I LOVE MY FAMILY!

OK, Brian had the day off and it was WONDERFUL!!!

He is so thoughtful! I got to sleep in while he took care of the kids. He then went and got donuts. He actually made breakfast for the kids BEFORE the doughnuts. Then we had doughnuts and then lunch (which he again made).

When I woke up, AA gave me a gift she had made herself, finished about a week ago. It was a doll. A fabric doll. I will HAVE to post a picture here because I am so unbelievably proud of her! It was all done by hand. And when "Daddy didn't get [her] the buttons on time for the face, [she] just drew one." OH it is a BEAUTIFUL doll!

We headed out to run a few errands. I got some wooden knitting needles for the kids (normally $7.99 for $1.51!!!) which we are having a learn to knit party at our house Friday next week. In the research I have done, it says that thick wooden needles are the best for kids. These are meant especially for kids (bright colors and thick and has a big bulb at the end to prevent the yarn from slipping off). I am REALLY excited about this because EE is VERY anxious to start doing knitting. She wanted to learn crochet, but she is left handed and I just cannot do it (being VERY right handed).

I also picked up some glasses for AA's doll. She had to get glasses a month or so ago. I wanted doll glasses for her doll at the time because she was VERY anxious about having to wear glasses. Because of her astigmatism, she will have to wear them all the time and for life. I got them today (finally) and plan to surprise her with them tomorrow. which turns out to be PERFECT (see below for why).

After that we headed to a local family fun place (pizza buffet and arcade). I did not expect to be there for SO LONG, but we were there for almost 5 hours! I got in free (because it was my birthday), and because we were all in costume, we all got free $5 cards for the arcade (even little JJ!). We sat down for the coloring contest and colored pictures (which we didn't finish because the kids were hungry), so we got our salad (yes, we ALL eat a GOOD salad first). After salad we got our pizza. Then there was a science project! YEP! We all made SLIME! It was GREAT!!!

Then off for games. JJ LOVES to play skee-ball. He played a spinning game ONCE and won 50 tickets on the first try! It was so great to see him grab hand over hand as the tickets poured out from the machine! MM played the same spin game and the first time won 10 tickets. The second time she landed on the big prize - 200 tickets! It was AWESOME!!! All of us played other little games, winning tickets.

Then off to redeem SOME tickets (we allow the children to only get ONE prize per visit) and then back to the buffet for dessert. Then finish the coloring pages, and off for Daddy to try ONE MORE TIME to win me a portable Playstation. GOTTA love my man!!

After we got home, Brian went to put the girls to bed while I put JJ down and then headed off to put up my foot (I broke my little toe earlier this week).

Brian comes into the room and says that AA commented that "today felt too much like Halloween and we didn't celebrate Mommy's birthday, so can we celebrate her birthday tomorrow?" OH MY PRECIOUS PRECIOUS SWEETHEART AA!!

And so it is late late late. I am so happy and so blessed! I head off to sweet slumber and awaken to TWO MORE DAYS with my beloved off work!! TWO MORE FULL DAYS to spend together enjoying each other as a family. I am so blessed!!!