happy.birthday.aunt.jill

It's my big sister's birthday today!!! Happy Birthday Aunt Jill!

Jill and me on vacation in Oregon in '05:

Oregon again with Claire and Meredith while we were visiting a lighthouse (and watching whales!):

The two of us at Jill's wedding in '05:

o.Christmas.tree

We ventured out last night to get our Christmas tree! It is usually one of my favorite days of December because it means that our house gets a once-over seasonal update for a few weeks. So fun.

Claire and Meredith (of course) were present. Amelia didn't make this particular photo shoot, but she was there last night.

Josh was there, too...someone had to strap it to the top of the van:

Of course, I was there (someone had to take the pictures):

And Josh chose the tree among the several options:

Doesn't this look like fun? It actually was....last year. This year, unfortunately, we took the easy road out and paid $13.99 for our pre-cut tree at a big box store. And there are no pictures of the outing because I didn't have the camera. I think Josh has it stashed in his truck from his hunting trip over the weekend. Honey, if you're reading this, I would like my camera back so that I can post current pictures on our blog :)

Our tree will be entering the house tonight and will be adorned with (hopefully intact from the move) decorations and beauty. Unfortunately, the ugly little Christmas Panda was "misplaced" a year or two ago by Josh. If anyone has seen it, please let me know. Our tree just doesn't have the same feel without it. I mean, what is a tree without ugly decorations on the back of it where no one can see them?

birthday.surprises

Let me just start by saying that I love my husband. He totally rocks! He called me last Friday afternoon at 1:00 and was telling me that he saw a nice buck near our property on the way to work that morning. I asked him if that meant he was going to hunt at our house on Saturday instead of somewhere else. He said, "No....I'm not hunting at all tomorrow because I'm taking you away for the weekend for your birthday!!! I'll be home in 20 minutes." Yay for me! My birthday is tomorrow (Thanksgiving!)...the big 3-0! I think I'm almost grown up.

Anyway, so he comes home, my mom is on her way over to stay with the girls. We didn't even have to drive the minivan! I totally didn't feel like a mom the whole time (well, maybe when I had to pump). So we hopped in the car, and Josh says, "There's another surprise for you in here!" And it was the new Darius Rucker CD (Hootie has turned country, y'all)....yay again! Some great tunes for the trip.

So, we had reservations at 8:30 at a super-duper nice restaurant. It was by-far the most we've ever spent on a meal for ourselves. It's such a nice place that they even put your name on your menu when it's your birthday! I'm pretty sure they don't usually do that at Steak 'n Shake.

Ok, so a crab cake for an appetizer (we rarely get appetizers either) and a steak for dinner with creamed corn for a side. Seriously, people, this is the best creamed corn in the whole state. I think they almost brown it somehow and then mix it with a ton of butter, probably some garlic, and cream cheese or something. Vegetables are super healthy, you know.

Anyway, so they figure that you spent so much on the rest of your food, that they do actually throw in dessert for free. I chose the chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. Honestly, it's more like chocolate chip cookie dough that is warmed up. Yes, it's as good as it sounds...even better actually. I, of course, had to get a glass of milk to go with it. You just can't eat warm cookie dough without milk. It was a serving for 3, and we were full already, so we left some sit. I kind of wanted to pack it up in a doggy bag, but I figured that might seem unrefined. "Uh, excuse me Vladamir, could you please pack up my extra 3 bites of cookie dough that I couldn't finish?" I know he would have said yes because I think they have to say yes when you pay that much for food. But I didn't.

And this is us shopping the next day...Josh doesn't even look like he's that bored, does he? Inside, he was really thinking, "I can't believe I'm in the middle of a shopping mall on one of the best weekends of deer hunting season." What can I say? Sacrifice for birthday surprises is the best. I love you, honey. And I don't expect you to do this again for another 30 years :). Ok, maybe 10 years.

And by the way, I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. As always, things have been busy. Even Josh said the other day, "How am I supposed to keep up with what's going in our life if you're not blogging?" Good point. I'll get back to it soon!

question.of.the.day

From Claire...

Why do my tears taste like meatballs?


hmmmm...good question.

living.off.the.land

Here is Josh with his first deer killed at the house! He thinks that she's the 2nd largest doe he's gotten. I pulled our last package of venison burger out of the refrigerator last week. I said, "No pressure, honey, but we're completely out of burger." I was counting on him getting one over the weekend.

Claire was thrilled because Josh let her "track" the deer with him. She was so excited to follow the blood trail! She can't wait for him to take her out in their tent blind that he purchased so that he could take the girls with him. She's a proud daughter...and he's a proud papa.

And we have this new, fun toy as well. It was purchased to take the kids for rides and haul dead deer plow the snow-covered driveway in the winter.

Congrats on your first doe on your own property! Many more to come, I'm sure :)

girls'.weekend

Last Christmas, my mom decided that she didn't want gifts. She wanted Jill and I to plan a weekend for her (she even said she would pay...how great is that?!!). So, we decided to keep it pretty low-key for our first year. We stayed at Jill's and made good use of her downtown area.

Friday morning started off like this...sweet baby girl falling asleep in Grandma's arms. No fail.

And here's our cute little giraffe again!

We headed downtown to a cute little pottery place to paint pieces. There were a ton of things to choose from (look behind Mom). It was a lot of fun!

Mom painted a little piggy bank for Amelia. So cute.

I painted a fruit/salad/roast and potatoes bowl. Love it.

Jill painted a mug to hold her pens and pencils for her new kitchen. Sorry that I forgot to flip the picture. I am too tired to go back and do it again at this point.

Jill picks up our finished pieces today! I can't wait to see the finished product! Then, we ate lunch at a cute little restaurant on the corner. And we walked around the downtown visiting a cute little children's bookstore (where I made a few Christmas purchases) and an antique shop.

We saw a cute self portrait, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture:

Then we went back to Jill's and watched The Holiday. Cute movie...I'll be sure to rent it again and make Josh watch it at Christmas. He LOVES chic-flicks (love you, honey...mwah, mwah). We also played Scrabble, and I sacrificially lost so that everyone else could feel good about their Scrabble skills (don't tell Mom and Jill that I let them win). We watched The Wedding Singer while we played our game of Scrabble. I get all sappy during this part. And I'm just certain that Ruth's husband, Pat, looked just like Robbie in 1984. I wish I had a picture to compare.
A very fun weekend! Thanks Mom and Jill!

cutest.giraffe

We also had a pretty cute ladybug and fairy (escorted by Joe the Plumber), but they were with Daddy who didn't have the camera!