were all crabby about doing the cleaning, it all got done!)
Nana and Bumpa (Dane's mom and dad) got to our house about 2:30, and the ham and everything else was just about ready! Dane had the eggs hidden for the big hunt (for only 4 kids) and the table was set. I wish I had taken pictures of how good the buffet table was, but I forgot in the rush. Tom and Shelly, Logan and Alex got to our house around 3. We all ate, all the food was really good! (As if we could put together a bad dinner!) then we spent the rest of the day outside! The kids found all of their eggs, there were 80 all together! I had put a puzzle in their eggs the kids had to put together to find their big "prize". They all seemed to have a good time! Then the REAL fun began! The kids got out their bubbles and spent time doing that, while the BIG kids (Dane and Tom) started to dunk basketballs off of the bumper of Dane's jeep! We all got a little worried about that. That ended when Dane twisted something, and decided it was no longer a good idea. We all ended up jumping rope with the kids, and we laughed and laughed it was so fun! Cyndi, Neil and their kids came over later, and they all ran and biked around the neighborhood. The adults stood around and talked. Everyone left around 8:30...but we all didn't realize how late it was! The consensus around the group was that we needed to get together more often.

A few random thoughts...

I am reminded by my conscience (Dane is sometimes my conscience like Jimminy Cricket was Pinocchio's) that I sometimes do not appear as happy as I am. I am very happy! I had a nice quiet birthday, I had a nice quiet Valentine's Day...and I am having a nice quiet President's Day! I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of our good friends Luke and Wendy as they are taking a layover at our house on their way to Florida for a cruise via Detroit Metro. Dane will be driving them there tomorrow morning. Dane's mom called and asked if we wanted her and Ted to do it, and when I said that Dane was taking care of it, she asked if he knew where to go!! lol She still doesn't see her little boy as grown up sometimes! I think I was a little rude when I said, "ah...NO. I think he knows the way." (sorry hon)
Dinner last week at the Elephant Bar was AWESOME! I love it there! Work is going well...we are finally finished with the alternate assessments we had to do...THAT was a chore and a half! Even though I am a lowly classroom aide, I still do a majority of the typing and everything...or that is BECAUSE I am the lowly classroom aide!
Any-who...all things considered there is very few things I would change about my life. The wish list of places I would like to visit...is only a WISH LIST!!! Not a complaint list! I am not going to curl up and die if I never get to travel! I am not in a deep depression because I've never been out of the country! IT IS OK!!! TRUST ME!!! Besides, I would never want to go these places without my kids so they can experience the same beauties that I do, and they are just too young to appreciate most of these places. So, until they are older, I will be very happy to travel the wide expanse of our great tri-state area...and a little beyond...with our awesome little pop-up and my wonderful family!

February 2

So...my birthday...not a big deal, right? I have never liked my birthday. It was never a "fun" day in the Miller household. We didn't get fun presents. I got a bedspread for my 18th birthday. If we needed uniform shirts, sweaters, or socks, that was a popular item for birthday gifts. I also had to share a family party with my sister, and she had to share one with me. Not a great thing for either of us. Friends forgot my birthday all the time. I always seemed to be forgotten...left out of the fun birthday rituals other teenagers had. There were some fun times, I did have a fun party one year. Friends came over and we had a huge snowball fight in the front yard...that had to be the most memorable. No big hoopla for my 21st either. Things have been better since I got married, there's someone else who can remember my birthday! Plus, my son was born 2 days before my 24th birthday. He's now 10. That's a big deal! I'm the mom of a 10 year old! I've said it before, WOW! Now...If you're keeping track, that makes me 34 tomorrow. I don't mind being "in my 30s" as Deanne put it. I'm more affected by the fact that I have a 10 year old, my parents are 60, and my grandmothers are close to 90! NOW I feel "old"...but not really. I feel like my parents and grandparents shouldn't be that old. I don't see them as old. A kid in one of our classes said that anything over 30 is old. I disagree. But...I digress...I also now share my birthday with my 2 year old awesome nephew, Alex! I just still feel like my birthday is no big deal, and I wish it was. We are going to The Elephant Bar on Thursday with my parents, brother's family and sister. I love that place. Not just because of all the elephants, (I have thought of taking a drill and removing the door handles from the front doors!) but the food is great! The inside is really cool, and the kids like it too. It's not their favorite, but they can find things to eat there. Although Sarah did ask if we could go to Chucky Cheese for my birthday, but I told her NO! (She then asked if we could go to CC's for HER birthday...and I still said no.) But as I get older, I don't feel "older" just "more experienced".