Oh Happy Day!

Today {yes, this was previously posted on my Picture {un}Perfect Life blog back in February!}was my birthday and it was such a fun one! In the past I’ve had super high expectations for this once-a-year celebration. You know what happens when you have really high expectations? They almost never get met, then you’re left with disappointment. Not fun. This year I collaborated a bunch with God to lower my expectations and truly appreciate every little thing that came my way. And you know what? It was an incredible birthday! Seriously, the best. I started out last night enjoying some trash TV {The Bachelor} with my girlfriends. We had wine, fun and a lot of laughs. I even got an early gift of…comfort food! My girl C.Y. brought me a box of Wheat Thins {HA! refer to this post to "get it"} and another fave–a Starbucks gift card. Yum. I just love Monday nights with the girls. We “partied” until it was officially my birthday, then we went home to crash.

Friend and neighbor, Julie

This morning I got to sleep in a bit, then went downstairs to gifts from my fam. Ashlyn was more than happy to give me her sweet card {one that plays a song…which will inevitably become HER card to listen to over and over} that included a gift card to one of my favorite cheap/trendy stores.  Kyle had made me a card with a poem he had written about our last year {love his poems!} and another gift card. Yes! Ash informed me {stage whisper} that Maguire’s card contained a 3rd gift card. WOOHOO! However, Maguire was insistent that I not open his card until I was eating birthday cake. That’s what you’re supposed to do; that’s what he did.

After breakfast we got in the car and headed west a bit {but not before using part of my Starbucks card, of course} to join my mom, my friend Ang and her kids for our “usual”. Our “usual” is most parents’ nightmare. But we love it: Chuck E. Cheese’s! Honestly, where else can you go and, for under $25, enjoy lunch and 3-4 hours of adult conversation while your kids run around FULLY entertained? Ok, maybe there are a few other places, but we seriously love our regular CEC “dates”. We have found that Tuesday mornings are usually pretty dead around there. And we’ve been there so many times over the last 2 years that the managers know us by name. They now help us find the best coupon codes, sneak our kids extra tokens and tickets {Mac calls one manager “Sneaky Tony”}, bring special treats for them…it’s our own personal kid-friendly Cheers! And ok, I have to admit that Ang and I have a favorite game we like to play whenever we can sneak a few tokens ;) No cake was consumed {I’m trying to actually complement my working out by sort of watching what I eat}, but Maguire agreed to let me open my card {another musical one, of course} over my birthday pizza {I said “sort of” watching what I eat…}, especially since I was opening my gifts from Ang/Izzy/Jud.

So many favorites in this photo! <3

After a fun and full day at CEC, the kids and I headed back home just in time to pick up the house a bit before the babysitters came over. WARNING: you’re about to be totally jealous. Our two neighbor girls {ages 12 and 14}, who our kids adore, babysit FOR POINTS! Yep, for about half the year they don’t accept money for babysitting. Their church has a point system where the kids earn points by doing things like taking notes in church, shoveling {yes, we’ve been on the receiving end of that one too!}, babysitting, and other forms of helping. If the kids earn a certain number of points, the church will pay their way to summer camp in full. It’s awesome! So…after our super-sitters arrived, another friend dropped over to bring me yet another of my comfort food staples: Diet Dr. Pepper! Not only that, but a new tube of lip gloss. I’m a little more than slightly obsessed with lip gloss and I LOVE trying new stuff. Perfect little birthday surprises! Kyle and I headed to the mall to do a little bit of shopping before our dinner reservation. Once at the restaurant, we ran into not one, not two, but THREE sets of friends! Two sets were celebrating birthdays today as well. Kyle and I enjoyed a delicious dinner, I had some incredible wine and a cute little birthday dessert. And even better–we used our GROUPON {if you haven’t checked it out yet, you need to! Click here}, so it was half price! Oh, how I love saving money :)

Isn't it cute?!

Now here I sit, so grateful, a heart full of love and toasty warm in my University of Michigan Snuggie {another gift}… Amazing how when we lower our expectations, they’re almost always exceeded!  As my mom says, We need to raise our expectations of God and lower our expectations of people. People will let you down, but God never will.  Right on, Mama; right on…

Practically Perfect In Every Way

Ashlyn has been very into the movie Mary Poppins lately. While on a trip with my mom to visit cousins out in CA, she was first exposed to this cinematic masterpiece. Then my mom gave Ash the “digitally remastered” DVD for Christmas. I love hearing her sing “Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go dowwwwwn, the medicine go dow-own, medicine go down!” and attempt to sing “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Brings back so many fun memories from my childhood. In a day and age when Hannah Montana, iCarly, Wizards of Waverly Place and the like are so prevalent in the lives of these young girls {I don’t necessarily have anything against these shows, but I just don’t think they’re age-appropriate for Ashlyn, being that she’s only 5 years old!}, it’s refreshing to have her be so enthralled with the classics. One of her other faves is Heidi {you know, an adorable Shirley Temple crying, “Grandfather! Grandfather!”}. That one was one of my mom’s favorites. Turns out, two generations later, it’s still a hit! Ash even cries at the same part {when that evil woman smashes Heidi’s “snow-storm”, sniff-sniff} my mom did.


Kyle and I are working hard at preserving her innocence and teaching her about God in these early, impressionable years of her life. She’s a sweet girl, a rule-follower, with a huge compassionate heart who loves to tell “secrets” about how much she loves you. She takes “love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, strength and mind” very seriously. Her mantra is “love God and love others” and she’s not afraid to tell people!
Today she struck me in a few different ways:
1} The girl has a passion for dance and lives to “dance for Jesus”. It’s a beautiful thing to watch!

{Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.} Jer. 31:13

2} She’s a sensitive girl and, while sometimes it may be trying to my patience {wailing, “Moooommm! He looked at me in a mean waaaaaayyyy!”}, sometimes it’s a result of how deeply and compassionately she feels, usually about other people. For instance, yesterday her friend Emily decided that maybe ballet wasn’t her thing. She was too shy/nervous to be in the class. Ash looked crushed, climbed into my lap and sobbed. She so badly wanted her friend to be in her class and she felt bad that Emily was scared and nervous. Sweet girl…


3} She is getting way too old! After dinner Kyle and Ashlyn sat at the kitchen table and worked on her Bible Club homework together. I took over when he headed up stairs to help Maguire get ready for bed. Something about the way she looked {maybe it was the ponytail?}, the way she was concentrating and holding the pencil made her look so old! After her Bible Club homework, we moved on to her kindergarten homework. I can’t believe that we’re so close to full-blown homework! I hope I can keep up…

{my grown up little girl - she loves to learn!}