Birthday Time

Well, I wrote a little about the last week in my last blog, but didn't go into detail about how we celebrated. So, Nathan was on call at the hospital for his birthday weekend and we had to celebrate his birthday early. We ended up doing it on Thurs. the 12th and I spent some time that morning making him a homemade yellow cake with perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting. He loves homemade cakes, I prefer boxed ones because they are lighter. I'm glad that I could make him happy with something so simple.

The kids and I went shopping for a few odds and ends for him. Kaylie helped me pick out a tie that I thought was nice, but he was less than thrilled about. We will be taking it back. He did like the tools we bought and the index cards and stapler (things that we needed anyway). He has a hard time with people spending money on him, so I let him pick his own things he finds on the internet. He purchased the Princess Bride soundtrack and one other that he was excited about. He makes me laugh. He is now 29 and we were able to share that age for 6 days before we celebrated my change of decade birthday. I got the feeling that I didn't do the best job at helping him celebrate his birthday but it was okay. I knew we'd be able to go on a date the next weekend (last night) and make up for it.

For my birthday, Nathan made my traditional and forever favorite Grasshopper Pie. Yum Yum! Kaylie wrote me 2 cards and is getting rather good at writing "I love You" and things of that nature. It's nice to get little love notes from her, she is such a good kid. Nathan let me sleep in a little, although Kaylie still managed to get me up in time to see her off to school. Then Nate made me a terrific omelet before he had to leave for work. He was able to come home in the afternoon and made a yummy dinner of sausage, potatoes and veggies. My friend, Nicole Donnelly came over that night to watch the kids so Nate and I could go out. She was super nice to do so and seemed to have a really good time. We went to play raquetball at the Community Center here, but the courts were all taken, so we ended up going Birthday shopping since I asked for a new dress. (Nate had me open a gift before we left and he got me a bottle of "Jarritos" mango soda, which made me laugh). We ended up going to Ross and buying 2 new dresses, a swim suit and 3 new bras, as well as a few new DVDs. We spent a little more than I had planned on, but I had a great time and now have a few really nice dresses and FINALLY a new swim suit (since I've had my only other one since I was a sophomore in high school!). It was fun to have Nate there to help find new clothes- he had good taste and found a few of the things we bought. We'd never done that before, and I was impressed with him!

The next day the Ercanbracks had planned on babysitting in the evening so we brought the kids over then went to play raquetball at the Community Center (this time we reserved a court so we knew we'd get to play). Nate had never played before so that was fun. I used to play a lot, but he still did better than me, surprise surprise! After about an hour of that we went swimming at the pool there and did some laps followed by a little time in the spa. It was fun. Afterwards we went out to eat at a somewhat fast-food restaurant, called Fresh City. Nate got a buffalo chicken burrito and I tried a new sandwich which was fantastic. We had a great time just talking and really being able to express feelings and thoughts we'd had that we don't always have time to say out loud. It was a great date. We went home, got the kids in bed, then watched a little TV before going to sleep ourselves.

I am grateful for date nights and birthdays. What a good time to reconnect, to reflect and to celebrate!