October birthdays extravaganza!

On Joel's birthday we woke up bright and early and went hiking in the Superstitions with some friends.    It was blazing hot, the kids fought and whined the entire way, it was way longer than we planned, but other than that, it was the best way to celebrate a birthday ever! :) :) :) Ha,ha!  Nothing that a little Nielson's frozen custard and grinders couldn't take care of though.  Joel requested a Mexican banquet for dinner with banana cream pie made from scratch instead of cake, so while  I lovingly slaved over that in the kitchen, he relaxed with the girls.  Happy birthday to my Joelseff.  I love you more than life itself!  

Somehow I managed to age another entire year in what seems like a week.  Where does the time go?  How did I get to be thirty-something?  Joel gave me the day off and I spent the morning taking as much time as I wanted getting ready, wandering around San Tan mall by myself, and taking a nap.  It seriously was the greatest!  It's funny that all Joel wanted for his birthday was to spend time with me and the girls (whining, fighting, and all) and all I wanted to do was spend time alone.  Ha,ha!  But I wasn't a loner the entire day.  Joel took me out to lunch at Macaroni Grill and it was delish!  Then he fixed dinner and my parents came over for some evenin' visitin'.  Joel got my wedding ring fixed (which I haven't been able to wear for almost a year because of a broken prong) and gave it to me looking all shinny and new.  Now hopefully I will stop getting hit on everywhere I go.  Sheesh, I'm a married woman!

JoLynn turned 6!  Joel was totally on the hunt for stuff you can get for free on your birthday, so he took her to Krispy Kream to get some FREE birthday doughnuts, then to Denny's to get her FREE birthday grand slam breakfast, then to lunch at Chick Fil-A to get her FREE birthday icecream.  She exclaimed several times throughout the day, "OOOHHH, this is the BEST birthday EVER!"  Ha, ha!  What a cutie!  I got to go help in her class that day, so I made 4 dozen cupcakes to celebrate with while I was there, only to find out her school doesn't allow birthday treats.  What a perfectly good waste of time and sugar!  I would have been mad if JoLynn hadn't already been filled to the max with FREE sugary garbage, but seeing as how the day wasn't even half way over I took it as a sign.  Her teacher made sure she got extra special birthday attention throughout the day though, and I could tell JoLynn was feeling pretty special.  That night we had all our family over for a chili and corn bread feast.  Overall, I'd say it was a pretty fun day for a 6 year old.  Happy birthday my juicy JoLynn!  You are my sunshine!