Birthday!

I was royally pampered on my birthday this year! In addition to celebrating with family over the holidays, I had three other celebrations!

On my actual birthday, my boys treated me so well! They took me to lunch at a new restaurant down the street from our house, gave me wonderful gifts (including a 1-hour massage gift certificate), spent time with me, and let me talk to many friends and family members on the phone (what a treat!). Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics of the actual 34th birthday, but here are plenty others ....

Dear "Texas family" friends, Eric, Carrie, and Melissa, had us over to their house to celebrate my birthday. We had a delicious meal and dessert and wonderful conversation.

Melissa was sweet enough to design a special surprise for Ian, too! She created a treasure map to help Ian find paper bags hidden throughout their house.

Ian was very excited to follow Melissa around to gather these bags.

Inside the bags were the supplies to make graham cracker houses!

The two had a wonderful time decorating their houses, though Ian spent at least as much time eating the toppings as actually decorating his house.

Ian did work very hard decorating, and he really appreciated the help from Ms. Carrie!

Here are their works of art!

Thanks for the great time, friends!

My request for my birthday had been to spend some time together as a family on a day after we returned from our vacation. Matt had planned a special outing to a poinsettia farm and Christian home for mentally handicapped folks. It sounded really fun ... but since it was 1.5-2 hours away, it didn't sound nearly as fun after we had spent so much time in planes/cars/shuttles! So, we decided to spend a morning together at the recently remodeled Woodlands Children's Museum. We had a great morning!

Even Ryan liked the rubber mulch, though it was bit challenging to keep it out of his mouth. :)

Ian liked that there's rice (instead of sand) in the sand tables now.

Ryan seemed most interested in the fish ...

... and the new light table.

Ian's favorites this time included the train table (no big surprise!) ...

... and the water table.

Ryan didn't mind splashing around and digging in the water either. :)

Thanks for the fun morning, guys! You made me feel so special and loved!

And, while we're on the subject of birthdays, we enjoyed having Mr. Eric over for HIS birthday a few weeks ago! Thanks for letting Ian help blow out the candles on your cheesecake, Mr. Eric! We loved our time with your family, and we thank God for all of you!