Let's Catch Up

I'm sitting here with you and a cup of coffee, wrapped up in a blanket (because our house is COLD in the morning) and wearing my husband's slippers (because our kitchen floor has concrete underneath and is cold even in the summer). (Yesterday Michael said, "Someday we get your OWN slippers, Mama." Probably a good idea.) The kids are still asleep (!!). A lot has happened that I've been meaning to tell you about, so let's start with November. :)

Happy Dominic took awhile to get over the shock that there was a cake on his tray.

Gregory took it more in stride. Of course he got cake!

Usually he's the cleaner eater ... 

The twins had a birthday. It's hard to believe they're 14 months old ... they still seem like such babies to me. (As opposed to Michael, whom I firmly believed was on the verge of toddler-hood at this age.) We had a small party--just grandparents and godparents--and they obligingly wore their birthday crowns for about five seconds before diving face-first into cake.

This guy had a birthday too. 30 years old! November was a big month for us. :)

I would've loved to throw him a surprise party, but he would've killed me. But I did get to surprise him in other ways and throw him a party, so it worked out nicely. Several days before his birthday I went out to a "craft night" ... and came home with his best friend from high school who had flown in from across the country. His face was the best.

And because Keith has fond memories of story-tellers around the bonfire at a friend's house when he was a teenager, I also hired a story-teller who came dressed in a hat and cloak to his party as another surprise. I made a huge pot of chili, we had gourmet s'mores over the firepit (which we bought for the occasion and found out the hard way is not safe to use on our deck ... part of it melted!!), and a friend brought a bottle of champagne. There were tons of kids, and the weather was warm enough to be outside.

The other big thing that happened in November? Our bathrooms fell apart. One morning as I showered the soap rack just sort of ... fell off the wall. And then less than a week later the same thing happened with some tiles in the other bathroom. As I type this post I am waiting for the guy to arrive and install a new facet in the shower ... then hopefully tomorrow they'll start putting in the new tile. It will be nice to have this shower back; the one downstairs is functional but pretty funky.


This post is getting long and the kids are awake, so let's catch up on December another time. :)