Birthdays for my adult life have been rather hit or miss, but today was a lovely day. Let me walk you through it ALL...haha. :)
I woke up this morning to lilacs all over the house, thanks to the bush in our neighbor's yard that overflows into our yard, and my thoughtful husband. Spring is my favorite *smelling* time of the year. The apple and cherry blossom tress, and the lilacs combined? Stop it. Too much. I adore it. (Fall is a close second with the smell of burning wood and that odd smell that fallen leaves and coming snow have, but spring still wins with the smell of new life...)
Cora "helped" me make a carrot cake for dinner that night, and Layla helped me in a genuine way as well:
Then I dropped Cora off at the Krebsbachs house (a small gift from God, just for me) while Layla and I did school.
We finished early, went to the library, picked up the 2 girls at the Krebsbachs house, grabbed lunch, then headed to the Minnesota History Center.
A few weeks back I got a MN History Pass (through the Historical Society of MN) at 50% off through a deals site, and this was our first time using it. The kids were VERY into it. :) I'm not sure how much they'd love going there weekly, but I think they'll for sure love a visit there every 3 months or so.
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| This is the tornado exhibit. Exciting stuff. We have to leave the dramatization early, mostly because of Finn, but Cora LOVED this green swirling cloth tornado. |
There are 26 historical sites I can use my new membership at all around Minnesota, for free entry, like the Alexander Ramsey House, For Snelling, Split Rock Lighthouse, Mill City Museum, etc. I plan to use this as the basis for a LOT of homeschool field trips over the next few years. Minnesota history here we come...because Mama's got a free pass...haha! :)
We then headed home to rest for a bit and listen to the rain, which mercifully did not fall during the long walk to and from my car with 4 slow, little kids. :)
Jonas came home early, and per my only request for the day (no cooking on my part for dinner), he made dinner for the kids and picked up some great local takeout for us:
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| I ordered for us: Pad Kee Mow (because who doesn't love drunken rice noodles?), and then I ordered the tilapia in peanut curry sauce. I FORGOT that their fish curry comes as a whole fish...haha. Clearly I am a city girl. I hate picking over skin and bones, but it was still amazing flavors. |
Layla and Finn had each spent AGES making me their own gifts, which melt my heart. Layla gave me one of her precious porcelain bunnies from Grandma...with an ear missing. Along with it came a letter that said "Dear Mama I'm giving this card tu you beca I love you wiff all my heart and I love you from Layla."
Finn is really into cones lately, so he made two paper cones, taped them together on the wide ends, and then put a teeny tiny heard inside...a paper one he made and cut out himself, after coloring it red. Melt my heart, little man.
BOTH of my presents are taped to my dresser, next to my bed, so I can always see them.
Next I opened a MASSIVE box from Sue Schaefer that arrived a few days ago. I'm sorry to tell all of you, but Sue has won the "best birthday gift" prize for the year, and she'll likely hold the title for a few years running as well, just in honor of this day. Sue sent me three huge, matted, framed, original woodcut prints made by an artist we both love, Mary Azarian. They are signed by Mary too! They're just gorgeous, and Jonas and I immediately decided where all 3 should go and hung them right up. It's a risky thing, to buy art for someone else, but Sue gambled and won big time! :) Thanks a million, Sue! (These aren't images of my originals...just ones from Google. I'll show you mine sometime soon...they are way better than these photos.)
AND, to end the night, I now have Finn sleeping in bed next to me because he has suddenly developed a new oh-so-strong fear of tornadoes. BRILLIANT, Lisa. Just brilliant. Maybe I'll be smarter than to take my highly sensitive child to a tornado exhibit at age 38. ;) Fingers crossed!
*Side note: If I ever need confirmation that I am an introvert, my birthday is a classic reminder. All the PHONE CALLS and TEXTS and EMAILS and FB notifications!! Actually, to be fair, FB notifications and emails don't stress me at all, because they can be replied to whenever I wish...but phone calls and texts became so overwhelming to me that I had to just turn my phone off after a while, haha. :) Not that I was some sort of popularity winner or anything, mostly just so I could focus on life and not be stressed out about responding to each individual person. NORMAL LIFE Lisa can handle anything from anyone, but birthdays aren't fair because then everyone bombards you all at once. ;) #themoreyouknowaboutusintroverts #deadinside (my own personal hash tag...haha.)
