Happy Birthday Dear H

Today is H's birthday. She had a wonderful day filled with lots of wishes for a wonderful year. We went up to her mom's for fried shrimp and crab casserole, a delicious meal. One of her favorite gifts was from her grandmother. She and Nannie share the same birthstone and Nannie gave H her first pair of earrings that her parents had given her: a pretty pair of garnets and a special gift.
Last year H's birthday was not the best. We had three babies about to turn four months old and were a little on the sleep deprived side. I won't paint the entire day for you, but the sketch of it involves eating McDonald's and getting in an argument in the Wal-Mart parking lot before going in to drop hundreds of dollars on diapers and formula. Happy Birthday to you!
So this year I wanted her day to be better. Sunday I arranged for (three shifts of) childcare so she and I could go off for the day together. We saw a few friends and then spent the day shopping and had lunch. Then today I made one of her favorite cakes (The Joy of Cooking's 1-2-3-4 Yellow cake cooked in a tube pan after adding a cup of chopped pecans and a bag and a half of chocolate chips. It is divine. Make it today) and a Ray Lamontagne CD. She said she enjoyed this birthday much more than last year's and I am glad.

Happy Birthday, H. We love you.

Here are some scenes from our time at Nana and Papa's house:

Christmas Tree Farm

Today we went to the Christmas Tree farm to pick out our tree with the children and our friends Kevin and Karen. We were able to get out between rain showers and pull the babes around in their new wagon (thanks Tia Karen, Uncle Jon, and Cousin Avery! We love it!) and walk around some. The children really love picking up leaves and acorns and pine straw.

Here are Lucia and Mazie trying to decide on a tree.
On our way back to the car the children decided that Kevin needed some help with the wagon.
Mazie helped steer and Lucia and Elliott pushed.
Elizabeth Lu:




Elliott K:



After falling on the muddy ground:
Mazie Bell:

Happy Day

H just had her 36th birthday. It was boring in respects to activity. We were going to go to the big city and see a movie and have an early supper. H's mom was lined up to keep the babies as her birthday present for H. The movie H wanted to see was not playing, so we decided we'd still head south and go shopping. We changed plans as we got up this morning and decided we would rather spend time around the house working on some projects and run to Wal-Mart to get the things we were in need of. Our day was sucked into the vortex of lost time and the only thing we can look back and say we did was go to Wal-Mart, never fun, even less so the first Saturday of the month, and eat at McDonald's, never fun, no matter the day. No closets were cleaned out. No shelves were built. No baby clothes were organized. With three babies, we are learning to be flexible and go easier on ourselves.

This morning we did have our friends over for a brunch and later today we are going for a walk in the woods. Laughter. Conversation. Fresh Air. Whatever your stage of life, it is always the little things that mean the most anyway. It is the little things we remember.

Happy Birthday, H, we love you.