29 all week long

Birthdays are a big deal to me. Since my own is on June 8th, it means I'm always competing for the chance to celebrate in the midst of weddings, graduations, final exams, etc.

So when it comes to my family I try very hard to make these occasions as special as I can. This week, it was David's turn to be in the birthday spotlight. His 29th birthday rang in on Tuesday, Feb. 24th, and I started his day with a card each from Noah and I.

When he got home that night, I was nearly finished making one of his (and my) favorite meals. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and for dessert, a carrot cake. Noah even helped to bake the cake...such a little helper.


So while I finished up dinner, I instructed David to look more closely at his surroundings to see if he noticed that there were 29 little presents with numbered notes on them stashed in nooks and crannies of our kitchen and living room. On the notes were 29 reasons why I loved him.

The hunt for presents

David immediately enlisted Noah to help find and unwrap the presents, and they had a ball hunting them down. I made him read each note out loud so I could remember what I'd written and so I could feel like I was part of the fun while I was busy at the stove.


That day concluded with cake and us looking forward to the weekend, when we knew we'd get a much-needed night to ourselves.

Yesterday, the big day arrived! We got going early and drove Noah up to Cleveland to hang out with Uncle Tim, Auntie Ni, Matthew & Adam for a few hours. My mom & dad then picked up Noah from there and took him to their house for the night. With Noah in good hands, David and I began our evening.

Notice David's half-hawk. It didn't last long... not even to the bowling alley.

Rob & Lindsay met us at our house and then we rode together to the local bowling alley in Mount Vernon. Must be a small-town thing, but the the alley was PACKED! We had to wait for a lane, but managed to keep ourselves entertained in the interim.

These two will always be kids.

David & Lindsay

I felt pretty good about myself. We bowled three games, and I broke 100 one time. That, for me, is pretty fantastic. I'd forgotten how fun bowling is too! Even though I'm terrible at it, it's still one of the best ways to spend an easy-going evening.

Man I look tired...

I'm also impressed with the four us. For folks who have young kids and are used to crashing early, we managed to stay up until 2 and 3 a.m.! Too bad my internal clock still thinks I need to get up at 6:30. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning... and now I'm dragging. Go figure.

Thanks to all who helped make our night out possible—to the Compans for babysitting, and to the Adams for making the trek up to celebrate with us!

I'll have to start planning already for next year's occasion. After all, it will be David's 30th, which definitely requires some extra TLC.