My Birthday Has Begun

In a couple of days I will celebrate my 50th birthday.  I'm not feeling particularly happy about it.  Many people close to me that I care a lot about are working to make this experience more pleasant for me.  I greatly appreciate these thoughtful efforts.

I started celebrating three days before my birthday when my friend from work, Jennifer, gave me a nice card, a gift, and sweet wishes for a great weekend.  Thanks, Jenn!  I appreciate you and enjoy sharing a classroom with you.

After work Friday I got my nails done.  This is a luxury I enjoy as often as possible.  Ann does an awesome job on my nails and has become a good friend.  Thanks, Ann, for the nail polish and hours we spend talking.  My new polish is almost the exact same color as my car.  Very pretty.

Saturday didn't start out particularly well since I had to go to the dentist at 9am to start a crown on one of my teeth.  They ended up also taking off the crown on the tooth behind it to get a new one made in a different shade.  I left still partially numb and ready to lay down.  When my mouth woke up I went to the kitchen for a bite of lunch and fell on the kitchen floor.  That pretty much ruined whatever good feelings I may have had left over for the day.

I took a pain pill and went to bed.  Just before I fell asleep, Sarah brought in a beautiful Edible Arrangement that was delivered to the house.  It was from my sisters for my birthday.  Thank you, Pam and Linda, for a delicious birthday present.  It couldn't have arrived at a better time.  I felt better just looking at it.  An edible arrangement is the kind of gift I can dive right into and feel good about it.

I've always wanted an Edible Arrangement.  Yum!

The fruit is skewered into a head of lettuce.

The mail brought a lovely birthday card from Randy's parents.  "Happy Birthday to a woman who is admired and appreciated for being the truly special person she is."  Thank you, Mom and Pop, for your kind and generous words, having a wonderful son that I married, and being the best in-laws a girl could ever ask for.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow and Monday bring.

Amazing Discovery!

Yesterday I made an amazing discovery.  I accidentally learned how to insert clip art on labels without having to add them one at a time!  That's what I had been doing, and it definitely is NOT time and patience friendly.

Yea, I know.  I'm a computer geek.  :)

Happy Birthday, Eli!

Eli!

Birthday dinner at Abacus 

Horseback-Riding for the birthday girl and friends

A rifle is the perfect accessory for a dress and pearls.

Happy Birthday, Randy!

Randy!

Randy reads my Second Grade blogs every week and has visited the classes on different occasions.  The kids sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

From Mrs. Fink's Class

From Mrs. White's Class

From Mrs. McLaughlin's Class

Emma Update

Emma started Jazz and Tap dance lessons this week.  I can't wait to see her in action.

Steve reports she had a blast making noise with her shoes in tap.

She also got a new bed with Minnie Mouse bedding.  From the look on her face, I'd guess she likes it pretty well.

Chuck E. Cheese

Well, Grandy decided Emma needed to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  Perhaps he wanted to go and taking Emma was a good excuse.  :)

We met Meredith, Steve, and Emma at the Chuck E. Cheese near Firewheel.  The food was good, and the company better.  The restaurant wasn't nearly as loud and crowded as I remember it being when I took my kids when they were little.

Sweet little Emma went from game to game with Grandma and Grandy in tow.  There were only a few things she couldn't do.  Probably one of her favorite things to do was organizing her tickets and putting them in the redemption machine!  Of course, she's adorable.

Their expressions say it all.

Grandy's help with the game

All the tickets Emma won went in her Daddy's pocket.

She put the "monies" (tokens) in games herself.

Skee Ball

Gotta do it herself

No game was too big for her to try.

Just adorable!

Watch this video for live action shots of all the fun!

Hard to tell who's having more fun, Emma or Grandy!  :)

Driving Chuck E.  Only 13 years till she has her real driver's license!

Intent expressions

Pulling tickets out

Driving games seemed to be a favorite.

She's already got the pedal and wheel coordination down. 

Whack-A-Mole toddler size!

Going down the slide in the toddler area

What is Grandy pointing to on the ceiling?

Oh, the looks Emma has!

:)  :)  :)  :)

Where's Grandy?

Ponytail in flight

Beautiful little girl

Future Diva

Push the bone to make balls go into the dog's mouth.  Look how hard she's working.

More tickets for Daddy

Putting the tickets into the counting machine

Fascinated with putting tickets in the machine

Intent!

Imagine that look in about 10 years!

Through the eyes of a child...

Decisions, decisions....

What do I get with my tickets?

Patiently waiting her turn

A wonderful evening with our wonderful Emma!

Smart Phones

Last month I invested in an iPhone.  I'm really liking it.  The App Store is exploring a forest of technology one tiny leaf at a time.

After having my phone for a month, Randy made the leap into the iPhone hemisphere, too.  Thank goodness we had Daniel James for setup and instruction for both of us.  There's no better teacher of technological devices than a teenager.  :)

Probably the most fun thing we discovered is Words With Friends.  It's a remote scrabble type game.  We have games going with each other, Andrew, Heather, Meredith, Steve, Sarah, and Daniel James.  I also have a few games going with other friends.

Randy's first phone call on his new iPhone...talking to his parents.

Words With Friends early in the game

Words With Friends at the end of a game