A Week With Nana

I'm not good at keeping secrets. Actually, I'm really terrible at it. I'm especially bad at keeping secrets from my Hubby. So, when Jared came home from work on Tuesday to see his Mama frying okra in our kitchen, he was shocked that I had managed to keep her visit a surprise! I told him that just keeping the secret should be counted as a birthday gift to him!

So, this last week we've been busy shopping, cooking, playing games, and just enjoying our weekly routine with Nana by our side.

As you can see, the kids were eager to learn some new tricks from their Nana. Every morning while Kay got ready, Ruby and Maxwell were right by her side primping--blusher, eyeshadow, lipstick, and gloss. I'm pretty sure Ruby knows more about the art of make-up application than I do at this point!

Max decided to accentuate his curls with a few rollers! He loved putting them in Nana's hair and even tried to put them in my hair! The curlers weren't up to the challenge of my long curly hair I'm afraid... it just is what it is.

On Wednesday evening, Jared and I were able to go out for dinner and a movie and went to see Fireproof, a movie that had been highly recommended by the teachers of the marriage class we're taking at church. I won't go into detail here, but it's a good one and I might post on it later in the week.

On Thursday we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. It's safe to say we all had a great time. The kids climbed through the tunnels, ate pizza, played games, got their picture drawn by Chuck E., and got very excited about their little prizes at the end of the evening. An added bonus was that the place was almost deserted. Hopefully we can arrange that again for our next visit. ;) On the way home Ruby was already asking if we could come back the next night. She's also alerted us that she would really like to have her birthday party there. She doesn't quite get it that her birthday is still 6 months away!

Friday we were able to have our family party for Jared's 31st birthday. He missed the Danish tradition of bringing a cake to work on your birthday. It was kind of nice to have a small celebration at work with friends and colleagues on your big day and theirs. Yet another small thing we are realizing that we'll always miss about DK.

Just this morning, Jared mentioned that he's already missing the Christmas lunches (which are in full swing all around Denmark!). It wouldn't be at all unusual to go to half a dozen or more lunches in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Danes truly are good at celebrating and maintaining friendships... something we in the US could use more of.

Jared enjoyed pineapple upside down cake at home for his birthday this year and the kids enjoyed helping him open his gifts. While several of Jared's gifts were on the practical side, he did receive a gift card that allowed him to splurge over the weekend. As a proud owner of a new iTouch, I'm not sure I'll be seeing a lot of him for a while. :) I'm so thankful that he was able to get something fun for himself. He doesn't do that nearly often enough.

Happy birthday, sweetheart. I love you more every day!