Birthday

I started out the morning with this little guy. So presh. What was also presh was the handmade bunting The Boy crafted from colorful tissue paper (showing in the background of the first pic) and song sheets (which I had been wanting to do m'self). Love him. Love his thoughtfulness and creativity and his appreciation of birthdays because he knows I love them so much. 

As I sipped on coffee and waited for cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven, ZJ crept down the stairs and very melancholly-ly and in a monotone voice said "Happy birthday, Mama." It was pretty funny, actually. She perked up though and was more than happy to flash her smile so I could take a pic for Wen of me using her birthday gift mug. 

This was my view across the table once Z went back to be with the boys. 

Matty Boy so graciously took the day off as he's done for the past several years and let me call the shots on how the day would go. We decided to take a little day trip to somewhere new and found ourselves in Granville, OH. Granville is about an hour from Columbus, its home to Denison University which is lovely and also happens to be the home of my favorite fabric designer, Amy Butler. I won't lie, I was a little giddy to be in her home town to get to spy on her studio and shop where her items were sold. MAJOR let down in that part of the trip though! Her studio is nothing more than your normal small town house on a small town street and there's not even a sign telling you what masterpieces are created there! Amy, you're so modest! And would you believe that between the three stores that carry her stuff, I maybe only saw a dozen things to choose from? Sacrilege! Its a good thing Amy's not the sole reason I made the trip to Granville, sheesh!

Anywho, for the third year in a row, the weather was incredible so we packed a little picnic lunch and found a shaded, grassy spot at Denison to share a meal. Baby Boy was completely satisfied with our location and the happenings of the afternoon, as you can see...

And of course, because its me and I like to photo-document everything, oodles of pictures were taken at said picnic spot. My senile self will appreciate all the snapshots someday and I bet my kids will as well!

Z wanted a chance to photograph Mama and Papa on her own. She did pretty well!

Then she wanted to be in on the action so we got a family of three shot.

While we were doing that, Brother was a few feet away up to no good and Sister felt the need to move him to avert the situation. She might've gotten herself a hernia, had she not toppled over on top of him. That babe is not light, especially for a little girl!

Then Z was back in the role of photog and snapped these shots with Little One and well... there's always room for improvement!

Love this family shot Blinn took. Zachari kissing Jonathan's head is too much.

We walked around campus for a while after lunch and found ourselves in the beautiful chapel building. Zachari thought it was beautiful too, but for reasons different from her parents. All she saw was the big, open stage that would serve as the perfect platform for interpretive dance. Out came Papa's iPhone with Pandora and a dancing did she do... for a while! I took video of it, but I can't get it to upload here so this pic will have to do. The one following it is what J was doing while his big sis carried on - pretty typical, really.

After we were home from our adventure, I got two hours to myself! What did I do? Wander around Michael's and browse at Worthington Jewelers while they cleaned my rings, of course! It was fun to look at all the stuff in the craft store that I can't always get to with littles in tow. It was also fun to get to see all the sparkly gems at the jewelry store and daydream a bit about what certain pieces might look like on me. I was more than happy to just get back my simple wedding set that shined like new and made my hands look more beautiful. All these years later I'm still so in love with my diamond and my simple wedding band and what the two rings together symbolize. 

But alas, I digress...

When I came home this fantastical spread was waiting for me on the table. A jam-packed healthy salad, redskin potatoes with rosemary, garlic, other seasonings and onions, fresh green beans from the market and a oh-so-tasty grilled steak. A bottle of red was ready to be opened and after the meal a too-cute perfectly Kelli dessert appeared from being hidden in the cabinet - decorated by none other than my husb. I was spoiled. The day was excellent. So simple, so sweet, so chill. 

32? That doesn't seem so old when I think about all the blessings in my life and the great people I get to share my days with.