Brad's first "Surprise Birthday Party"

The youth staff at Cedar Park really wanted to give Brad a surprise birthday party. I have to admit, when they first approached me with the idea I was a bit skeptical. Every attempt for the past 13 years that I have made at throwing him a surprise birthday party, has failed miserably. But because I love my hubby, and thought he well deserved it, I went along. The idea was to do it before his actual birthday, and pretend that it was a youth staff "meeting". Most of it went without a hitch. We normally have some type of food catered, or brought in during our meetings, so he didn't think twice as we ordered super yummy food from a local Italian restaurant. The only slight problem we had, rested unfortunately, on my shoulders. My job was to get him to the "meeting" at 6pm, while everybody else was going to show up at 5:30 to set up and decorate.

The big day arrived, and I did my best to act as normal as possible. Luckily I had a lot of errands to run that day, picking up cheesecakes for dessert from Costco, and returning a few things at different stores. But right in the middle of my errands I got a phone call from Brad asking where I was. When I told him I'd be home about 4:30, I was met with silence. Finally he said, "Leah, don't stress me out today. Your idea of being on time to things, and my idea of being on time to things fall in to two very different categories. I would like to LEAVE the house no later than 5:00 today, so be home as soon as possible." When I told him how ridiculous he was being, and that the meeting didn't even start until 6:00, he ended the conversation by saying that we would just have to drive two separate cars. Aaaaaghh! Panic attack. There was no way to get him to change his mind, without flat out telling him, "NO! You can't go early, you'll ruin the surprise!" So, I quickly called Brad's secretary who was heading up the decorating committee and told her that Brad would most likely beat everybody to the party, including them! She didn't sound overly worried, and just said to stall as long as possible. Not so easy.

I got home and told Brad not to leave without me and that I was going to take a quick 5 minute shower. He said, "That's fine, I'll start loading the kids in the car, why don't you just meet us in the parking lot." Well, my shower took a little longer than I expected, then I had to find clothes... I tried to stall as long as possible, without actually making him too mad, then I got in the car. I pointed out happily that it was only 5:30, and we would still arrive at least 15 minutes before the meeting was going to start. Wrong move. I then was priviledged to listen to him very patiently tell me how stressful it was for him not to be the first one to arrive when he was in charge of a meeting. One look at his face told me this was a subject that we would just have to "agree to disagree" on.

We pulled into the already full parking lot where I received the "I told you so" look, and I had to try my best not to smile, as I imagined him begging for forgiveness in a matter of minutes. We walked down the ramp to the youth rooms, and...

"SURPRISE!!!"

Everyone on our youth staff pitched in to buy Brad a new i-phone!
He of course got teary-eyed... very cute.

Brad's favorite dessert - Strawberry Cheesecake

The best part of the whole evening was when Brad came up to me with his notes in hand, and asked me if I could start the ice-breaker so he could get the meeting going. Silly goose. I finally had to flat out explain to him that there was no "meeting", and that it was all a cover so he wouldn't get suspicious. It took some doing, but I finally convinced him that we were all there to celebrate him and his special day. And there is none more deserving. What a guy!

Another year older...

I turned 33 this year...yikes! One of our youth staff members actually referred to me as "middle-aged" and I about died! Where did the time go? I still feel like I'm fresh out of college...well, other than the fact that I have 3 (almost 4) little cutie pies tagging along after me... Oh well, I guess you're only as old as you feel right? In that case, I'll remain in my young 20's another few years! =0P

Keeping with our tradition of finding non-chain type restaurants that neither of us have ever been to, Brad found the PERFECT spot to celebrate my special day. So perfect, that I am almost tempted to break our tradition and go back next year... now that's sayin' something! Soo good! If you are ever visiting the Seattle area, The Purple Cafe is definitely a place well worth visiting! I highly recommend it. The only thing that slightly tainted my perfect evening, was fighting severe waves of nausea...so not a fun stage of pregnancy. Boy, am I ever thankful to be done with it!

A picture with the birthday girl!

Super yummy appetizer...can't remember what it was now that I'm looking back at the pictures, but I do remember we dipped that crispy flat bread that's next to it in it... mmmhmmm good!

One of the best parts about the restaurant is that the meals
are fairly inexpensive, in hopes that you will buy wine or some
other type of alcholic beverage. If you don't, you leave with an
amazing meal for an even more amazing price!

