Celebrate good times

We had a great week.  

Lots of reasons to celebrate in our house.

1.  Andrew's birthday 

The date

 Our awesome friends watched the kids overnight.

We went to the temple.

 Then out to dinner at the Olive Garden.

We hadn't been there in years. They are running this special on select entrees where you can order one for dinner and a SECOND to take home for the next night...all for $12.95. There aren't many meaty dishes, so Andrew wasn't interested, but I was all over that! It was awesome.

The family party

 We had a quiet dinner here at home.

Cooked up some yummy Japanese food--

hibachi chicken and steak, stir fried veggies, rice,

and vegetables tempura.

Andrew even whipped up some white sauce to go 

along with it.  Delicious!!

 Another dear friend at church made us a 

SCRUMPTIOUS, moist strawberry cake.

 The gifts

Andrew's big present was his ticket to the Panther's game

earlier this year.  So, he just got little things from the kids.

Caroline continued her tradition of purchasing random, heartfelt gifts:

a can of tuna fish.

Whit made him a Panthers pillow cover and a
"Happy 80th Birthday" card.

B-train gave him some beef jerky, folded some pieces of origami

for him, and included some coupons like "5 minute massage,"

"Board game of your choice," and the one I can't wait for Drew

to cash in:  "Perfect Behavior for One Day!"

We had a great time celebrating and visiting with friends and family on the phone.

2. Soccer runner-ups

Brandon's team finished as the regular season champs. Woo hoo! They played in the championship game of the tournament. It ended in a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation. So they played a five minute overtime...which also ended in a 0-0 tie.  So it went to penalty kicks....and our team lost.  Boo. 

Way to go, Thunder!

3. Reflections contest

Miss Whitney entered a painting into the Reflections contest at school.  The theme was "Magic of the Moment."  When I asked her what came to mind when she thought about that theme, she said, "A baby bird hatching."  So cute!!  She did a rough draft and then her painting.  It turned out so well.  And I'm mad that I forgot to take a picture before we turned it in!  She moved up in age divisions this year, so was competing against 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  And she won!  First place in visual arts.  We are so proud of her.  Her painting will be entered in the county competition next.

4. Good grades

We got our first set of reports cards for this school year and both kids rocked!  I am so glad that they work hard at school and do so well.  They had Veteran's Day off of school, so Andrew took the day off of work, and we told them they could choose what we would do.  Whitney chose to go to Magiquest.

The big kids had a blast.  Caroline thought she was old enough for a wand of her own, so we got one.  Turns out she *wasn't* quite ready.  Even though it's not meant to be a scary game, some of the characters are intimidating for a four-year-old girl.  She decided she'd rather hang out in the lobby with her parents and play games on the ipad.  

For B's activity, he wanted to go to Concord Mills (a humongous mall) and all of us got a little fun money to spend.  I like the way that boy thinks!  The girls spent theirs at the Disney store.  

 And a carousel ride.

And all of us had fun in the candy store, too.

I couldn't head down to Charlotte without sneaking in a trip to Ikea.  We got Brandon a new storage chest for his Legos.  Now maybe I can decorate with the Room Doodles I ordered for his room this summer!

Hooray for celebrations!