Birthday and My First Day of School

yes! i had a birthday. and if you read my last post (i know, two within a short amount of time, i must be improving) you know that it was on the 23, my kids first day of school. but since they have no money they had to wait until daddy came down to visit to get me my gifts. well worth the wait. there are days i feel old and days i feel really old, but this day i was just worn out from cleaning all day (please don't judge how i look in these pictures... cleaning as long as i did does take it out of ya). so the beautiful and thoughtful gifts from my kids made the end of my day perfect.
which brings me to the next item of business.... my first day of school. yes people, i went back. jmu accepted me with slightly opened arms and i have joined the crowds and crowds and crowds (there are a lot of students there) of kids aiming for the higher education. because svu and jmu don't really see eye to eye, most of my credits didn't transfer... only 38 did. so i'm basically a sophomore..... again. but that is ok. i have been to all of my classes and love almost all of them. i'll keep ya posted about them, maybe. i did get a rude awakening right before my first class. i don't remember what was said that prompted a kid to ask if i was a freshman too, but my response was "honey, my freshman year was in '97". his response "how old are you?". have to admit i left myself open for that one. but it is so true, walking around campus all day yesterday i felt every year of my age. i should have gotten a picture of when i got home.... i am still so sore from all that walking, most of it uphill, i kid you not! i don't even have to worry about getting to the gym now, i can just walk all over campus.

not the best picture, but it shows that my kids got me flowers and a balloon (that says birthday princess) for my birthday. funny fyi: the flowers turned the water in my vase pink, pretty!








big thick envelope means a big card that has sound, good thing or bad? well, this card said that i wasn't old until the fat lady sings....










she sang.... and the kids all laughed at me. i'm not really that old, though some days i certainly feel it.











writing out directions for grandma. thank heavens my mother is willing to watch my kids so i can do this. mondays and wednesdays will be the longest, ALL day on campus. either that or run out of gas goin back and forth between classes (i have long breaks between all of them).






here is my snazzy new lunch 'box'. i was such a geek pickin out all my school stuff, including this. sorry, no justin beiber or unicorns for me. i'm goin for the sophisticated look (but can i really pull it off?)








here i am.... off to face the world of 18 to 21 year olds.... hoping i won't get lost or go to the wrong class












the most expensive sticker i have EVER bought!! and i thought the school was kidding when they said they have people patrolling the garage.... i saw a little gray haired man going from car to car, checking for the proper sticker in the proper place (i'm so glad i can follow directions)

and now there are two!

happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me! the first day of school just happen to be on my birthday. i was so excited. i got dressed, made the kids lunches.... that's right.... i said kidS! then ran upstairs to "scream" that it was the first day of school and that it was time to get up. erica was already up, but i had to drag aidan out of bed a bit. once he remembered that it was the day he got to ride the bus he fully woke up. breakfast, brushing of teeth, family prayer then off to the bus. sofia didn't want to leave the busstop, but when i said she could pick the movies and play with all the toys.... she ran down the street back to our house yelling "my pick, my pick". at lunch time mom picked me up and took me out for lunch, we left sofia with her great-grandparents. and during lunch (or soon after) there was an earthquake... who knew virginia could have those. we totally didn't notice. when the kids got home from school, aidan was so excited to tell me all he did. he was a bit sad that he didn't have math homework (who is this kid) but moved on quickly. a quick dinner of nuggets and fries and soon it was bed time. now.... what to do with the rest of my birthday....

Erica turned 8!

oh the joys of having children! i have a hard time believing that my first born, my baby, has turned 8 years old. and that means baptism! i had fun planning and prepping for her big day. friends and family came to help us celebrate and it was a good day. for all the planning that was done i was a bit frazzled when we got to the church, so i forgot the important "before" pictures of erica and her uncle casey in their white clothes. oh well. and since we were able to have her baptism on her birthday we had a nice party at my parents after. lots of food and great company. now that i know all there is to know about planning a baptism, the next two will be a snap!



good morning sunshine! after i took this i jumped on her bed to wake her up (cause i could) and sang every primary birthday song i could think of. don't worry, she was in a good mood











i completely spaced when we got to the church for erica's baptism, so i have no pictures of her in her dress with her uncle casey (who baptized her). but here is her dress, made by her grandma adams.















my niece just loved visiting with her cousins, not to mention my parents house with the large toy room. she was very sad to leave

















she just loves being the center of attention, but what kid doesn't. and today (the 23rd) i had the rest of her cake for breakfast, bill cosby would be so proud (hey, it's my birthday!)











grandma webb ALWAYS picks out the best clothes. erica can't wait until it gets cold enough to wear her new jacket.












always a winner!














so my child!














the damage done! though if a certain little boy came (a friend's son) then there would be no cupcakes left.












the newest member of the family, ben, with the oldest member. how great is it that mine and my siblings kids can have a relationship with thier GREAT grandparents











aidan just handed aunt rachel the book and asked her to read it.... sofia couldn't be left out













newest memeber of the parental club enjoying some tummy to tummy time with his son!