Happy Birthday (to ME) and Other Random "Stuff"

Okay, Okay, So being 35 isn't as bad as I thought. Maybe it is because I can take comfort knowing that my older sisters and brother will ALWAYS be older- Bwahaha! I had a great birthday. The kids at school told me that their gift to me was to be good all day. They did great. Thanks my dear class. At the end of the day my wife brought cupcakes to share with the whole class (thanks Chow Hound- they were tasty!). My mother had also came in to the building that morning while I was in faculty meeting and hung up a big sign that said" Smile Mr. Hughes! It's your birthday!"- lol. It was stuck to a banner of smiling pumpkin pictures. She had also left a box of full-size candy bars on my desk to share with the students. After school I just headed home knowing that I would have to come back over fall break to finish planning and "stuff". I didn't care. It WAS my birthday after all! :) For dinner I helped my wife make Philly Steak and Cheese. Y-U-M-M-Y! She makes a great sandwich. My mom was able to come over (my dad was in meetings for most of the night). While dinner was cooking, we watched the construction going on outside our front door. My little E was running around enjoying the noise and bedlam. He was really enjoying moving the pumpkins from the steps and benches to the lawn.  The two littler boys were totally enjoying watching the big Kat and diesels. They sat right on the edge of the lawn and were riveted on the action. I think they were REALLY wanting to go and play in the dirt that was being dumped. I guess I can't blame them. It isn't everyday that you get to see that while sitting on your front steps! After dinner we hung out outside for while. It was a beautiful night and the kids were having a blast running  around being crazy. We even got to help a lady who got stuck in the soft dirt (the construction company didn't block off the road where they were working so people kept driving down the road in the soft dirt- a 4-wheeler almost wrecked because of that!).  Then it was PRESENT TIME! YEA! I love that time. Not because I get things, but because the kids are SO funny. They fight and argue about which one I have to open first. It just makes me smile. I have to brag a bit. I am pretty good about holding a present and knowing what is in it. This drives my wife crazy and she usually tries to mask a gift so I can't figure it out. Last year at Christmas she was sneaky. She wrapped it in diapers and THEN wrapped it. Sneaky, dear, sneaky! I did great guessing this year- See below!  My Guess:  some new clothes... Actual Gift: Levis  My Guess: What DVD has come out that we've been wanting??.... Actual Gift:  Prince of Persia My guess: This one is a gift card.... Actual Gift: i tunes gift card I was  stumped on my new wallet My Guess: This one is a bag of Candy...Reisen's ... Actual Gift:  Snickers  I received many cards (thanks to everyone who sent them) and I was very cautious with Great Grandma Milletts (because she gets a little crazy with birthday confetti- lol). They were all great.  My Guess: Something  Mom made me... Actual Gift: Yep, a matchbox full of memories--wallet size pictures from my last birthday to this one. It was wonderful to shuffle through all the picture memories that have happened in one year. I think that was one, if not the, best gifts I received this year. Makes we want to go and look through all the pictures again right now. I think it is a well known fact that I am not a big fan of cake- AT ALL! (Cupcakes sometimes, but very little icing and NO RED- BLECH!) However, that said, I do enjoy a good hunk of German chocolate cake- I love the frosting too-- yum!). Every year my wife, bless her heart, makes me a tasty german chocolate cake. She was nice and only put 6 candles on it (granted one was a candle that said 30- HOW RUDE!). I didn't even get to make a wish before the little boys had my candles blown out. You can see from the picture they didn't even wait for a picture- lol. Love those crazy little boys of mine! (You might also be noticing that a small corner has a little handprint in it. While I was posing for the picture, my little E grabbed a handful to nibble on while he waited for his cut of the cake. It was a good day.  We finished the night snuggled up on the couch watching Ghost Hunters.  I feel asleep by 10:30pm- HOW LAME IS THAT? I AM getting old! lol Thanks to my little family for making it such a wonderful, special day.

Other Random "STUFF" starts NOW! While we were outside watching the road work, my little M  picked up our Bocce (Bot-chee) set, went  over to my wife and asked, "Mom, can we play Chewbacca?"  She told him he had to go ask Me.  He came and asked me the same thing.  Oh my word, we were laughing our heads off. The other kids got quite the kick out of it as well!

The other night I was playing peek-a-boo with Eli.  He was just giggling up a storm.  It was fun to watch. He is such a cutie. He was laughing, and laughing, and laughing.He was getting good at it too. I love those special moments with my babies. What a joy they are! Thursday  we went to my parents and helped to pick apples (that was after I spent the day working on the yard AND going to the school to finish planning, etc.). We got a crude load of apples- we are going to make apple juice this year. Yum. After we picked apples (Greg and Heather came and helped pick too) we had the Parsons over for a hot dog BBQ. It was a little embarrassing when I ran out of propane. It was all good though. We just cooked most of them over the fire pit- See it WAS a good thing I put that in. We had a great time and even roasted some of the GIGANTIC marshmallows they were selling at Wal-Mart. They are about 2" by 2"! They are HUGE! It was great way to end the evening. Thanks for coming Parsons family! :) Friday was GET MY COLLEGE WORK DONE day! I got most of my chapter read, worked on my Case Brief #3, and wished that my classes were done. I am SO ready for this program to end. I am really learning a lot, but I am tired of it cutting into my family time! :( It's okay though. Only 7 more months and 1.5 semesters! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Today is Saturday. My vacation has slipped away from me. I do feel like I accomplished at lot however. We got the garden winterized (just need to till it up), the air conditioners out of the windows, and the lawn watered for one of the last times this year.  I was up (with my wife) at 4:30am to head out to bountiful baskets. They changed the delivery time from 10am to 5am. That was quite the shock this morning. Even though it was early, it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! We got a TON of fresh produce. I love that we can bring that here every other week. Those of you reading that don't order- you really ought to start! For a $15 contribution you get at least $40 worth of produce! We were able to be home by 7:30am and just finished a great breakfast as a family and now we are all doing our "own thing".- lol I have more college work to finish before we head over to the church at 1pm to clean it. Then the rest of the day is ours. We are planning family movie night (with treats of course). I LoVe my LiTtLe family! Hooray for family! Later...