Birthday suprises

I have told Matt for the past year that under no circumstances do I want a party, surprise or otherwise for my birthday. I thought we had an agreement. Especially after he sent me to Cancun. I thought I was in the clear! This is the letter he sent out to everyone:

Jennie is turning 40 years old on November 29th. She has made it very clear that she does not want a birthday party to celebrate this momentous event. So we will not be having a birthday party for her.

However, on November 25^th at 6:00 pm we will be having a party to celebrate some of the many great things that occurred in 1971. Such as:

• Creation of the Nasdaq stock market
• Apollo 14^th moon landing
• The finale of the Ed Sullivan show
• End of the US trade embargo of China
• Opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando
• D.B. Coopers hijacking and parachute escape
• Charles Manson sentenced to death then changed to life in prison
• Plus many more….

We would love to have the two of you come celebrate with us. Dinner will be served so come hungry.

Please RSVP or send regrets to Jennieis40@wholesalechess.com so I can get a final head count. Also, I would love to compile a list of memories, words of wisdom or other thoughts to give to her that night. If you please email these by November 18^th to the same address above I would be very grateful. It doesn’t have to be lengthy and format is not important.

We look forward to seeing you there. Also, while this is not a “surprise party for Jennie” it is a party that will be a surprise to Jennie so please don’t let her know.

Location: TBD

Time: 6:00 pm (don’t be late)

No gifts please (she has me…..what else could she possibly need) 

Isn't he sneaky? I had no clue about any of this. My sister in law Christa said she had a bunch of tickets to a new movie given to her from her work. She said it was good at Gateway, and that we should meet for dinner first. So she asked me where I wanted to go and I was suggesting all these kids friendly type places since we were all bringing children. Then Katie said her and Mike had some gift certificates to Biaggis. So we agreed to meet there. So Matt, kids and I went to meet up at Biaggis and they surprised me so much that I started to cry. Someone asked if I was crying because I was happy or because I was mad, or just surprised. I said I didn't know. I really hate crying in front of people. :)

As much as I really didn't want a party- it was fun to see everyone. And I had a great time. Matt thought of everything. From balloons, to a huge sign, to posters on the wall describing events from 1971. Nobody knows how to throw a party like Matt. And I am the most spoiled, lucky girl in the world. Seriously- I don't deserve him. And now I'm 40- and really hope that is the last of the surprise parties. I'm getting to0 old for these kind of surprises. :)

Thanksgiving

I'm not sure Thanksgiving even existed this year. A few days before Thanksgiving one of the kids got the stomach flu. Then one by one we all started to drop like flies. Matt had it so bad. It was awful! I thought I was in the clear- since everyone else had it and I didn't get it then. But my flu bug decided to wait until I was all done cleaning up/taking care of everyone else and hit at midnight, after I hadn't slept much the night before, because of everyone elses sickness. So from midnight to 6 am I didn't sleep. Then only slept for an hour and a half. It was Thanksgiving day- and thank goodness I was not hosting it.

This is the fist year I haven't hosted for my family. Morgan and I were not feeling up to eating/going/getting out of pj's etc. So Matt took the boys to my mom's for dinner. To say they had a wonderful time might be an exageration- so I won't say that. Family drama is always awesome! :)

As far as I know Thanksgiving never happened. No turkey for us and no leftovers. Just think of all the calories I avoided. :)

Cancun

Matt was kind enough to send my friend Karen and I somewhere WARM for my birthday. Oh how I love going on tropical trips! :) We went to Cancun and had a great time. We spent the majority of our time at the pool, or the beach. We did venture off the property a few times, to shop or go to dinner- but that's it. In fact it was more like window shopping- neither of us even bought anything. We were not finding the deals or the goods. We went parasailing one day and had fun doing that.


We also got manicures and the best pedicure I have ever had. It was heaven! It was one of the most relaxing trips I've been on. I don't usually sit around much on trips- I usually go, go go! It was nice to even finish a book! I think I can add Cancun to the list of places I'd like to go to again.

Halloween

I think this is the first year that Morgan didn't dress up.

Dillon and Logan's costumes were pretty cool in the dark. They were stick figure people and they looked so cool in the dark. However in the light they were pretty ugly little costumes. :)

The kids had Halloween off this year- and they loved that! I on the other hand wish they had the day AFTER Halloween off instead. They kept asking when they could start trick-or-treating, etc... Then of course since they stayed up late so the next morning they were GRUMPY. They had friends over and were in and out of the house all day. Morgan went to a friends house with a big group, and they kind of roamed the neighborhood, but not trick or treating, and then ended up at a friends house for more Halloween fun. Dillon and Logan went trick or treating with friends. I didn't even see them once they left, until they came home. I didn't really like that! I think it's the first time they've been on their own. (And by on their own, I mean them, their friends and the 300 other kids in the neighborhood....) I took Camden trick-or-treating while Matt stayed home and passed out candy and hot apple cider. Our neighborhood really gets into Halloween. I have never seen anything like it. One house does full on costumes, and remodels the front of their house based on a theme. This year it was Alice in Wonderland. Elaborate costumes, etc.. truly jaw dropping! Then there was another house that transformed their garage into a 50's diner, and hands out fresh, homemade scones. Another house, homemade rootbeer, another soft serve ice cream. It is a big party out there, and that's why it always ends up being a late night. I think almost everyone in the neighborhood is out and about. It ended up being a *beautiful* night so it was well worth the late night.