Man, I'm old...

So...I turned 32 on Saturday. yes, 32. I am closing in on my mid-thirties. yeouch.

I had a wonderful birthday - It started on Friday - when I had a ton of co-workers telling my Happy Birthday - even people that I rarely see from other departments. It made me feel pretty darn special!

I woke up on Saturday to the dog and little Joe jumping on the bed...my boys had let me sleep in a little bit! The two boys went to Bass Pro, so I went to Panera for coffee and a scrumptious egg soufflé. I then wandered around Marshall's and picked up some great birthday/Christmas presents for others...I did buy myself a cool Tigers shirt, and a drywick running shirt. I then went to Meijer and did grocery shopping (which was wonderful without a little helper!) Then, I got home, and found the dining table covered with gifts! My boys had gone shopping for me too! I got a SWEET new digital camera (Olympus FE-340 in red, because Little Joe picked the color)...and a FoodSaver canister for marinating. I am VERY excited about this - because it will make dinner easier, and smoking meats easier...and Joe suggested marinating pineapple in vodka..I'm going to have to try that!

That afternoon, I went to my MILs house in Dearborn, and we walked to Coldstone Creamery for my free birthday sundae. YUMM!!!

I do have some "to-do's" by the time I'm 33, but I have a year to think about those!

(FYI - the pictures in this post are from the new camera....)

Kindergarten Practice

This morning, I took Little Joe to kindergarten...well, PRACTICE Kindergarten, that is. His school had a practice session, so the preschoolers could come and visit during the school day to see what it is like being a kindergartener. They sat in circle time, and sang songs, and counted to 100 (by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's). wow - I didn't know kindergarteners knew all of that- seriously - I was impressed! Little Joe was mostly in awe of everything going on
around him. He didn't have a problem joining the other kids. he isn't shy (thank goodness!!)

Not much else has been going on in our world...Last weekend, the boys and I went to the greenhouses (Schwartz's) to get annuals and vegetables for the garden. Of course, we went on the BUSIEST day of the year...the Saturday before Mother's Day. Wow. It was crazy. It was wonderful though. It brought back some really wonderful memories of my mom. She and I would go there together every year to get flowers. We would wander every aisle, and look at the different perennials, and compare them to last year's plants. We would split 4-packs of vegetables, and try to grow new things. (Eggplant didn't work so well). But, it was our THING that we did together. Mom and Daughter. We would usually get started early in the day, and go get coffee, then go to the greenhouses, spend a few hours there, then head home to start planting. Man, I miss her. I thought of her as I was planting my 6 flats of impatiens. And my 3 pots of mixed annuals for pots. and my veggies in the garden (4 different kinds of tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, cucumbers, shallots, red onions, peas, beans, basil, rosemary) sigh. too bad my boys are meat-atarians, and won't be eating many of the veggies.

I'll probably update later this weekend...depending on how busy we are.

Making coffee...the most important thing that I taught my son...

No seriously - Joseph made coffee for me the other morning...with a little help from me...but not much. he poured the water into the carafe, he ground the beans, he pressed the start button. but, he didn't pour...I wouldn't let him pour the hot coffee. :) But, nonetheless, he did an AWESOME job! I don't think he'll be drinking it anytime soon...I don't want to stunt his growth!!!






He has always loved to smell my coffee - it's his little thing that he does when we are at the coffee store...he'll have his chocolate milk in a coffee cup, and then I'll have my full-strength coffee. But...he has to smell the coffee. :) what a cutie!















We also went to see Thomas the Tank Engine on Sunday. He was at Greenfield Village. We also took my neice, Ashlyn. I think the kids had a great time - they got to ride on the train, which was the most important part of the trip...and see all the model trains (which Joseph LOVED!!) and hang out with Joe and I for the morning. Then...on sunday afternoon - we went to Grandma Khris' house and had a party! Balloons, streamers, cake, ice cream, presents, etc....and I forgot the camera in the car. duh!! but, Joseph had a great time at the party. And I'll leave you with a picture of Thomas - whoo-hoo!!!