"I'm gonna be 40 (sob sob) ... someday."

That's a line from When Harry Met Sally. Sally has a breakdown about getting older and is particularly sad about the big 4-0. Well, not me! I have no problem with my age and am excited to be 40. I love the stage of life I'm in and I know my 40's are going to be great. So bring it on. :)

My cute friend, Alison, arranged to take me out for a birthday lunch. She picked me up and drove to our other friend, Carla's home, telling me that Carla wanted to come, too. When we went in to pick her up, I was completely shocked to see about 20 wonderful women waiting for me there! Carla & Alison had a yummy spread for lunch and had covertly planned the whole affair. I was honestly so surprised, that I got quite emotional -- especially when I looked over and saw friends from my old neighborhood, too. So great!

These cute ladies (and others not pictured, either because I didn't happen to snap a picture or because the pictures had far too many of my double chins for my liking) absolutely made my day. My week. My 40th year. :)

Cracking me up

A few of my faves ....

I love this stage of childhood

Yes, that is a child's pretend ironing board that she's using as a surf board - thank you for asking. ;)

I highly encourage creativity around here. Christian went through the whole Blue's Clues stage where he wouldn't answer to anything but Steve and only wore striped shirts -- for like a year.  Paige was Dora the Explorer 24/7.  No reason to have anyone's feet planted firmly in reality at age 5, I say.  Elle's a princess one minute and a surfing Barbie the next.  Love it!

Stuff that's happening around here

PTA -- I've stayed away from all things PTA until recently. I would rather be volunteering in the kids' classes than running a book fair or something. I've said 'no' to lots of nice ladies and didn't feel badly for saying so. This year, I found myself coerced into doing Red Ribbon Week at the jr. high, which also meant that I was on the PTA board. Kind of took me out of my comfort zone a bit, but then I found that I really enjoyed being on the board because I knew so much more about what was happening at the school. And since Christian is my 1st child there, that's a good thing for the girls who will follow. Somehow, though, I've now allowed myself to be on the PTA board for next year at the elementary school and (**cough, heart palpitations, cough **) am now the PTA President Elect for this coming year at the Jr. High. That means I'll be PTA President the year that Haley & Christian are both in jr. high and when Elle is finally in 1st grade. Huge jump from no PTA to PTA Pres. Hello?! I'll be the one calling all of those other moms who won't get involved in PTA, begging them to come get involved. Don't ask me what I was thinking....

BALLET -- Elle & Paige just performed in their studio's ballet recital, Cinderella. Elle's class were mice (seriously so cute!) and Paige's class had the comical performance of the night. In the ballet, the stepsisters go to dance lessons before the ball to learn how to dance. Paige's class were the dancers trying to teach them the steps. I love the way their studio puts on the ballet recital ... the costumes are stunning and they're beautiful to watch.

SPELLBOUND -- Haley finished in the top 15 or so (out of 80 kids) at the District Spelling Bee and now she's preparing for the County, where she'll be up against jr. high kids, too. Go Akeelah!

HOUSE -- I really like this house. Like, a lot.

40 -- Countdown!! 13 more days until I am the big 4-0.   Cannot wait.

PARKING -- We've been here 6 months and we can finally park both cars in the 3 car garage. The 3rd stall is still jam packed but we're two-thirds of the way there. Progress!

More egg humor from Christian

Some of the scenes I find occasionally when I open the fridge ....

Not to be outdone, Elle added her own egg art.

Visitor

Little Kate is here for a quick visit with her parents. Which means we have little scenes like this ....

Cousin bliss. :)

Entertainment for them all

Haley's class had a field trip to the new Museum of Natural History recently and she's been begging to go back ever since. So the kids & I had a field trip of our own. It was pretty darn cool, I have to admit. The kids liked the clear floors...

I liked the creative display of dinosaur bones. Reminded me of the large stuffed animals at Cabella's that show the creatures hunting each other down.  This little guy had a small army of friends that were taking down that ginormous dinosaur.

And check out the size of this prehistoric alligator, especially in comparison to that kid in front. Talk about ginormous!

Haley is still aiming to become a medical scientist who will cure cancer someday, so her primary reason to get back to the museum was to spend more time in the cell section. It had an area that focuses on cancer cells. She was a happy girl. The earthquake area was cool, too. You could see a current printout of a seismograph and then jump near it to see how it affected the readout.

You know a museum has done its job if my 13 year old was as entertained as my 5 year old. It didn't hurt that they had a nice cafe at the end and we dined on cheesecake while looking out over the valley. Pretty cool place.