Queen for a Day

Not really but it was my birthday! I'm one of those unfortunate people with a birthday stuck between Christmas and New Year's. You know, the birthday where you get your present wrapped in Christmas paper or you get the "combined" Christmas/birthday gift. Can you tell I'm not a fan of my birth date? I've learned to live with it though and now that I'm older, it's not as bad. (I did however, vow never to have a child in December to avoid them having the same fate.)

Anyway, I woke up like any other day with the kids coming in waking Gabe and I. We always enjoy a little family time playing and cuddling before making our way out of bed to start the day.

Gabe got out first and brought me my gift while the kids serenaded me with "Happy Birthday". They were truly adorable and wish I could have taped it to watch over and over. I had given him a list of things to get me for Christmas and my birthday and he stuck to it and I got everything I wanted! He's been trained well. Hah!

I received the last two seasons of The Golden Girls. Yes, I watch Golden Girls and love it.

my birthday and Christmas gifts

We have a thing in our family that on our birthday, we go out to eat and the birthday person picks the restaurant. I chose a pizza/Italian place nearby called Pizzaria Mimosa. I've heard good things about it and wanted to try it. They're set at the base of the local mountains so the views are amazing. It just so happened as we found out, that they were also celebrating their opening anniversary and each table got complimentary cupcakes! Who can say no to cupcakes much less FREE ones?!

We ordered pizzas for the kids and I chose a breaded lemon chicken while Gabe chose some kind of sausage dish. The food looked great but didn't taste as good as I was expecting. It tasted good, but not as good as it looked. Alena wasn't a fan of her cheese pizza (not enough pizza sauce on it) but Christian DEVOURED his. The pizza was huge for a kid with 8 pieces and he managed to get 4 1/2 slices in him! It didn't occur to me to take pictures while there until we left (and I even had the camera in my purse!).

After leaving we dropped the kids off at the babysitter's so Gabe and I could go out on our own to celebrate. I chose to go to the gun range and the movies. Weird combo, right?

Gabe does a lot of traveling for work and I have a really hard time sleeping and feeling completely safe while he's gone. I bought pepper spray but that only helped a bit. So we bought some guns for home protection and for some peace of mind on my part. We spent a couple hours at the range getting completely comfortable and familiar with our guns. The last time I shot a pistol I wasn't so great at it. This time however, I was soooo much better. We had a brand new steel target and I was the first one to try it out. My first three shots were right on top of each other and the next two were close to it.

See for yourself...

Pretty good, eh?

And here is after two hours...

After the range, we drove to the movies and watched This is 40. Hilarious movie! All in all, it was a great birthday. Just wish it didn't bring me one year closer to 30! :( I dread that day but for now, I shall enjoy my age and embrace it. :)

Christmas 2012

I have so many posts to get on here it's quite ridiculous. Alena's first gymnastics competition, my birthday, 26 week belly bump, and SNOW... oh my!

This was a good Christmas. Great presents, great food, and a great big mess! We let the kids open their stockings and presents from each other on Christmas Eve. We had taken them to the .99 store with a couple dollars in hand to pick something out for each other. Alena chose a pack of airplanes and a bag of plastic rats (why?) for Christian. And he chose a kitchen set and candy bar for her.

Christmas morning, we opened gifts first and then made breakfast. I didn't realize until after all the gifts were opened and they were being played with that we bought mostly battery-less gifts. There were several puzzles, books, games, and other toys that required imagination to play with them. Gabe and I of course didn't mind the break on our ears either. ;)

gifts from grandmama

gift from grandma and grandpa

another cute grandparent gift

OK, I have to explain Gabe's gift a little. Last year, he didn't give me ANY clues or hints as to what he wanted. I just kept getting an "I don't know.". Very frustrating for me and I had no idea what to get him either. He ended up with some odd gifts so we learned our lesson this year. He gave me multiple options for gifts and I picked the one I knew he would love. The new water proof, shock proof, and freeze proof camera from Nikon. This will be perfect for his upcoming business trip to Hawaii next month (poor him, right?).

Alena finally got her dollhouse after two years of begging for one. And what a dollhouse it is!

Hot Wheels Trick Tracks were very popular with the kids.

 No pictures of my gifts! :( Gabe got me a beautiful mother's necklace with a heart spelling out Mom and a charm for each child with an A and C and their birthstone on each one. And soon there will be another charm to add! Also, I got the latest John Grisham book to add to my collection. He is my favorite author and I have every book he's published.

I did not, unfortunately, take pictures of the food and it's sad really because it was SO good. We had honey spiraled ham, homemade mashed potatoes, cheesy cauliflower and broccoli, gluten free stuffing (may do a recipe post on this), rolls, and gluten free pumpkin pie. We cooked literally all day then stuffed ourselves to the gills and then some. Christian has requested ham leftovers EVERY single day since Christmas and we have finally eaten it all!

At the Range

The other weekend, Gabe and I had one of his coworkers offer to take us to a shooting range. We've been talking about buying handguns for protection in the house (especially for me while Gabe is away on trips). We have been wanting to go for a long time and even though I've been putting it off for a while, I finally agreed to go.

We were using our friends' handguns, a Ruger SR40 and a baby Desert Eagle. I grew up around guns and would occasionally shoot them (mainly BB guns and 22s), but I had never shot a handgun. While in the Air Force, I only had the opportunity to shoot an M16 which I did shoot expert on (and was the ONLY girl in my flight to do so)! OK brag moment over...

We were shooting at a closer range, maybe 20 yards. My first shot didn't go off so well. I was not expecting the kick it gave me and I ended up screaming like a little girl at the surprise and completely missed the target. Hah! But by the end, I was more comfortable and figured out what I needed to be doing.

 I did figure out after this picture that I needed to change my stance.

Look at the baby bump!

My shot group is the one I pointed out. Not bad for a first time!

Gabe got a video of me shooting and happened to get one of my best shots! See picture above. That shot on the far right of that group is the one seen on the video.

Also, please excuse my husband's "amazing" video skills. Haha!

I had a lot more fun than I thought I would! Now, we just have to get some of our own and I can go practice more often. :)