It's the 31st Anniversary of my birth.

Wow. It feels like we've been in a whirlwind the last few weeks. I can barely remember what went on the past 2 weekends. We'll skip last Friday because lets face it, I really don't remember that. Last Saturday Ryan went and played Ultimate Frisbee and me and Ben went on a play-date with his buds from the old daycare. We met at a park, it was quite chilly... but that didn't stop them from having a good time. We had a little bit of lunch and a small cupcake and they were off!
Sunday we celebrated Ben's birthday with our friends & Nana and Poppy and we had fun. Me, Ashley and Ryan made Elmo cupcakes for Ben since he loves him so much. We didn't ask for gifts so he just played with the two other little girls that came and pigged out on a cupcake and then was wired for a couple more hours that night! I guess that's from not having treats very often!Monday & Tuesday were both spent with a very good friends of mine, Heath Charter and his wife Emily and their 3 little ones. They needed to get away from the chill in Virginia and decided to come to GA and it was SOOOOOOOO fun to see them! I don't think we've seen each since they got married, which I guess was right around 6-7 year ago. We even lost touch for a little while, and just about a year ago were able to find each other through Facebook and reacquaint ourselves with them. Me and Ben took a half day from work and school Monday and went to the zoo with the Charters (weather was PERFECT!), this was Ben's first time back to the zoo since we went last February when he wasn't quite a year- so the concept of animals as living things now is totally different to him. He knows the names of a lot of the animals, so to actually see one in person in real life was I think a strange event for him. The elephants scared the crap out of him, including the teeny...tiny... statue of one I wanted to take a picture of him by did. BUT he still talked a lot about it after we left them! He saw the Pandas, the Komodo Dragon, lots of snakes and turtles, an Orangutan, kangaroos, sheep (at the petting zoo that he wouldn't DARE get near) and played a lot on the playground. He went down the twisty slide A LOT!!That night we got Ryan and met up with them at their hotel pool and Ryan and Ben went swimming (Indoor pool). Ben had a blast. He was even brave enough to jump off the side to daddy! He kept calling it a bath! Tuesday they came for dinner and we did a little shopping (!) and then they were off. It was so fun to spend time with them and we hope we can do it soon. Hopefully we can make a trip up their way soon!I feel like we had other stuff going on the rest of the week... just us being busy I guess and then this weekend (last night) we dropped Ben off and Nana & Poppy's for the night (the whole night!) and went to the Vortex for burgers with the Terry's, the Burkes, Geoff, Brandy, Clint and Jake. (Somehow I'm missing Jacob in this collage...) Afterward some of us went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was SOOOO good... but I've always had a secret love for that story and movie. I've always loved it... so I really enjoyed this one too. I hope they make another. Or... maybe not. Hmmm, something to think about. Anyway we got home pretty late went to sleep and slept in this morning and then went and got Ben. Then my dear lovely Ashley made me (and the rest of us) dinner and a birthday cake and everything was SO delicious! I am very grateful to her for that. This week she and I are going to see John Mayer in concert, scored free tickets from work again! YIPPEE! Hopefully things will settle down a bit, but March always tends to be a little maniacal.
Both my mom and my brother Greg had surgery this past Friday. Both seem to be doing fine. My brother Greg especially is adjusting to the change, I'll have to get permission first before I write a post about it- but I really want to, because it's been quite an upset for our family. My cousin in South Africa is quite ill, Ryan's sister Kelly is also having surgery this next week... we just feel very weighed down with stress and worry about our loved ones and their health. We have been praying fervently and appreciate any additional prayers on their behalf.
We are still in the midst of getting Ben's social security theft all figured out... haven't really heard much from ANYONE, I guess that's what happens. I had a Scentsy party at Ashley's house yesterday and did REALLY well thank goodness. (Another thing to add to the list of what we've been up to...) Anyway, I'd better get to bed. It's now WAY past my bedtime, stupid Daylight Savings... but Spring is just around the corner. Trees are starting to bloom and the earth is coming to life again! YAY!