Pirates, Mothers, and Babies, OH MY!

I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I must blog about last week or it will completely vanish from my memory. It was just that busy.  It started Monday when I took Sarah and Eli and we met my Mom at Party America to do some birthday party shopping. A pirate theme had been chosen and we found the treasure. We got a lotta loot. Get it? HA! Um, okay, moving on....

Tuesdsay night we had dinner with some friends and it was so much fun. Our kids play so good together. How good do they play, you ask? So good that we actually got to have complete conversations. A-mazing!

Wednesday we celebrated Eli's birthday with some family time. We enjoyed our day until Josh left for church and I headed to the bathroom to put my face on. Before I could fix myself I came back out and there were nine kids at our house. I looked out the back door for them and there was a random dog in our backyard. I headed to the playroom to inquire about this dog and I found this--

Another dog y'all. How rude of me not to invite the other one in, right?

Dont' worry, these kids assured me Buster needed to be in the playroom. Apparently the other dog was fine outside with Daisy.

This is how I was feeling about the whole situation. Don't worry, I totally put on make-up and fixed my hair before church. I would not subject the general public to this. Just y'all. :)

Friday was a much anticipated day. We took Sarah and Eli to stay with Mammy and headed out with Kate in search of the perfect bike. We went to the Wal-Mart on the beach and had no luck finding a bike, but I did find an awesome clearance rack.  We then headed to Target. Again, no bike. I don't know what it is about Target, but I want EVERYTHING in there!! Does anybody else experience that? We then headed to Old Navy. I had decided that Josh and I should pick out outfits for each other. Bless his heart. And Kate's. We were in there forever. Have I told you that there are no clothes on the planet that fit me right? There aren't. I finally picked a shirt and sweater that I liked and loaded up an arm full of stuff for Josh to try on. Kate was sooo patient. I felt bad because they had a big gumball machine full of bouncy balls. I got her one and she tried to chew it. :(  She got drug all over creation and couldn't even get a stinkin' piece of gum!

We had one more stop and then we were dropping Kate off at T's house. I was just thinking that Kate was going to sleep good when I looked back and she was passed out in the back seat. Josh ran in the store while I waited with Kate. I had just happened to pack my make-up bag (and maybe my whole set of make-up brushes) in my purse, so I took advantage of the time to freshen up for our upcoming date. In a hot Jeep in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. I busted out the mascara and sprayed myself with my Calgon body spray. My husband is a lucky man I tell ya. :)

We dropped off Kate and headed out for dinner. We are getting so old. All week we had planned all kinds of things we wanted to do on our child free night. But when the time arrived, we just wanted to eat and go home. We got to eat on the deck of the restaurant at sunset overlooking the bay. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was so perfect and I was so hungry. I probably embarrassed Josh inhaling my popcorn shrimp and salad, but honestly I think he was too busy stuffing his face to notice. I joked about how we always try to have deep conversations at the dinner table with constant interruptions from our kids, but without fail, if we get to eat alone we are silent. Not a word. We just soaked up the peace and quiet. And it was in that moment that I decided I wouldn't trade the comfort and intimacy we share for the newness and excitment of a new relationship. Sometimes I really miss the days when everything seemed new. But that night, I couldn't have been happier. The humidity was causing my hair to do things that should never be seen in public, I was scarfing my food in a very unladylike way, and I didn't have anything cute or witty to say. But it was cool. I know Josh decided to keep me a long time ago, bad hair days and all.

We hit the ground running on Saturday. I went into overdrive trying to recover my house from the busy week. It always amazes me how I can get more done in 30 minutes without my kids than I can in 5 hours with them home. Josh had made the decision to take on the baking of the birthday cake. He had created a very cool pirate ship and needed to finish decorating it. Have I told you my husband rocks? He can do it all. The only thing he hasn't been able to do is birth the babies, but in case you didn't notice, they looked just like him even so. Anyway, I am very blessed.

Soon it was time for the party!

Pirate Eli and his treasure ship cake!

Pirate Kate!

Pirate Sarah Beth!

Pirate Mom! The eyebrows on this mask caused me to think that maybe I'm really part pirate?

Is he cool or what????

Oh yeah, we finally found the PERFECT bike!

It was a fun day full of shark's blood punch, a treaure hunt, a cannon ball pop, and a very dangerous pinata experience. I asked Josh to bring something to hit the pinata with. We have like, 15 bats. He brought some kind of metal pipe. Good thinkin'.....

My hubby is either brave and fearless or....well, since I've been singing his praises I'll just say he is brave and fearless. :)

We wrapped up the party and headed out for some Mexican food with my Mom and brother. Sarah insisted on spending the night with my Mom. Sunday morning I was awakened by a sweet little boy with a card he  signed by himself! It had a gift card too that was almost as nice as his "I love you Mommy"!

We captured this shot before church and you can see that my children were overcome with joy on this occassion!

After church we spent the day doing NOTHING and that was just as I wanted it!!!! A day of rest was very much in need. All 3 kids even laid down at the same time. Can you believe that????

Well, this week proves to be just as crazy and eventful. Today Audra invited me to lunch to meet some of her friends and we had a great time. Then I had to make the dreaded grocery store trip to Panama. Tomorrow we have a playdate and I am planning on six kids ages 7 and under making their own pizzas. Is it sleep deprivation? Did I get hit in the head with the pinata pipe? I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'm just crazy. Wednesday, I have an interview for the dance teacher job! I am equally excited and terrified. I will be teaching the studio owner's two daughters in a mock class and I am also supposed to take a written lesson plan for a 3-5 year old class. Do you think "Let them run in around the room and spin in circles until they pass out" will work? Yeah, I didn't think so....Josh is running his Dad's bread route Friday and Saturday. He's going tomorrow to help and learn the route. So, he's in bed with an estimated wake-up time of 2:00 am. Wow, this brings back memories!

I promise I'm about to wrap up this excessively long, detailed update , but first I have to tell you the most exciting news! Baby Watch 2010 is officially underway! My sister could go into labor any day! Or if she had it her way, any minute!! I have to admit I'm a little on edge. I usually don't answer my phone if we're eating, but tonight during supper my phone rang and I literally JUMPED out of my chair and over the table saying "WHAT IF IT'S JENNY?" I then answered with "ARE YOU IN LABOR????"  She wasn't. But the night is still young...... :)