Kerry's 34th Birthday

This year for my 34th birthday the gift that I bought myself and demanded of my children was having family pictures taken and having them be happy about it!  After school on my birthday we all dressed up and had pictures taken.  When we got home we got the younger kids ready for bed and the older two were going to babysit so Spen could take me out to dinner and a movie.  It was a lot of fun.  We tried a new Chinese place and went to the Amazing Spiderman.  While we were at the movie we got a phone call from the kids saying Mason was screaming.  Mason has these episodes and has this problem that usually is gross enough that only I take care of it.  It is pretty traumatic for the both of us and this was what was happening.  Spencer was on the phone with Ethan and he simply said, "dad, I got this, I'll call you when I'm done." and he took care of it himself.  There was nothing I could do but cry and worry while sitting at the movie, but sure enough we got a phone call about 10 minutes later from Ethan telling us that he had taken care of everything and was cuddling and holding Mason to calm him down. 

That was the best birthday present ever.

Ethan just took care of his brother without even thinking of what that actually entailed.  He did it and was so happy to do anything to help Mason that it didn't matter what it was.  My 9 year old was doing something that most people would refuse to do and would drive to the emergency room before attempting.  The love he has for his twin-spirit brother Mason was something that made this birthday the best of all time.

 

My kids didn't see things that way and felt like they hadn't really celebrated so they planned a surprise party for me that Saturday morning.  Spencer took me and dropped me off for a surprise massage and when I came home the house was all decorated and the kids were ready to spoil me! 

They gave me fun presents that they shopped for with Spencer.  They were very excited to give me things.  That's always fun

They were all even willing to have their picture taken with me.  That is really showing how accommodating they all were for my party.



The big activity that they were all so excited about was the pinata they filled for us to break.



The funny thing was that it was a cardboard box taped shut.  That thing did not want to break open!  It was a lot of fun and everyone got several turns before it broke!

Ezra was so funny.  He wanted his friends to come over and watch him do the bat on the candy box. 

Finally we gave Spencer a turn and he broke the box down a few too many times.  We could no longer hang it and hit it so we just had to beat it from the ground.  Still fun though.

They even made me a cake and sang to me that night.  It was a lot of fun and the best part was that I was totally surprised by everything they ended up doing.

Parent Conference

Every year we attend a parent conference for parents with deaf/blind children.  This year I had the opportunity to participate on the committee that plans the conference.  It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot and got a night away!  Spencer and I were in charge of taking 'welcome photos' for all of the couples to take with them to remember this wonderful conference.  Cheesy and fun.

Alligator Video from the Everglades~

This is the small video I got of the Alligator we saw on our air boat ride in the everglades...

Our Day in the Everglades~

The one thing I really wanted to was to take an air boat tour of the everglades.  It was a bit of a drive to get there but completely worth it!

Our 'captain' was a funny and strange man.  He made no promises of spotting alligators but had a lot of fun facts about how many ways we could die in the everglades.

And luckily we did come across an alligator.  It was unreal how close that thing got to us.  It was following us around and would come right up to the boat and touch it with it's nose.  I was FREAKING out...

After our tour we went into the little preserve area they have for all the 'nuisance' alligators they have caught from people's yards....  yikes!  There was a guy that was doing a little 'alligator wrestling' show.  That was pretty amazing to see too.

Spen was so excited for this... I passed pretty quick.

The Jupiter Lighthouse~

Finally after finishing up with work Spen and I had one morning to see as many sights as we could fit in!  (Not a ton, but oh well!)

This was the closest I ever got to a beach...  It was pretty and nice, but cold.  I still loved it!

We went on the tour of the Jupiter lighthouse.

The idea here was to photoshop our pictures together...  I must have forgotten that I don't know how to do that!

We had a tour guide that gave us all sorts of historical facts.  It was fun.  We got in trouble here for not keeping up with the group.  We have always been trouble makers I guess.

This was the view from the lookout tiny deck of the lighthouse.  They couldn't really back up to get a better shot, but it gives you an idea..  Fun day.

Fun trip to Florida~

I think the only benefit of Spencer traveling for work so much are the few occasional trips we or I have been able to tag along for.  About a month or so ago my mom said she would watch my 3 kids so that I could join Spencer in Florida!  I was so excited and got all ready to spend a few days alone on the beach...  No such luck.  It was FREEZING!  Not like home, but I had to wear every long sleeved thing I took just to keep warm.  That also meant I had to get creative with planning my days while Spen was working.  Lucky for me it was spring training.  I went to a Cardnials vs. Mets game. 

My seat was so amazing. The only downside was it was in the shade. When it's already freezing outside and you aren't really prepared for that the shade isn't the way to go.  The person sitting next to me was a season ticket holder.  She and her husband never miss spring training for the Cardinals.  They were prepared.  She sat and watched me shiver for a while and then she wrapped me up in her big blanket that she and her husband were using.  I know, it's darling imagery... Me and a little old couple bundled up in the same blanket for an entire baseball game!

It was a very exciting game.  They had over 40 balls pop into the crowd.  Never seen that before!  Fun way to spend a day waiting for the husband to finish up with work!