THIRTY

Mikey is 30 years old.  And his name is still Mikey.  :)

Yesterday my amazing, generous, selfless, funny, athletic, strong, loving, goofy, perfectly-fit-for-me husband turned 30 years old.  I reflected on his birthday more than I did when I turned 30 back in August.  For some reason it didn't really hit me that 3 decades have passed for both of us until yesterday.  That's a long time...and in 10 more years, we will be 40.  Eek!

We weren't able to do much by way of celebration on his actual birthday because he had to work and we had small group that night (Ahem....and I am a terrible planner).  We did spend the evening with some of the greatest people we know discussing the awesomeness of the Holy Spirit and eating cookie cake with icing and chocolate chips.  I'd say that's a win.  And.....we are going to have a little "getaway" with no kids...and I can't wait!  Contingent on his work schedule, I am hoping we can go soon.  We have some good friends who recently moved to Charleston, so that would be my first choice since we've been wanting to go visit them badly.  We have also considered Greenville, St. Augustine, New York, Destin....so many choices...and we want to take FULL advantage of a weekend away.  This is sounding like a present for ME...which it definitely is...but I promise he wants to do it too.

Anyway, I love him so much.  I hope he has a wonderful 30th year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY!

Tattoos

Mikey and I have talked about getting a tattoo for several years, but it was never something we were actively pursuing.  Lately, it's been a lot more fun to talk about and plan for.  Mikey is all about it lately, and even came home from the store the other day with a magazine all about tattoos!  There are so many options that I have such a hard time deciding.  Mikey is more of the "let's just do it and we can always get another one later" mindset.  Ha!

We were playing around the other day and I drew this one on him:

I don't think he would do it there, but he has been wanting to get a circle around his ring finger...and we thought it would be cool to do the wave thing around his finger.  Mikey loves waves.  A lot.

There have been several tattoos I've seen lately that I really REALLY like...but I am generally wimpy in these types of things.  I am trying to build the courage...we shall see what happens.   I am loving white ink lately...and the lace design on shoulders is freaking awesome!

Jessica...should I do it?!?!  Kim...I know your answer!   Claire...will you shun me?!?!  :)

Do the Hokey Pokey and Turn Yourself Around

Our big boy has officially TURNED AROUND!

I had to take a couple quick pics of Parks and Marlee on our last ride with both of them facing backwards.  Parks got a new forward-facing seat.  He likes it so far.  :)

I will post the new seat soon.  :)

Goose Egg

Marlee was in such a great mood on Saturday night.  We were playing in the play room, and she walked into the kitchen to get a toy...and slipped.  She landed on her head and it swelled SO FAST.  It scared me because it was a first for me.  The swelling went away fast and she was fine, but I hate seeing my baby hurt.

It's hard to see how far it poked out in the pictures...

Inman Elementary 5K

This past Saturday, Mikey and I joined Kim and Corey for the "Inman Elementary 5K Race" in Fayetteville.  Corey found the race online, and since Kim and I have been walking/running so much, we all thought it would be fun.  We were right!  It was a trail run on some old farm land, with lots of bumps and hills and a little pond (reminded me of the Hunger Games).

The race started at 8am, so we all planned to get there around 7:30.  Early morning for me!!  Mikey helped me WAKE UP by driving quite fast on the way there.  Got my blood flowing!

Kim and I ran about 4 miles earlier that week, and our mile pace was, sadly, right around 10 minutes per mile.  I was bummed, because I was certain we were running faster than that.  Anyway, our goal was to keep our pace under 10 minutes per mile.  As we passed the first mile marker, we were at 8:20.  Yikes!  It must have been the adrenaline.  Kim said to me "wow, we are going so fast" and she THINKS I replied "no, no, I'm feeling great"....but I didn't say that.  She must have been hearing a mockingjay, because I was dying so no way I would've said that.  ;)   haha

Anyway, we finished in 27:25 (I think) and we were all in different age brackets.  Kim was in the 25-29 and I was in the 30-34 so we each won a little water bottle.  Corey killed it too...he's way fast, and of course he won his age group too.  Mikey really impressed me by getting a great time after not running in over a month!

Here's a couple iPhone pics after the run...

Why does Corey look so sad all the time?

Mikey, My Magestic, Manly, Mohawk Man

Father Daughter Dining

I love watching my kiddos love on their daddy.

Easter

This Easter was a wonderful day.  We started with going to church at 9:30.  Parks and Marlee got to play with their friends in Waumba Land, while Mikey and I enjoyed an incredible, powerful, beautiful service and message.  We went to Mikey's parents' house afterwards and ate some yummy brunch and the kids had their first Easter Egg Hunt!

After eating, the kids took a nap and then we went to my parents house to...you guessed it...eat some more.  We sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  I don't know exactly what it was, but it was a great day.

At one point, I actually thought about what the most joyful days of my life have been, and if I could relive one, which I would choose.  It's not like it was crazy out-of-the-ordinary or anything, but everything just seemed to be in place.  Happy day!  Happy Easter!