A Walk in the Woods

I have a friend who lives in Maine. Last week, she wrote something on her blog that came back to me this morning as I was lying in bed wrestling with the notion that I would have to get out of bed soon.

I've been dealing with a sinus infection all week. The way I've dealt with this sinus infection was to let the boys watch more tv than usual so I could rest. When I was lying in bed this morning, thinking about how cooped up we've been, and how unfair it has been to the boys, these words from Maine Momma's blog came back to me.

"i have not gone out just because. today i see i need to. i must. a walk in the woods or maybe a climb over that snow bank to reach the beach. something, anything. i need some sun on my face and fresh air in my lungs and to walk off a bit of this cabin fever that has set in my bones and in my head."

All three of us needed to walk off some cabin fever. Of this I was sure. Andrew confirmed this notion for me when he came in to wake me up saying, "Mommy, it's a great day to go outside. It's sunny and beautiful."

So, with every intention of getting some fresh air, clearing the cobwebs, and soaking in some sunshine we headed to Huntley Meadows Park for a nature walk. Bucket in hand we walked along the path searching for nature. Andrew and Jay collected pine cones, sticks, rocks and other things. I collected some much needed fresh air and vitamin D!







Thanks for the inspiration, MaineMomma! This photo is for you:

As promised...a recap of my birthday

It seems to have become a tradition on my mother’s side of the family to celebrate birthdays multiple times. You celebrate once with your immediate family, then maybe again when more members of your extended family can be together. We have come to call this celebrating your birthday “McDevitt” style. In this fashion, you can celebrate your birthday for a week or a month instead of just one day. It’s great!

For example, when Andrew turned 3 we had a birthday party here with some of his friends, we celebrated with dinner on his actual birthday and he had a party at MomMom and PopPop’s house with his cousins. That’s three separate parties to celebrate one birth-day. Understand?

Well, for my birthday...

We (Mark, Andrew, Jay and I) celebrated my birthday on the Sunday before my birthday. It’s much more convenient (and fun) to celebrate on a weekend instead of a weeknight. Mark coined a new phrase for the celebrating of one’s birthday multiple times, “false birthday”. And what a great false birthday it was…

8:30 – 9:30 – church

10:00 – breakfast at Evening Star Cafe

11:00 – 4:00 – putting on puppet shows (Andrew), playing with cars (Jay), crafting and mending projects (me), cooking (Mark)

4:30 – birthday dinner of roasted chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and creamed spinach

5:30 - presents

6:30 – birthday cake with our dear friends, the Sprungs

Andrew had planned my birthday cake weeks in advance. And he even managed to keep it a surprise. He was very excited about it. It was so adorable. He absolutely loves birthdays. And he has come to be quite the party planner. He was so sweet in his general excitement for me to enjoy my birthday. The cake was great, there were special animal plates picked out for the cake, and I got lots of birthday hugs and kisses. It was wonderful!

Two awesome gifts:

A pair of crocs from Andrew & Jay along with two jibbitz (a heart from Andrew b/c he loves me, and Mater from Jay b/c he loves Mater)

A single cup coffee maker from Mark. What a cool little machine. It’s awesome!

I’m one lucky lady to have three guys who love and pamper me so.

On my actual birthday, I got the kids to bed early and Mark ran out for some sushi takeout. We had a nice quiet evening in front of the tv with sushi and Netflix.

Having remembered the time when he got to celebrate his birthday more than once, Andrew kindly suggested to my mom that we celebrate Mommy's birthday again when we were visiting my parents this past week. So, one whole week after my actual birthday, I was "surprised" with a birthday cake that Andrew and MomMom made.

I highly recommend the multiple birthday celebrating...it's wonderful! Especially, because it will remind you just how much you are loved.