Thoughts on 40

This year (same day as Joey D) I celebrated my 40th birthday!

A favorite customer of mine brought me this coffee cup and cane.

But his handwritten card was my favorite part. {BH} his initials for me

as I look back on this post in years to come.

Dear Friend Allison got me this cross - since I spend much time at WB, I hung it right where

I would see it almost daily!

And Blakey brought me what has become my favorite coffee mug.

Love that. Love her

And Sister Jill stopped by with Drew and Jaelyn and brought me

an angel food cake, yum!

Some say 40 is just another day. Not true, really - some are not afforded a 40th birthday.

So many good things have happened that added up to 40 years.

Things have been taken away and dreams have changed that added up to me appreciating each and every of the 40 years.  We have a happy healthy marriage and kids - and even better extended family.

I hope I earn another 40 to go with the first 40.

Indy Weekend:Monument Circle

Friends offered us their tickets to a preseason game for the Indianapolis Colts!

Mama knew weekend to spend with family

(no matter what the event)

was a yes, please, moment!

I have always wanted to stay on Monument Circle,

a bucket list item for me.

I'm not sure why.

The romance, I suppose.

Overlooking the historic monument, downtown, brick roads,

horsedrawn carriage, city lights, hotel linens.

So, I pricedlined us a great spot at the Sheraton,

which just happened to have a Starbucks!!

The view from our room did not disappoint!

I just stood there taking it all in.

The boys quickly spotted the pool

and I noticed it overlooked the circle, too

A perfect afternoon.

Sun was warm but not too hot.

So, I indulged on a javachip frapachino 

and {inadvertently} changed my phone to black and white - 

sun was pretty bright, didn't realized it, ha!

We crashed the apparent party pool with the family vibe.

There were no less than 3 bachelor/ette parties soaking up the

 sun with a little pre party action.

We could not hang long, boys didn't even notice

and their music was fun!

Shortly after our swim, we headed to explore the history around the monument

and trek to the top.

Now, I had read all about it, but we learned much more.

It was well worth the $2 each to ride instead of walking the 330 stairs.

However, we were stranded at the top and walked down anyway!!! Ha.

The story goes like this....about the time we took this picture,

I said it looks like a storm is coming, but the radar didn't agree - so

we forged on explored around the bottom, read about the monument

and made our way to the entrance.

These boys enjoy history and Joe thought it was interesting that a battle occurred here.

Looking down at the capital

I love our country life, but I admit there is just something about the city.

We found the tiny elevator to the top

We were enjoying the top - with SEVERAL other folks

And then we turned the corner to see Lucas Oil {and the storm}

There is that pool we swam in at the Sheraton, our room is somewhere on the 15 floor!

About this time "everyone" decided to go down at the same time

and the line for the elevator was long taking only a very few down at a time

in a claustrophobic stairway with no airflow

and a lady who announced she might be sick soon...ugh.

So to the stairs we headed!!

We made it to the bottom in good time but it was still raining!

DH took some pics of Joe with civil war stuff - 

The rain let up for a bit and dashed a couple blocks

towards the restuarants, decided on PF Changs, Sam liked the horse.

It was first for Sam, Joe and I. Yum.

We had some time to kill and at the point we tried the zero gravity massage chairs at

Brookstone...we about cancelled the Colts game.

These things were the bomb!

I personally like the kinetic sand!

We headed to the Colts game - up next!

Morgan and Ethan are Engaged!

My niece Morgan Ann is now engaged to her best beau Ethan.

I still remember her hearing of her birth as my Freshman year of college was coming to and end!

I spent a lot of time that summer holding that precious baby girl with the softest bald head 

and big blue eyes.  Celebrating yet another sweet milestone with her, so much to look forward to!

A small gift was in order when I heard tale of the day she has been waiting for!

She loves a good craft, so a quick creation was in order

I painted and distressed this ampersand in a favorite color of hers

and added her engagement date.

Big sis is as excited as as the bride!

We are happy to welcome E to the family.

He's been around for a bit, and we've grown pretty fond of the guy.

He can talk any thing cars and computers, so my boys think he is pretty great.

He proposed and some land they just purchased and plan to build on eventually.

This.

Picture.

Just look at the champagne heart.

Here's to a life time of love and happiness and putting God at the center of your marriage.

{and the wedding planning won't be half bad, either}

We are currently working on the hash tag!!

A Great Week!

A run down of our week, because someday, I will long for this days.

We are blessed, learning that boys are independent in so many things these days,

but still need many reminders and much reassurance.

DH and I love being the ones here to make that happen for them.

Monday, we were back to the workflow and schoolflow.

Our first full week was upon us and we began to feel the pinch of homework,

but soccer will bring that on in full force!

Miss Isa had a letter in the outgoing mail at mom's work!

And mama is checking Sam's lunch account often 

because he loves a la carte items...ahem, cookies.

Love getting his peek at his independence.

And documenting here a tiny part of my daily/weekly routine

in keeping up the boys at this life stage.

We receive texts from Joe's teacher about assignments/ classroom notes.

His math operates with an app on our phone/ipad...

it is pretty neat!

Still been incorporating Whole 30 about 90% of the time.

I feel so much better when I hit 100%, but such is life!

Our local DQ is closing for renovations

so I took boys for a Happy Hour for an afterschool treat, 

Smoothie for Sam and Milkshake for Joe

before they close for a month,

I handed the phone back for boys to take a selfie, best Sam was willing to give me.

Been working on project with Morgan, reveal soon!

Mixed in with a couple of 11 hours shifts for mom, that was all the pics I got taken this week!

Friday was the beginning of a full and fun weekend...

I headed to Home Depot to pick up a couple things

and found another DIY project with DH, I mean we already have left over paving stones...

out by the walkout basement?!?  Yes, please.

Received wind of an upcoming proposal (one day, I knew for one day)

so I "had" to craft a little something for my girl!

And had lunch with my friend Melissa - no selfies because

I didn't get ready much and we've been friends

for so long she didn't care!

She offered their preseason Colts tickets...yes, please.

7pm start meant a hotel was in order.

Price-lined this gem on Monument Circle - bucket list for mama.

I have always wanted to stay on Monument Circle.

Oh the romance (with kids in tow of course),

We were invited to Grandma and Grandpa's for some family that was in to visit on Friday night.

Grandpa Great second from right is 87 and his brother in law Dave in middle is 94...but a game of 

Rook is ALWAYS in order.

And it true Graber fashion, we relive each hand.

Boys were rowdy, it has been wet outside, so they were not interested in going out,

but wanted to be right in the middle of the action.

Silly guys

Saturday morning, big Sam did his homework so it was taken care of before

we headed off on our impromptu weekend adventure.

(His organization, ahem, I have to hold back...I mean look at this smile

and body language...he had it all under control)