Partyin' it up in February

After all those days of being snowed in for Valentines, we were itching to get out of the house. 

Church was cancelled Sunday morning since the parking lot was still icy, so we decided to visit Granny instead. And, it was a good thing we did!

My cousin Stacey's twins Anabella and Daniel had kind of an impromptu birthday family celebration at Granny's that day. Since they went to Great Wolf Lodge as a special treat this year, Bell and Dan didn't have a traditional party like they usually do. Instead, they had just a small shin-dig with their cousins. 

Sadly, Stacey got a stomach bug and didn't get to join us for dinner and cupcakes, so I hope she'll enjoy these shots.

Time to play

Cliff, my cousin Stacey's husband, is always great at playing with the kids.

The boys!

Look at those cutie pies cuddling while we're in the kitchen cooking.

I love when these little ones get together.

Snuggling Daddy

Hadley was a little confused that Anabella's presents weren't hers.

Thanks to Auntie Beth though, she did get a special treat - cupcakes that Cliff baked for the kids that morning!

Stacey had planned for the kids to pick their own icing, but Beth made a good call and let Hadley have one without icing. 

Everyone wanted one, of course.

Hadley taste tested a couple.

Dan gave them his seal of approval.

Savoring it!

Anabella went about hers a little more delicately.

Peyton - the dainty princess

Ice cream too!

Debbie was the frosting lady.

Yeah...there was no nap to be had after all that sugar!

I scream, you scream...we all scream for ice cream!

Hadley had an interesting technique. Eat the cone first!

The following weekend, we celebrated Dave's birthday. 

My friend Sherri has been offering to take the kids to give us a night out for a while now, and I finally decided to take her up on it. So, to begin the celebration, we went out to dinner at Houlihans. We kept Reid in tote since he still wants "Mommy milk" every two hours, but it was still a good outings since we only had one little one to juggle.  

Someone is happy he got to go on the date.

Hadley and Caleb got the best end of the deal. Sherri brought over fingerpaint and let them have a lot of messy fun (all of which she got cleaned up before we even got back). She also put Hadley to sleep singing "Jesus Loves Me," and even obliged her requests to keep singing the same song over and over until my sweet girl finally went out. Then, Sherri went to work building a marble run with Caleb. He was all smiles when we got back.

This girl is good! The kids are going to want us to go out more often.

Saturday, Dave had a men's fellowship breakfast to attend, and later that afternoon, I arranged for him to go out for a fun day with some of his friends. The guys decided to play racquetball for the afternoon, getting Dave out of the way so Mom and I could work on a birthday supper for him.

I'd planned to do a big dinner to celebrate both his birthday and my mom's since they are only a day apart, so I took out a turkey and invited our family to join us for supper. That morning though, I woke up feeling achy and tired. I called Mom to tell her I thought we'd better cancel, but the next thing I knew, here she came. She cooked the turkey, made mashed potatoes, and whipped up a broccoli casserole. Grandma volunteered to bring some green beans and banana pudding too, so all I did was throw some frozen rolls into the oven, make a couple boxes of Stovetop, and mix up some brownies. I felt a little guilty but mmmmm was it good.

Sunday we went to church and hung out at the house relaxing for Dave's actual birthday, but Monday we did more partying at Cracker Barrel for my mom's.

We arrived a little before she did, and the kids ran straight for the toys while we waited.

They were happy to see NaNa when she walked in though, and she was happy to see them. We headed for our table and had a good meal.

Hadley's new hobby is peeling the paper off of crayons.

Open our card, NaNa.

The funniest part of the evening was when we were about to leave. I'd asked the waiter earlier if Dave and Mom could be sung to and have a dessert brought out to them, so he agreed and I spent the rest of the meal anticipating when they'd come out. Meanwhile, Caleb finished his meal and decided that he couldn't sit still any longer and needed to go look at toys some more so I took him. Then, Hadley decided to follow suit and drag Dave with her. So here my mom is sitting at the table all by herself with Reid, and out come the Cracker Barrel staff singing with two pieces of cake. We had to laugh.

A week later, Courtney and I did another special outing with mom for her birthday to Tres Bella spa. We'd never done anything this before, but the three of us enjoyed massages, facials, and pedicures (as well as each other's company). It was supposed to be a treat for her, but I definitely felt treated myself to have a few hours away from the kids, especially to enjoy such a nice outing.

We didn't get an spa pictures, so all you get is a picture of the final product - my toes. :)

Lots more birthdays celebrations coming up in March...When it's all said and done, we'll be partied out!