Yadda yadda yadda, it's another birthday

Okay, since this is a family blog, I get to post pictures of yet ANOTHER birthday for me.  The pictures we take at my birthday seem almost identical each year, except for my age.   I definitely got another year older this time around, but I'm afraid becoming "wiser" is going to be a bit more work.  Unless you count the fact that I am now wiser from last year because now I know to wipe off Maddox's runny nose BEFORE I pick him up when wearing a newly washed top/sweater/coat (whether it looks yucky or not)!  It only took me 31 years and three children, but I am much wiser about this little habit, and my shoulders are staying a lot cleaner now.  Aaah, if only I could learn a trick about getting more laundry done....

On my birthday we went out to Shady Maple for the most amazing breakfast Smorgasbord ever (chocolate chip/banana pancakes=heaven!), followed by outlet shopping while Milt watched the kids at the shopping center playground.  It was great!  Other than the normal "mommy-woes" that always happen on a birthday (like Kennedy breaking a statue at a store, Maddox being constipated for half the day, and McKinley pouting about things we wouldn't get her at stores), it was perfect!  Such is the life of a mom, right?

When we got back home I was surprised to see that some great friends had "heart attack-ed" our front door (at the crack of dawn, apparently, and we hadn't even looked at it when we left!)  Plus, there were flowers delivered, cupcakes hiding on our back patio, and messages from others with birthday wishes.  I felt so loved, and I truly have the greatest friends!

Milt surprised me with Bose speakers for the kitchen too (I know, whose gift is it really?), and I LOVE being able to play music so easily in the house, rather than always having the TV on! I'm such a Mom!

Later that evening my Dad drove up from a conference he had flown out for down in D.C., so he came to spend a few days with us for my birthday.  That was the best present ever!  The kids loved having him come and visit, and Maddox even keeps asking us if "Pawpa Cukie" can put him to bed for his nap now (that's Maddox's translation of Papa Kirby).  And he even picked me up some of the best Caramel/Chocolate/Heaven on Earth Apples from Zwahlens for my annual birthday treat -- I think that's the best tradition ever! 

So it was a great birthday, and I sure hope that the next one will be just as great, and that I'll get even wiser in the next year (I know, is that even possible?)! Thanks for the birthday wishes!