1st Birthday of 2013

 

This was my mother's and it was a blast. We have had some pretty funky weather the past few weeks with tons of snow and then super frigid temperatures (the ones you would imagine Wisconsin to have but we haven't had for years... which makes us all big babies). And maybe I am alone in the whiner category but holy hell is it cold! Since AJ and Anna moved to the area we have been trying to do things together but at the same time not smother them. Frankly it has been nice because now mom and dad want to do stuff with them too which spreads out the parental attention (if you catch my drift). However this ends up being a double edged sword in the sense that my laundry is piling up and I miss my momma now :/ But lucky for me we got to spend the day together and miss Anna Banana even came along. My parents have been considering changing out the dining set they have in their kitchen. While I agree with them that it is dated and well loved, to replace it before they really know what their plans are in retirement may be a bit short sighted. Which in turn made them re-vamp their plan to maybe not replace the whole set but rather just get new chairs... which sounds easy enough (not really in practice). So we went off gallivanting looking for inexpensive, sheik and matching chairs to their current table (FYI these are a myth and do not exist after exhausting all potentials in Green Bay). So the three of us went to celebrate Lynnie's birthday the best way we know how with a delicious meal at the Olive Garden followed by some death by chocolate cake... it was amazing. I stole Anna and we did a quick run to look at a table I had shown interest in online but wanted to see in person before I committed to the purchase. It was a new experience for her and I could tell she was a little uncomfortable with the whole activity but she took it in stride and honestly was an awesome sidekick. She passed the unofficial interview to be part of the "rummage club" this summer hahaha. Anyways, we looked at the table in a total strangers garage (we are still alive don't worry) and I used my super negotiation skillz to get the price I wanted and we were all set to pick up later in the week. After a few hours the whole brood met out at mom and dad's for a delicious meal and some birthday cake: White with buttercreame frosting and various pink, red and yellow roses (not just flowers) heavy on the frosting... did I mention she likes frosting. There were a few gifts given (I bought her like two dozen romantic novels at a rummage sale for 25 cents each and had the girls wrap them up for her. I think they likes opening them more than she did honestly) and we just enjoyed each others company... it was great.