Up To Date...

Where have I been, you wonder? Or not. But even if you don't, I'll still tell you.

A couple weeks ago, we took the kids out of school on Friday and headed to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I thought it was only about a 4 hour drive~I was sadly mistaken. It turned into an 8 hour event. That included the drive, the little~boy stops, and the eating stops. Whew. It makes me tired just thinking about it all.

So, we had a fun and fabulous weekend in the mountains. Seriously, it was fabulous. The only problem? It was F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G. And I do mean FREEZING. Did you catch that? Do you need me to reiterate it?

{Main Entry: re·it·er·ate

Pronunciation: \rē-ˈi-tə-ˌrāt\

Function: transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): re·it·er·at·ed; re·it·er·at·ing

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin reiteratus, past participle of reiterare to repeat, from re- + iterare to iterate

Date: 15th century}

Just in case you didn't catch that word. It was one of those million dollar ones elementary teachers are so dearly fond of.

Anyway. Although I did think ahead to look at the weather for the weekend, I couldn't actually get the weather for the town Eureka Springs. The closest town I could get the weather for was Rogers. Which, I now know, is not in the Ozark Mountains. Which, it turns out, is a good 20 degrees WARMER than the actual said town we were in.

So, let me clarify. The weather said the high for the weekend would be around 50 degrees. Well, in the mountains, it is probably a good 20 degrees colder. So that would make the high...

Ummmm....let me think....

30 degrees. A whopping, blustery, frigid 30 degrees. And we, being from Memphica and all, are not used to mountain temperatures, and were not at all equipped for that kind of cold.

Now, this is coming from the hottest woman you will ever meet.

And I don't mean hottest in the terms of looks.

I mean hottest as in~the hottest, I'm havin' a hot flash~ kind of hottest woman. That kind of hot.

I am not a complainer~or a whiner~but some thicker pants and some layers would have been a grand thing.

Can I get an amen? Debi~that one was for you.

So. It was fun. And cold. And nowhere NEAR long enough to my liking. All too soon it was time to pack it all up and head back home.

Some fun things happened on the trip: first, we went with Nana and Big Daddy to see Trey and Sierra get married. Weddings are always fun, and this was our first trip with this set of grands. It was a great time, and nobody killed each other. Which we wouldn't because we are not THAT kind of family. {heeheeheeheehee!} The kids got along and nobody was hurt.

Although Drew tried his darnedest to make that a false statement. What did Drew do, you wonder? Oh, not much. Just almost fell off a mountain ledge.

Do not freak out, he would have eventually been stopped by all the shrubbery he would have hit on the way down. Eventually.

I was able to laugh about this later~but at the moment, something weird~probably HORROR~came into my voice and I screamed bloody murder at poor Todd, probably almost resulting in HIM falling off the same ledge. I think Todd might have actually yelled at me to shut up. Hmmmmm.

Can't say that I blame him.

Anyway. The reason I laughed is because Drew later told me that he tripped over a root on the ground and couldn't stop. And then I remembered the whole time he was stumbling to stop he was saying, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh"! Which struck me as funny and I had a good belly laugh over it at eleven o'clock that same night.

My boys all danced with me. Well, not Graham and not Todd. They would have been in the hotel room at that time watching the SEC championship game. Which Bama won, in case you were in a bubble that day and didn't see or hear.

Drew line danced with Uncle Trey. And Aunt Sierra. Jonah and Noah whirled and twirled me.

Drew caught the garter, then proceeded to wear it on his head the rest of the night.

I cried over the fact that Big Daddy got all sentimental on us.

We celebrated Big Daddy's birthday.

The kids all ate Mickey D's at eleven o'clock at night, thanks to Nana, Aunt Marti and Uncle Larry.

And I laughed until I almost...

Well. Nevermind.

So. The trip was fantabulous. We came back home to a normal, boring world. Fast forward to this week.

My birthday was Monday. Happy birthday to me!!! It was the greatest day EVER. Todd and the boys made me feel like the luckiest wife/mom alive. I woke up as usual, but when I went upstairs to start getting dressed, Todd handed me THE GIFT he'd been hanging onto for the past 2 weeks.

My man does NOT like to shop. And when he does, he insists that I give him a very detailed list of what all I want. He did not do that this year. I was a little worried, I admit. Okay, okay, a lot worried.

I actually thought he was buying me one of those mini Dell laptops. Which I would have been SO thankful for~but was concerned that we didn't need a third computer.

I was very pleasantly surprised~SHOCKED~when he handed me a bag that said "Chamilia" on the front.

What is Chamilia, you want to know?

It is a version of Pandora~as in the bracelets. !!! Several months ago~like as in July~I was admiring a friend's bracelet in choir practice. And Todd, being in the video room at church and all, panned the camera in on Sherry and me and wanted to know what we were so engrossed in. So Sherry, being the dear woman she is, told him. Then hinted that it would make a great gift for moi.

You gotta love a gal like that, ya know?!

So Todd remembered all these months and took the boys out a couple weeks ago to buy me one. Chamilia is the same as Pandora~the charms are all interchangeable, but Chamilia is made in the USA. GO U.S.A.!! He let the boys pick out 4 charms, then he had them narrow them down to 2. And that is what my dear man bought me.

Not only did he shop without a list. He shopped without a list in ADVANCE. Not only did he shop without a list in advance, he bought me JEWELRY. That actually cost a significant amount of money.

Never in my life have I been so proud. So the charms I got are a brothers charm, and a captured hearts charm. {As in "my precious husband and kids have captured my heart!"} My dad gave me money for my birthday, so I bought 2 more. I decided to stick with the family theme, and bought a Mickey Mouse head {to forever remember our fabulous, magical time there last summer}, and a dangling cross. Because even more than I love my family, I love my Jesus. Mmmmhmmmm. He is so good, y'all.

Anyway.

To make my day more amazing, I had like 500 kids wishing me happy birthday by hugging me, smiling at me, or singing to me~never have I loved my job so much~and I got to spend the entire day with my beloved family.

I even thought that everyone on earth should be so privileged to work with kids on their birthday. Because, MAN, can they make you feel like a rock star.

I had some surprise gifts come from some precious friends, and one of my besties is celebrating with me tomorrow night. !!! AND we're BAKING!!!!!

Hallelujah!!!

I am a blessed woman.

That was why I posted what I did on Monday. It was almost overwhelming. All I could think of all day was that Bible verse that I posted, and the word IMMEASURABLY. As in, "God has blessed me immeasurably." That is the understatement of the year.

Did I deserve all that? No way.

But it sure is awesome to feel so treasured.

It's amazing how far a smile can go~but it can travel to the farthest corners of your mind. I will never forget my amazingly brilliant...

...33rd birthday.

SIGH.

It was so good, I don't even mind that I'm older than Todd for the next 13 days.

To all that were involved, or are GOING to be involved~thank you. I love you dearly. Y'all are my gifts in life.