It's my birthday and I can cook if I want to

We celebrated my birthday on Saturday. It was awesome...a bunch of friends came and took over my kitchen, working feverishly on an amazing meal. I sat on the back porch, with those who weren't actively cooking, and drank a beautiful chardonnay. We ate: mini pizzas, shrimp, roasted fig and beet salad, garlic mashed potatos, brussels sprouts (on Sat I learned the correct spelling of that) with bacon, filet mignon, and the biggest crab legs you have ever seen! And to finish it all, we had homemade angelfood cake with strawberries. I'm truly blessed to have such wonderful friends who spent so much time, energy, and money to create the most wonderful birthday meal for me!
And did I get a picture of the fun night to share?? No, no I did not.

Did I mention we had crab legs? They were delicious.


My actual birthday was pretty low-key. It was the most beautiful fall day - clear blue sky and the leaves just starting to think about turning. It is a little warmer than it typically is, but at least it is not snowing yet. I decided I wanted to have a special treat so I drove to Starbucks for a cinnamon-dolce latte. I had to drive to the west side of town because I wanted to go through the drive through - it stinks trying to park and get 2 kids out of the car, stand in line with those kids, just to order a coffee and get back into the car.
I think all stores should have a drive-thru option for parents with small kids.

Then I took the kids to the park since it was so nice outside. It is always fun to watch my kids have fun.

 







I decided that for my birthday dinner I would make homemade ravioli. I really like to cook, so it was fun to work on something new.
I will definitely be making more ravioli in the future. The filling options are endless and I love fresh, homemade pasta.

Midnight

It’s been a really long time since I’ve stayed up until midnight. I mean truely STAYED UP until midnight, not woken up at midnight – that happens all the time. I usually go to bed around 9pm; that’s as late as I can stay up until my eyelids refuse to cooperate anymore. 

But last night I stayed up until midnight because we had friends over for dinner at our garage mahal and everyone stayed and lingered over one more drink, then one more… It was pleasant and relaxed. I enjoyed myself, enjoyed the music, enjoyed the talking, enjoyed the food, enjoyed the night.

As we were getting ready for bed I turned on the window fan. I think it carried in not only a little bit of remaining chiminea smoke, but also the remnants of laughter and jokes. It was contentment floating around my room when my eyelids finally stopped cooperating last night. 

Parade

Recently, we went to a parade for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo. We rode our bikes down and watched horses, horses, and more horses. The Blobster was thrilled!

The Blobster had the best seat in town.

Lucas and Jaime joined us too. It is nice to have extra hands to help with our children. And Lucas' office provided relief from the rain.

Grandma showed up too! The Blobster was spoiled with all the hands to hold him.

Ahh...the Sweet Pea loves her grandma!

And I think she is too cute for words.

Did I mention that we saw some horses??

Family Visit

We recently had some family visit from South Carolina. It was really nice to spend some time with them and get to know our nieces and nephew a little better.

Here they are: Honey, Heaven, and Tom - we caught them playing Angry Birds on Danny's IPAD

The girls took some time to go shopping in Old Colorado City. It was fun to have some girl time. The boys went hiking while we were shopping.

Heaven and Honey are very into music and are really talented. We were able to get them to sing for us a few times. They were nice enough to let the Blobster play with them too.

We had a nice celebration for Honey, welcoming her into womanhood. She is so pretty! (Another girl time! I think the boys were playing in the dirt. Seriously... they were in Bobcats)

We all got dressed up. The girls sang for us again; a lovely treat. We were going to have tea, but it was too hot, so we had punch instead. Susan used her grandmother's china - it was so fancy! I hope Honey felt like a princess.

Here is everyone. From left to right in back - Gage, Danny, Honey, Heaven (sorry you got covered up a bit!), Susan (holding Mia), Don. In Front - Sarah, Greg (Danny's brother), Tom.

Aside from our shopping, and girl time, we also had everyone over for dinner at our house, a bbq on July 4th, and dinner out. They also took a trip to the Royal Gorge and the Air Force Academy. I think overall they had an action packed trip.

So the Hankins' clan keeps expanding, and we are richer to have them all in our lives.

Random Observations

1. Pink ballet inspired socks don’t stay on feet any better than the plain white ones


2. English Breakfast tea doesn’t last very long at our house


3. Store bought cookies are never as good as homemade



4. Making a fort is fun no matter how old you are



5. Sod can be laid in a small backyard very quickly when several people help

Recent Happenings

I apparently have a few events to catch up on. Mother's Day, Easter, and my friend Jen's visit. I just uploaded the photos from my camera and realized I haven't posted anything recently. So I will get you caught up with the most current events in my life.

Mother's Day:

This is a photo of the girls...my sister, my mom, the Sweet Pea, and me. We had lunch at our house to celebrate both my mom and Goatee Man's mom.

There he is with his mom; the lovely lady. 

 Here's my sister again with the Sweet Pea.

 And the Sweet Pea again. Isn't she cute?

The Goatee Man helped celebrate my motherhood on Saturday night with a lovely dinner and flowers. Then he made breakfast (with help from the Blobster) for me in bed. The Blobster even picked some dandelions for me. He was so proud of himself. It was so cute.

Easter:

We had Easter baskets for the kids at breakfast. Then we went to church, and were able to sit through the whole service without being called out to attend to our children in the nursery. That is a rare occurrence. What a nice treat!

Then we went to my mom's house for Easter lunch. Goatee Man's parent's also came, as well as Isabelle, a wonderful family friend. We had a nice, relaxed time and wonderful food.

Here is my mom with Sweet Pea. 

Here is Goatee Man's dad with Sweet Pea. 

I didn't get any other pictures that day. I really wanted a family photo (we were after all, dressed up so nicely), but it didn't happen. It is getting really difficult to capture the Blobster in photos. 

He moves too much. 

Jen's Visit:

One of my best friends moved to St. Louis a few years ago, and she came into town for a visit recently. It was so nice to see her. We didn't do anything exciting. It is too difficult to get out and about with 2 kids these days. But we were able to sit and talk for a long time. It didn't feel like any time had passed since she left. We were able to talk just like old times. 

Except we were often interrupted by the Blobster. 

And we weren't sitting at Champs with beer/wine and appetizers. That was what we used to do after work regularly. Ah...those were the times. 

Anyway...

Unfortunately, I didn't take very many photos of her visit here, and most of them didn't turn out very well. So, sorry Jen, this is the best I have. 

 Jen was bouncing the Sweet Pea to keep her from crying. 

It didn't work. 

Birthday Party

The Blobster’s birthday was Monday, so we had a party for him on Sunday. Well, we kind-of had a party for us which he attended. He is really only just starting to understand what a birthday means – he is only two. But he does understand that it means cake. And balloons. And presents. 

We had considered just doing a small family party but all of our friends started asking when his party was going to be, so we decided that we better do a big party. It is so nice that our friends like him and enjoy spending time with him. At least they tolerate him. 

He had so much fun playing with everyone, and playing with his new toys. 

Good bye

My friend Jen is leaving. We threw a going away party for her on Sunday at the Blue Star. It was a nice time, but sure are going to miss her. I'm excited that she will be moving on to new, fun things in St. Louis, but that means no more crazy nights of dancing, long talks over cocktails, or even sometimes boring carpools. Have fun, Jen!