Pre-Birthday weekend

Some of you know that I usually begin celebrating my birthday about a week before.  The last couple years I've only done a couple days before and they've been very 'low key'.  I've found that I really enjoy 'low key' vs. 'can't remember what happened the night before'.  Even though I enjoy having relaxing birthdays, I still wish my dearest friends could join me.  Most of my really great friends are out of town.  A lot of my family is too.  Good news is, I have a fantastic family and wonderful friends in town too!  Yay!  It's always perfect for me no matter what!  This year I originally wanted to have a big get together, but as time drew nearer to my birthday weekend, I felt that all I really needed was just to appreciate the day and maybe 'get out' for the night. That was even a big 'maybe'.  Luckily, I have a friend of mine who plays in a band and invited me out to see them perform. I was still a little reluctant, but ended up going.  SO GLAD I DID! It was great!  Had a wonderful time and got to see some old friends- some who I missed and some who I could of stuck my foot up their...and wouldn't necessarily call a 'friend' at all. Anyway, I had a few drinks, enjoyed my night and laughed a whole lot!  ("Victoria and Ashley, you guys are awesome!! Let me know when your next performance is!  I'm there!").
The next day, yesterday, was Sunday.  I started my day by going to church.  Could there be a better way???  I think not! He is the reason I'm so happy and filled with joy.  He is the reason I wake every morning and give thanks for my blessings.
After Church, I went home where I gave thanks to all my laundry piles.  Of course, that only means I have two great big blessings who wore all that laundry!!! :)

After the blessed laundry done, I was to head over to my mom's for a dinner she and my sister were putting together for me.  As usual, the chaos in the Griswold home was in full force! There was music playing in the kitchen, children running around, dogs barking and the TV blaring.  Everything looked sooo pretty though!  Glittered hearts decorated the walls and swirly decorations also hung from the ceiling!  The plates, cups and napkins all had colorful hearts on them and in the middle of it all was a huge homemade cake that our neighbor, Lilly, made! So thank you, Keila and mom and sissy for buying/paying for the ingredients and thank you Lilly, for baking and decorating my special cake!  It was delish and soooo pretty. :)

Well, as I was taking the picture of my cake, a little 'oopsi' happened, of course.  The swirly decorations hanging above the cake fell...onto the cake!  lol

So, I'm taking pictures so that I have some awesome memories and Krista and Gracie are busy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal.  Did I mention the music playing in the kitchen, dogs barking, and the TV blaring in the next room? OK, good.  Didn't want to forget that.
The first batch of spaghetti noodles cooked a little bit too long thanks to Gracie.  I guess she thought it was HER birthday dinner and was trying to out do the guest of honor- me!  lol  "That's what happens, Mom!"  So Gracie decides to make another batch of noodles (thank goodness, because I really wasn't feeling mush under meat sauce for dinner).  I told mom that I really wanted to get pictures of us while the noodles were cooking.  Oh man...wrong thing to do!  I should have just let her babysit the noodles, THEN take pics.  But I forced her to go outside where I would regret the next few minutes! lol  Keep in mind we have Austin running around, Raeya running around, Krista is yelling at Raeya, I'm trying to get Austin to settle down and Gracie's bitching about the noodles!  I'm so glad the neighbors were not outside to witness our photo session that was not going to well!  Here are a few pics from yesterday, the first one being my sister and I:

Below are a few of my momma and I.  Yes, she was complaining or pissed in the majority of them mainly because she couldn't open her eyes in the sun, or the kids were running around, or she was sitting on a tree stump that was really hurting her ass, but mostly because she was worried about the noodles!

Me: "Mom, smile." Mom: "shut up, stupid! And hurry up Austin!!! My noodles are cooking!" Me: OMG laughing!

Mom: "Stop pinching my butt!" Me: "Smile Gracie!"



Me: "Thank you, Gracie!  Now, go to your noodles!!!"



There were a few more pics taken before Tony shows up with balloons and a gift for me!  Sa-weet! My favorite colors too!

So, my 'pre'birthday dinner was so wonderful-even through the chaos.  I received beautiful gifts, wine, food and cake. I celebrated with family and friends and laughed a bunch!  How blessed am I? 

"Thank you, everyone, for making my day soooo special."
much love to all
xoxo
~birthday girl