So Loved!

After that last post I went downstairs to frost the cake. It was still warm but I was anxious to get the kids in bed. Just as I finished, and Eden was pouring sprinkles on top, my friend Jody stopped by with some flowers. I told her she had to share Gluten Free Birthday Cake with us. She insisted I had to have candles and the kids needed to sing to me. It was just one more person who made me feel so loved today.

I Turned 35 Today!

I don't know if you're like me at all but I usually get pretty depressed before my birthday. "Anticipation" is a little too strong of an emotion for me and Ryan came home from his trip saturday night sick and wiped out. He's had a hard time recovering and as the days drew closer my hopes were dashed. For some reason I got it in my head that he had a surprise planned. Whoops. Not a good idea. When we finally discussed the upcoming day and I realized he had nothing planned I was hurt. Which is completely selfish because he spent a lot of time in China and India picking out some Awesome gifts for me. Unfortunately, (probably because I'm a girl) I was even more let down when I realized we didn't have a single night this whole week to even go out.

I decided I needed an attitude change and needed to cut Ryan some slack and work with him a little. I offered to miss my YW activity on Wed. night so we could go out and we had a great time. We went out to dinner and then saw the new Terminator movie. (This is totally my summer for movies)!

Today has been interesting, nothing special but somehow fun nonetheless (probably helped after having that attitude adjustment). I checked my email just before 7 this morning and found some wonderful birthday wishes from friends on Facebook. What they were doing that early in the morning I have no idea but it started the day off right. I took the kids to swim lessons and got a call from my dad (also bright and early, a pleasant surprise). Then I decided to do what I wanted to do more than anything today. I had a bunch of errands to run but thought since it was my birthday I would do what I wanted. So I went swimming. My goal was to swim 100 laps in an hour. I did 108! I think if I had done 4 more it would have been 2 miles! (I've never been good at math, though, so I could be wrong). But I was so stinckin' proud of myself. I'm 35 and I can still kick butt in the pool! Oh, I almost forgot, after I checked in at the gym and was walking toward the pool the guy at the counter said my name. When I turned to look at him he threw his hands in the air and said, "Happy Freakin' Birthday!" That made me laugh all day.

On the way to the gym Eden asked me what kind of cake I was going to have today. I told her I wasn't going to have a cake and she looked at me like I was bonkers. Then I said, "Eden should we make a cake for my birthday today?" She said, "yeah!" I asked her what kind we should make and she said Chocolate. Works for me.

So I ran to Sams, Wal Mart, the Health Food store, picked up Cameron from dance, made dinner, put away the groceries, baked myself a cake, cleaned up the kitchen, and just pulled the cake out of the oven. In the meantime Dallin and Cameron tried to give Eden and Austin a bath. (There was a lot of screaming involved but they managed). And now the house is quiet and for some reason I still feel like laughing because it just seems like such a silly day and yet so typical of my life right now in the middle of my 30's. But the best part is that I'm happy. I'm happy to have four (sometimes exhausting but most of the time wonderful) kids. I'm happy that I can still run and swim and bike and feel good about myself. I'm happy that I have a husband who loves me and thinks about me all the time and misses me when he's at work and regrets more than anything that he can't be with me right now. I'm happy that I have family and friends from so many stages in my life who remembered me today and made me feel so special. I'm happy, not for the things in my life, but for the people. My heart feels full.

After School Fun

Since Dallin and Cameron had so many fun things going on the last day of school I thought it would be fun to let Eden and Austin have a special activity too. I bought some water guns and let them play in the backyard with Eden's friends then set up the slip 'n slide. Austin spent the next hour jumping back and forth over the water and splashing in the little pool on the end.

Ally

Haydn

Eden

Sareya

That evening I let Eden have her first late night with her friend Haydn. They watched Over the Hedge 2 and I gave them my camera to take pictures. It was interesting what they took pictures of, mostly the tv, but even Austin got a turn and took some unique photos.

For the next two days Eden reminded me that this was the best day of her life. I'm glad she had such a good time. Austin also hasn't stopped talking about how he jumped all over the slip and slide. Obviously it was a memorable day for him too.

School's Out!

It's that time of the year again. The kids are all mine. Cameron told me this morning when I was doing her hair for her last day of school that she felt like she knows her teacher better than she knows me. I said that's because she spends more time with her teacher than she does with me. Sad. I think I'm going to have to do something about that this summer.

I have to admit, though, that I tend to get a little frazzled trying to please every child in every way every day. So, I forsee some complications to my good intentions but at least I'm starting out with my heart in the right place.

'Course, as soon as the kids were home today Cameron was off to a party, and has another one tonight, and Dallin went camping with his best buddy. So it was me and Eden and Austin, like everyday. I guess summer officially starts tomorrow.

Dallin's class program was on May 26th. They learned a lot about Utah this year so all of their songs and dances had to do with Utah and it's history. My favorite song was a silly one about all the unusual and hard to pronounce cities in our state. Cute.

Dallin's always such a good student. He does his best in every subject and tries to help others when he's done.

Dallin's teacher was very sweet. It was fun getting to know her a little better this year.

Cameron's class program was on May 15th. They sang some songs in the gym and then we went back to her class where we learned a little more about what they learned this year.

Cameron is a very talented writer. She wrote some creative stories and poems that I'll try to post soon.

Cameron's teacher did a wonderful job. She's a friend from our old neighborhood but she's also an amazing teacher. I'm grateful for her patience and creativity teaching all the kids in her class.

Wild Nights

I wish I had a picture of this one for you. Austin woke up at 4 am last night. When I got upstairs to check on him he was sitting up in bed brandishing a plastic golf club straight up in the air. His pillow was on the floor and he was telling me he was ready to watch Dora. I told him it was the middle of the night, the sun wasn't up yet, and he needed to go back to bed. He refused, of course. So, I ended up carrying him back to bed with me where he slept soundly until 7:30.

I, on the other hand, was woken up again at 6:45 am by a fly buzzing around in my face (welcome to summer). Why do they do that anyway? This is all after I stayed up too late and was convinced to go to bed when I saw it was 11:30 pm, because that was when Eden fell out of bed and hit her mouth on her desk.

So, I'm hoping the kids got worn out enough playing in the sprinklers today that they'll sleep through the night out of sheer exhaustion. I know I'm exhausted.

By the way, when I got Austin dressed this morning I found two ping pong balls in his t-shirt drawer (which weren't there before he went to bed). What was he doing last night?

Gone

Ryan's officially gone on his big MBA trip. I thought it would take a couple of days before I really noticed, since he's gone a lot anyway for school. But seeing as I didn't sleep at all last night I realize I already miss him. It's crazy that I sleep better with him snoring beside me than when I'm all by myself. I also felt his absense strongly this morning. Even though mornings are crazy and he is usually busy getting ready for work, just his presence is a comfort. Is it okay for me to say I can't wait for him to come home when he just barely left?

I Survived

I survived my trip back to the dentist today and I'm happy to say it went better than last time. I only shook for a couple of hours afterwards instead of a couple of days like last time. Thanks for all the words of comfort and sympathy, it was really helpful.