Cute little dining area outside...
normally I totally would have chosen to eat outside,
but it was so stinkin' hot, we opted for the air-conditioning over the romantic setting.

I'm A Big Girl Now!

Reagan hit a major mile-marker this summer by losing her first tooth! She was so excited! The tooth fairy gave her $2 and some tic-tac's (Reagan's favorite), and we were surprised she didn't pull the rest of her teeth out on the spot! She was so funny to watch that first morning as she peered underneath her pillow... She squealed in a really high-pitched voice, and threw her whole body back so she could kick her feet in the air, but as she threw herself backwards she hit her head really hard against the wall... we all froze waiting to see what kind of reaction we were going to get from her, then the entire family (including her) erupted in laughter as she sat up dazed, and rubbing her head. She's such a goof ball! Here are some cute pics of our "big"girl!

She cracks me up, she is wearing Maddy's coat (size 2),
and yet still manages to look pretty stinkin' cute! =0)

Reagan's second tooth fell out a week later!

She's such a cute little jack-o-lantern!

Summer

In June we moved to Heatherwood Apartments in Mill Creek. We found a really cute 3 bedroom apartment, that's over 1200 square feet! Unheard of around here. It has a movie theater, free tanning for family and friends, basketball court, work-out room (which I've yet to use), swimming pool, hot tub, and a park. We love it (for the time being that is). In December we're hoping to actually buy something. The housing prices are still pretty low here (considering where they used to be), so we want to take advantage of the low market before they skyrocket back up. We're excited to see what God has in store!

Entrance

Taking a family walk/bike ride this summer...

Did I mention our apt. has awesome bike trails right out in front?

The kids and I used them almost everyday this summer! So fun!

Family Walks...

We had record-breaking heat this summer in Seattle! 114 degrees was the hottest reported, but anything over 100 is hot in my book. We spent LOTS of time at the pool! Here's some cute pics of the kids splashin' around!

Here we go again... this time for real!

Well, our beautiful sunshiney weather is officially fading, and our schedule's our slowing down... what does that mean? I'm actually going to attempt to get our blog back up to date (again)! =0) Feel no pressure to read every blog, I'm trying to use our blog in place of a journal, since I can type faster than I can write - gotta save time wherever you can, right? So a lot of it is for me to document different mile-stones, events, etc. Hope you are all having a fabulous fall!

A girl can never have too many purses!

Okay, I know this is a silly thing to blog about, but I have to tell you about this awesome sale that in all honestly, I just "happened upon" yesterday. I love it when that happens! =0) Well, truthfully, it was just a great day as a whole, so let me rewind. It was Friday. Fridays make me smile just thinking about them... they are my most anticipated day of the week, for no other reason then the fact that Brad is home and we are together as a family. He loves to cook and truthfully is way better at it than I am. So he takes the kitchen over, which I am totally fine with and I get the day off! Woohoo! Most of the time we try to keep the day really low-key so we can just unwind. But this Friday we had several things on the agenda: pictures for the kids, a meeting with our Realtor, a Costco run, a girls interns/youth staff mtg, and a long over-due trip to the Department of Licensing...Yes, it's been six months and I have never gotten around to changing my Idaho license back to a Washington one. It's just one of those things that have remained on my "to do" list! But when Brad found out that you legally only have 30 days to change it, and if you get pulled over you get a $500 fine, I decided I had procrastinated long enough! =0)

Anyway, after our yummy family breakfast, we hit the road running. Brad and Josiah took Reagan to school, while Madelyn and I showered and got ready for the day. As soon as the boys got back we piled into the car and headed to Alderwood Mall for pictures. Now, because Brad was with me, we were actually early, but today it worked out against his favor...the pictures were running late! Side note: Never be early for pictures, they are always running late... The kids were getting antsy, so we decided to walk around. As I was walkin g around I noticed signs everywhere advertising, "The Ultimate Shoe and Hand Bag Sale". Curiosity got the best of me, and I found myself browsing some stinking cute purses! It was about this time, that I had a flashback of the $100 worth of birthday money that I had never spent, and it had ultimately gone into the family general fund for bills, food, etc. When I mentioned this fact to Brad he ever so wittingly shot back, "Well, I think if 30 days have passed, and you've never spent it, you automatically forfeit that money and it stays in the family fund." Crazy Jokester. There was no way I was going to pass up this sale. Especially when I spotted this fun summer purse!

