A Team Week 91: 36!

Another week has passed and June is more than half way over!!  Not just that but another year has passed and this week Eric turned one year older...36 to be exact!  It is REALLY hard to believe that I have now celebrated 16 birthdays with Eric...I believe I bought him the palm-tree looking plant that now has more than doubled or possibly tripled in size and resides in our dining room.  It was on that first birthday, celebrating Eric's 21 years that I first told him I loved him and although it was just a few months after we had started dating I meant it more than anything I'd ever said before.  16 birthdays have gone by and I love this guy more and more every day (which is 5,479 days more than that first time I told him!...but who's counting?)  :)

So, in addition to Eric's 36th birthday, this week was quite busy.  We were busy with work Monday through Thursday, busy with the kids and busy preparing for not just Eric's birthday but also my dad's upcoming retirement and our celebratory weekend up North.  It was a crazy and exhausting week, but jam-packed with wonderful memories and family time...

Monday, June 13: Avery decided that he needed his Lowe's work apron on in addition to my winter hat...a bit silly for a warm June day, but he was still quite adorable!

Video: The boys throw Fun Snaps

After some fun outside, we headed over to Red Robin for Eric's birthday burger.  The service was terrible, but the company (& milkshake) was perfect!  At the end, I realized that Avery was completely soaked so I went to change his diaper.  When I got him into the bathroom, I realized that his shorts were so wet that I couldn't rationalize putting them back on.  I also realized that I had no diapers and just one pull-up.  So, I put an over-sized pull-up on him, pulled his shirt down as low as I could and then headed outside while Eric paid, embarrassed to have a pants-less child with me in a restaurant!

Avery enjoying some of my milkshake.

Wednesday, June 15: Our refrigerator wasn't working properly so all of our food went into the cooler. The boys were quite convinced it was a bench for them and also enjoyed the accessibility of our food.  Thankfully we got it back to the correct temperature and think one of the boys had just left the door open.

Thursday, June 16:  I tried to sneak out of the house early in the morning for my daily jog/walk but was met by my eldest child.  At first I was annoyed that he wouldn't let me leave the house and that I had to bring him with me.  Soon after though, I was reminded that I was given a present of unexpected alone time with my little man, and that is much more important than burning a few calories.

Running ahead of me near the end of our walk...determined to "Win".

On Thursday night we enjoyed another birthday dinner for Eric to use up his free HuHot dinner.  We had some tasty Mongolian style BBQ and then finished it off with some $1 hot fudge sundaes at Culver's.

My Butterburger Babies.

Friday, June 17th: Today was Eric's 36th birthday and a VERY busy day!  I got up early to get our packing done for our weekend up North while Eric and Avery were able to sleep in for a while.  Then after a quick breakfast, some presents and "cake" we loaded into the van to make our trip.

Avery was really excited when he saw the "cake" I made and the decorations I put up.

Breakfast outside.

Eric with his boys, presents and "cake" 

Video: Happy Birthday to You

 I mentioned in the past that the boys and I went to the Dollar Tree so that they could pick out a gift for Eric.  They (Asher) picked out butterfly nets (all on his own) for the three of them to catch butterflies and fireflies together.  He was SOOOO excited to give his gift to Daddy and play with them, and I was pretty impressed with his choice.

A mini Michigan helmet/desk organizer for his desk at work.

Testing out the new butterfly nets.

Video: Catching Butterflies

When everything was packed up and we were all in the van, we headed up to Marinette, Wisconsin to celebrate my dad's retirement and enjoy fun with the rest of our family up North, but more on that another time...

Picnic outside of Arby's in Marinette, WI before my Dad's retirement party.