Then the official birthdays began. Mine came along first on the 14th. Kaleb and I went out that following Saturday. We pawned our kidlets off on Grandma Knobel for a sleepover and went to dinner and a movie. We ate at the always-yummy Olive Garden and went to see "Leap Year" at the theater. The food was delish and the movie was cute. It's always strange to watch movies with Amy Adams in them since I tend to feel like I'm looking in the mirror when I look at her. =) We slept in late (which was a TOTAL treat!) and then we went to brunch at a place called MacCool's. It's an authentic Irish Pub with authentic Irish dishes, stone tables, musicians playing Irish tunes, a fireplace, and out back in the bar they have a huge shuffleboard table. After we stuffed ourselves we played a few rounds of shuffleboard. The staff was so friendly and it's a new favorite place of ours to go. We've been there a few more times and have taken the kids there as well. We're thinking of going there for St. Patrick's day. The staff said it's always one big party with music and dancing and the whole works. We enjoyed being able to escape responsibility for a couple days, but we sure missed our little ones! Funny how that works... You always feel like you'd jump at the chance to *get away*, and you usually do! But then when you ARE away, you realize how much you miss your kids and how your entire world revolves around them. =) All in all... it was a good birthday weekend for me. Here's a pic of our cute kids at MacCool's for their first time...
Next came Angela's birthday on the 26th. We took her out to dinner at a restaurant of her choosing. She chose Applebee's and we all enjoyed more yummy food and had the staff come sing to her AND Justin. It was quite entertaining to watch them try and squish both their names into one song. We all enjoyed their giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. Mmm!! That is a MUST-TRY! Next time you go to Applebee's, try it! Super-yummy! =P After dinner we took Angela out shopping to pick out a Nintendo DSi. She had decided that was what she really wanted for her birthday. A HOT PINK one, no less! She got to pick a game out to go with it and has since added a couple more games to it. She absolutely loves it! All of her cousins have one and she has been wanting one of her one for quite some time. Now she talks constantly about getting all of her cousins together so they can ALL play their DS's together. lol. Such a cutie-girl, she is. I still can't believe she's 6 now... She's turning into such a wonderful, beautiful young lady. I'm proud to call her my daughter. =)
We had her official birthday party that Friday. She had been begging for a slumber party for forever, and I finally relented. It was fun, but I'm not sure I'll be doing THAT again any time soon!! We had 6 other little girls there, not counting Angie. We had pizza, a pink, rainbow-sprinkle cake (which I baked!), and presents. Each girl brought their favorite game and we took turns playing everyone's games. We had candy and popcorn and danced amidst balloons to Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana music. We watched a movie, "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs", which was pretty cute. Then, at about 2:30am I finally threatened everyone with beatings if they didn't go to sleep. LOL!! =D We all had a blast, and Daddy was super-awesome and took care of breakfast so I could escape to my Saturday-morning math class down at UVU. Amazingly enough, I was able to stay awake through the entire class and completely ACE my chapter test!! Woo-hoo!! I was totally psyched... I was one of THREE perfect test scores in the entire class! Even MORE amazing was thee fact that when I got home from class, everyone was still alive and the house looked like only a MINOR train-wreck. *hee-hee* I was able to help see everyone off, and then the cleaning ensued. We managed to repair the house by lunchtime and we ALL had naps after lunch! I think all the girls had a great time and Angela got some cool gifts. However, next year I think we'll party somewhere other than at home and leave the aftermath for someone ELSE to worry about!
Justin's birthday was next on the 30th. We figured since he was only turning 2 that he wasn't quite at the age for an official *friend* party yet. But we did celebrate with family and close friends for the special event! Grandma and Grandpa Christesen came over during the week with Donuts bearing candles for both kids. Justin absolutely LOVES getting sung to and being able to blow out candles. You have to negotiate with him to wait to blow the candles out until AFTER the song is over!
Then, on his actual birthday, that Saturday evening, we had close friends and family join us at McDonald's for cake and presents for Justin. He, again, thoroughly enjoyed the singing and candle-blowing. He had a few bites of his yummy, double-chocolate cake with sprinkles, (which I also baked myself!) before he decided it was time to play again. His favorite toy he got was a remote control WallE. It's pretty cute! He also got his very own copy of UP (we had been borrowing Uncle Kassidy's) and some smaller, poseable WallE and EVE action figures. He's an official Pixar Addict. =)
The kids also got cute birthday cards with money in them from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Clark and also Great-Grandma Christesen. They loved getting their own money to take shopping and promptly put the mula to good use! Angela was also taken to dinner and shopping by both the Knobel grandparents and Grandma Bessie and Grandpa Gary. My kids aren't spoiled in the slightest! ; )
All month long was full of cake, presents, and fun! *whew* BOY am I ready for things to slow down a bit now!! I need time for me AND my bank account to recover! =P I am so thankful for my two beautiful kids and that they continue to grow cuter and more love-able. Each day you think it impossible that you could ever love them more. Then time passes and you realize that couldn't be further from the truth....
