My Birthday and Upstairs Progress

Mom and Dad came back into town around my birthday. They came to work on the upstairs but it was extra nice to have them here for my birthday. Well, who are we kidding, Dad worked and mom and I hung out.

Before they got here, I took the boys to a neurology appointment. Afterwards they batted those cute little eyes and said, "Since Amy isn't with us, can we PLEEEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE go to Nachos?" I had to oblige. (Amy doesn't like Nachos.) They ate to their hearts content and we got a new picture with Salvadore. He used to pick them up, but they are getting to big!

Then we stopped at Home Depot to get some wood for Dad. Getting home was tricky as I hadn't thought about the boys actually being in the car. Let's just say that Aunt Donna would not have approved! And we were hoping a police man didn't notice us!

The night before we had an unfortunate experience. Around 11pm there was a terrible, terrible smell coming out of our heat. We thought it had to be on fire. It was like when you turn it on at the start of winter, times 100. It didn't go away so Lee and I (convinced it was on fire) turned it off for the night. We had really low temps that night (17 degrees) so we piled blankets on the kids and dealt with it. It was 57 degrees in the house that morning!

We turned it back on again, for the terrible smell to still permeate. So we shut it off. We scheduled an HVAC guy to come the next morning. When Dad got here he rigged up something that is worth taking note of! He turned the fan on and then stuck our space heater in front of it. It took a little while but eventually it got up to 67 degrees that night. Which was a vast improvement on the 57! We turned if off for the night but tried the trick again in the morning.

It turns out the smell was fried mouse! Oh man. And because it had gotten so cold, the heat strips had kicked on (they hadn't yet because it hasn't been that cold.) So needless to say, we froze for nothing. Oh well. I figure Dad's heat trick is worth knowing!

Dad worked hard on finishing the upstairs HVAC stuff and some little things like installing the shower drain pan.

We celebrated my birthday by going to lunch with Mom. We were going to go shopping, but given it was the dead of winter, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to buy. We got a bundt cake for the evening and mom made a make-shift "41" out of blueberries and a #1 candle we had in the cupboard.

Lee bought me a big popcorn machine so we tried that out as well. We all loved it. It will eventually go upstairs and I know the kids and their friends will love it.

Thank you to everyone who sent me cards!

Before they left, Dad cleaned out my garage so I could get the van back in it. That's always his goal. Unfortunately we are a bit messy and that doesn't always happen. I sent this picture to him after he left. He was happy. :)

And that was their latest trip and my birthday celebration. We have insulation to complete now so they won't be back for a little while. It'll be weird not having them here for a bit!

Amy Turns 13!

I'll quickly mention that my broccoli is growing and the boys both had award ceremonies where they both got Outstanding Behavior awards. Good job boys! 

But the BIG event is we now have a TEENAGER!

A friend dropped a gift off for Amy and we were quite perplexed at the Deadpool socks. While we are a superhero family, we have not, nor will we ever see Deadpool. A rated R movie about a guy who kills people. So you can see our confusion. I said, "Amy, did you have a deadpool joke with her?" She said, "No mom, I have no idea why she would give these to me."  She called her friend and it turned out the friend (Kate) is not a comic book person and thought they were Spiderman. We have laughed and laughed about it. We have laughed with her parents, with her, and we keep laughing. (Yes, they say "Deadpool" on them so apparently she grabbed them off the rack and never actually read them.) 

Aside from the socks, I took her on a little shopping trip the day before her birthday. She bought a few things but she's so small that it's hard to find anything that fits her.

She wanted a fruit tart for her "cake" and her wish was granted. The best part is only her and myself like them so we got to eat it all.

Since the shopping spree was her main "gift" we gave her a few little things to open. Mostly bath related products. All girls love those.

I made a small balloon arch (I ran out of time) and the next day together we made it a lot bigger. (Her cute pajamas were one of the things we bought on our spree.) 

She made it into a tail....

and a wig....

 
and a scarf....

Oh this silly girl! We love her so much! And as far as teenagers go, we'll take her any day. (So far! haha)

Happy Birthday Amy!!!!!! 

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

The day we gave the dog back, I flew to New York to celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday! Mom, dad and Anna were also able to join in the fun.

We had grandma making snow angels! I mean, how many other 90 year old's make snow angels? Well, technically she was 89. We said she had to do something fun on the last day of her 80's. President George Bush went skydiving, but grandma opted for the snow angel.

Mom (meaning it to be a joke) suggested we have Taco Bell one night. She was quite surprised when everyone thought she was serious and getting the Party Box of tacos became an actual thing. Apparently Uncle Mike had never been to Taco Bell before. Needless to say it was a hilarious evening.

For the first half of the trip, there was a decent amount of snow! At least to this southern girl. (It later warmed up and melted away.)

For her actual birthday, Mom had the idea to dress her up in different ways and answer the question: Guess who is turning 90? (I'm still amazed at what Grandma is willing to do!)

(the lampshade is my favorite)

We celebrated her birthday night with pizza and a cake- with 90 candles, of course! Grandma made us laugh when she took out a hair dryer to help blow them all out! Jenny and Donna had people from all over send her cards. They hoped for 90 cards but got 100. She put them in a nice big box.

One day there wasn't much going on so Anna and I stole our parents away for a trip to Palmyra. It was probably our last for awhile and certainly the way it is now. After pageant this summer they are letting the hill go back to it's natural state by planting trees all over the front. We love this place though and had fun again seeing Hill Cumorah, walking through the Sacred Grove and seeing the Joseph Smith log home.

We convinced our parents to take a quick trip to Sauders for lunch and candy. (Anna bought the most! hehe)

And we went for Abbott's as well.

That night we had a nice dinner at a local restaurant.

(Anna and I went to Nicole's house one night with Jenny and her kids. We had the best time sitting around catching up with one another. We LOVE our cousins!!)

And then, sadly, it was time for me to come home. It was really emotional as Grandma was moving out of the house we all know and love. My kids even know the smell of that wonderful home and it's full of so many wonderful memories. I'm not too embarrassed to say I launched into the ugly cry. Grandma is now settling in at Uncle Mike's. She's doing great and it's what is best for her. But man oh man are we going to miss 76 Holleybrook Dr!

I was so, so grateful that I was able to go and stay for nearly a week. I'll always remember that trip!