What a mom and grandma!

Today was my mom's b-day. I hoped that she enjoyed the fact that the sun was shining and that she is loved, loved, loved! We went to visit with her tonight and eat pizza. She enjoyed playing with her dear Luke more than anything :) Happy Birthday mom! You are amazing!

Point to the Birthday Boy!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He was deservedly spoiled at school throughout the day, we even visited and delivered balloons, and he requested my carbonara for dinner so we all enjoyed a tasty celebratory meal. We all really love you, Dad!


Luke also got to spend some time with Steve's parents today which he enjoyed. I came to pick him up and found him happily eating Gma Susan's spegetti and watching the birds go "cheep cheep" outside the window. Cute.

On an annoying note (I just want to add it) he is driving me batty biting and clawing me every chance that he gets. GRRRRRR...I mean, it is REALLY frustrating. I will tell him no in a very FIRM voice and he just looks at me and smiles or laughs. Good fun.

Events

Today, December 2nd:

745am: growled because Luke bit me (HARD) 5 minutes after he got up
8am: blushed over being a finalist for a monthly letter to the editor contest in the local paper
10am:nice surprise visit from Gpa Paul. He saw me in my robe (I had showered at least) and saw our house in disarray. He loves us anyway :)
11-1:shopped for a few things at the mall before turning Luke loose on the rides and at the toy store. Met another mom named Erin with a March 2008 baby boy that was also in the NICU...planned to get together sometime so that they can play! Also found a great kitchen set for Gma Jackie to surprise Luke with for Christmas and got his stocking stuffers. lots of fun
1:30-3:30pm - Power cleaned, mopped, dusted, did laundry, re-organized our pantry shelves...all for a house that desperately needed it and is happy to be clean.
4:30pm went out to get a quick b-day present for my dad and try to get a gift for a friend I was meeting for dinner at 5.
4:45pm dad's present in my purse, headed to another store and got rear-ended.
5:10pm show up at Quatro's for pizza and enjoy the first sip of cold beer after a rattling 20 minutes. So glad I was alone, in our older vehicle and that there wasn't any injuries. the guy that hit me had been in an accident MINUTES before hitting me and was flustered as h*ll...
6:45 - left a very fun dinner with my mentor-extraordinaire J'ke and her husband Charlie - who Luke adored - and watched the last half of the freshman basketball game at CCHS. The best line of the night was Charlie (a teacher) saying he could tell that Luke had people around him working with him and teaching him well -I gave all the credit to his grandparents :) - Luke really liked the game
8pm - dropped my boys off and went to my mom's for a visit - fun! Have I ever mentioned how much I love that my mom and dad live 2 miles from me? It is a blessing.
8:45 - played with Luke as he tried to play fetch with our wild dogs wrestling in the living room
9:15pm enjoyed having Luke run out to me repeatedly as Daddy tried to put him to bed. Got lots of kisses.
9:30pm ate a piece of cake and talked to my favorite person about our day. Love that.
10:15 went to fill dog bowls and noticed a leak coming from our furnace closet...yippee...call steve to fix it and go take a shower. Cleaned up wet towels, etc...congratulated my husband on fixing (fingers crossed) the problem and decided I needed to write about this day.

It was a good day, with a little wackiness thrown in and sometimes it just feels good to write it all down. At least I put a picture of Luke on here so that none of the 3 people that read this can be upset with me :)

Wonder what tomorrow will bring? I hope a happy happy birthday for the best dad I could have ever dreamed up!

December Blooms

I cut these roses from our front yard rose bushes this afternoon. Yes, it is December 1st, and we are lucky to be enjoying lovely fresh cut flowers. So wonderful!

Thankful

We have been really busy the last ten days travelling to Kansas City, back home, then to Memphis. Whew! I have a lot to post, but just wanted to get this one up in case it is a while before I get the rest. We visited a fire museum which I am pretty sure was the highlight of Luke's life so far. It has been a FUN busy, and Luke really loves being in his carseat for hours on end, Steve and I have learned (JUST KIDDING!)

Happy Helper

I have really tried to discourage Luke from being interested in my violets. Maybe it is a little bit selfish, but I just like to have a corner of the house that is my turf. How, though, can I continue to discourage his interest when he tries to take care of them for me? I can't. I put a couple on his table and asked him to water them. Which he did with a big smile on his face. What a good, good boy.

Cache River Recreation Area

The weather was still nice and mild last weekend. Steve had an adventure planned and once we were all up, dressed and fed we loaded up and hit the road. I had no idea where we were going and no input about the plans for the day and I really enjoyed every minute of not being in charge!

The great surprise was that our adventure took us about 50 miles south and parked us at the Cache River Rec. Area. What fun! Not only was there just a ton of beauty all around us, there are miles of hiking trails, and it is all Luke and dog friendly.













We spent a couple hours there, hiked about four miles, explored railroad tracks, saw the cypress trees and a giant oak, and just loved every minute of it. Luke even enjoyed the ride there and back for the most part since there were so many cows, horses and tractors to see out the window.

He was a total hiker, too. He walked a ton on his own, but kept his energy up and didn't nap until 3! I guess he is like his mom and dad - the outdoors energizes him.

The day of fun didn't stop there, either! Steve had arranged for his mom to watch Luke overnight (it took a lot of begging - ha) and he took me on the train to Centralia for dinner at the wonderful Centralia House. Everything was so great, the atmosphere, the food, the wine, the company...and then we went to catch our train back home - DUN, DUN, DUN - three hours later we boarded and got hom safely. I must say that I knew I married the right man when he was up for sitting in the CVS and reading magazines for an hour while we waited. Lucky me ;) definitely a date to remember!

It has become rainy, wet and colder this week so I am really glad we got out on this adventure. Thank you again, Steve! It is always nice to turn off my inner control freak and just go with the flow - Love you tons!