The Big 35

Eric recently had a birthday, I'm not going to tell you how old he is, but I bet you could figure it out.  The kids were great about picking out and wrapping presents...

 until Livi realized none of them were going to be for her.

 Eric picked chicken enchiladas for dinner, which no one ate except the two of us, but they were still yummy.

 He also picked homemade yellow cake with chocolate butter-cream icing, which everyone did eat.

It was a fun night, with lots of yummy food.  We love you Eric, happy birthday.

Eric's Birthday, and Because We Are Over Thirty And Our Birthdays Really Aren't That Exciting: Day 3

Eric turned 34 this year and for some reason every time I saw a calendar and saw the decorations (for Palm Sunday) on his birthday I thought Easter was on his birthday.  It was 2 days before Sunday when I finally realized I had a whole other week to prepare for Easter.  Luckily I was on top of things for Eric's birthday too (which at this point in my year is a miracle).

Even though we have Church at 9:00am the kids were so excited to give Eric his presents I was somehow pushed out of bed a little before 7:00.

Our ever helpful kids.  I think Eric actually got to unwrap a few of his own presents this year.

Eric picked Scotch Bars for his cake.  Mine always turn out sunken in and flatter than his mom's, probably because I add twice as many chocolate chips.  Eric asks why I think recipes always need more chocolate chips than called for and I say to that "Because they are CHOCOLATE chips.  What doesn't need more of them?" I would add more chocolate chips to my bath if my tub worked.

Day 3:  What is the greatest amount of physical pain you have ever endured?

Ha ha ha.  It wasn't all that hard to pick one instance, which is kind of amazing considering I have had 3 C-sections, a gallbladder removed after two years of painful attacks and an appendix removed.  If you combined all of those, added in painful knees and a Chupacabra you would almost the amount of pain of Viral Meningitis.  Almost.

I won't go on and whine about it, but I honestly thought (and then wished) I was going to die.  The worst is when medical personnel tell you it isn't that bad, you probably have a migraine, so you feel stupid for even coming in.  At least the 6th test out of 6 said I wasn't making it all up and that I did indeed have meningitis.

Deer in the Headlights

Eric turned 32 on Thursday. I can't believe we are "in" our 30's. I can't believe we were ever 17 and dating. Where has the time gone? What happened to my hips? Okay, so this shouldn't be about me and my aging phobia, so let's move on to what we did on Eric's big day.
Eric, of course, had work, but luckily (yeah right) our kids get up early and we had time to open presents before he had to go to work. The kids were "good helpers" by which I mean they brought gifts over to Eric and opened them in front of him.
Livi has gotten to that fun stage where she understands that bright colored packages mean she gets to rip them open and there are fun surprises inside. Unfortunately she hasn't grasped the idea that not all presents are for her.

He still had to go to work, which is a bummer but even the State of Nebraska doesn't give work off for employee birthdays (but Arbor Day? Really?) Eric got Megamind from Ethan so we popped that in and watched while we had a fun pizza dinner.
I had made cake balls a few weeks ago and Eric had enjoyed them so I got the Cake Pops book and tried to make them for his birthday.

This is what they were suppose to look like, courtesy of bakerella.com and this is how mine turned out.

Not too bad for a first try but they do look a little high...or scared...or manic. I should have practiced before doing them for a birthday. One problem with cake pops.....where to put a candle?

This Old Man, He Turned 31....

I can't believe Eric is 31. It seems like such a short time ago that we were angst ridden teenagers falling in love and looking forward to this time where we would be adults. Now we have 3 kids, a mortgage, responsibilities and lots of bills. I guess a lot can happen in those in-between years. I am just grateful that I have such a wonderful partner on this crazy ride. Happy Birthday Eric, I love you!Livi was very helpful with unwrapping gifts, but a little surprised that none of it was for her.

Eric wanted shepards pie, and cherry cheesecake for his meal (not at the same time, the cheesecake was dessert).
Poor Eric, for his birthday I took him to look at a house that I love, but that others have referred to as "the dump." He is so generous to spend his birthday doing things I want to do! (although we did spend Ethan's birthday going to Cabela's so I guess this is just payback in a way)