I had been looking for an orange purse all summer! My sister subscribed me to Instyle magazine (I think she knew I need some help!) and it said that orange is the best color to use as an accessory because it goes with virtually every color scheme. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming as an outfit, but it is perfect to use for shoes, scarves, purses, jewelery, etc. When I looked this summer I found a few cute ones, but I couldn't justify doling out $35-80 dollars on a purse that I would most likely not be using on a consistent bases. Okay, are you ready for the price? This purse was originally $65, marked down, marked down, and marked down some more... to $5.39! Yes, that would be FIVE DOLLARS and thirty nine cents! Perfect! I can totally justify spending five dollars on a fun cute summery purse. Orange accessory, check.

So of course after this little taste of a fabulous find, I was on a mission. Hmmm.. what other fun purses could I find? Well, there's this one:

Originally $62, marked down to $8.99! Totally cute, and a great size too, not too big, but not too small. Perfect size for diapers, wipes, and anything else a mommy needs in her purse. Now, I'm rolling, I've only spent $14 on TWO purses! When am I going to have the money and the time to go shopping for such cute purses again?... in my mind, never, so I better take advantage of it! So, next I found this one, and probably my most favorite!
So stinking cute! The only thing I'm not absolutely crazy about is the big buckle in front that says Genna de Rossi. If I could find a way to take it off and still have it look cute I would, but I think it's going to be staying. But hey, for a purse that was originally $72, marked down to $8.99 I can handle a big buckle in front. Besides, I love pockets, and this purse is pocket-happy! It has 9, count them, NINE pockets or pouches to put stuff in. Love it.

Well, now that I'm going crazy, my arms are loaded down with purses, and I'm walking around the store in circles like an excited puppy, Brad starts to catch on to the excitement. I had the three purses I was buying on one arm, and three more purses that I was trying to narrow down on the other arm. One super cute purple one (that I loved, but Brad said looked like an old ladies purse! Sooo did not!), a really cute, but too expensive green one, and then a clearanced fun summery green one. As I was hemming and hawwing over what to do, Brad decided on this one. And since he was starting to get excited about my steals, I was not about to put a damper on his mood! So the last purse he picked was this one:
Again, not crazy about the big buckle, but it's a fun color, and if I use it a handful of times, it more than pays for itself. The original retail price is: $60, marked down to $8.99. Wahoo! Soooo fun!


So the total amount I paid for all four of these purses should have been $259, and I only spent $32! Thirty two dollars on FOUR purses? Now, that's a good day! =0) To celebrate we used a gift card that we had to Romanos Macaroni Grill for lunch (free, again)! Where I had probably the best lunch in a long time! Some kind of penne rustica with shrimp, grilled chicken and smoked prosciutto in a cream sauce...mmmmm yummy! Good shopping and good food make for a GREAT day! =0)

And the fun didn't stop there. I still managed to make the dreaded stop at the D.O.L, and get my Washington State license, pick up Reagan from school, make a costco run, and come home right as an amazing dinner of chicken w/ marinara sauce, roasted potatoes, and salad w/ craisins, roasted almonds, and fresh blueberries was being served by my even more amazing husband! He's a keeper for sure!

Below are some cute pictures of Madelyn, who literally squealed, "ooooooOOOOhhh!" when she saw all the purses and immediately began zipping and unzipping all the pockets and walking around with them! She is definitely not our "girly girl", but she knows a good thing when she sees it, I guess! Here's some cute pics!
So excited to be surrounded with so many purses! The look on her face is priceless! I love it!

Which one should I choose.... hmmm...

I have two arms... why not both?!

Madelyn, like every other two year old, is totally into shoes, doesn't matter how high the heel, or if they're daddy's boots, she loves to walk in them! In fact, at the playground the other day a little girl took her shoes, off and immediately Madelyn sat down took her shoes off, and ran over to the other girls shoes, and promptly put them on! Which resulted in the little girl crying because she was worried Madelyn was taking her shoes home! =0)

Anyway, all this babbling to say, if you need some cute summery purses for next year, head to Penney's and catch their Handbag sale, it's awesome! And I think it lasts for the next two weeks! (But don't go to the Alderwood Mall, they're pretty much cleaned out, compliments of me!)