Saturday was a full one - we spent most of our morning working in our backyard. We thoroughly weeded, and then we mowed our lawn! This is the first time we've mowed it... honestly it hasn't really needed a mow that badly because the poor grass has been half-dead since we moved in. But we cut what little grass was there with our push mower we bought recently... the girls helped too. :) Then we fertilized and reseeded it... we're hoping that within a few weeks our grass will start to look better and in the meantime we're trying to keep it well watered while our little seedlings try to grow. Bottom line: we don't know what the heck we are doing, but we are trying, and that's how you learn right?
In the late-afternoon I picked up our babysitter and Ben and I headed out for a good long date - in honor of Ben's birthday! To start off our fun, we went golfing together! Ben loves golfing, but the poor guy hasn't been since starting residency, so I thought he might appreciate being able to get out to golf and to have me show a little interest in the sport he adores. We just went to a very inexpensive 9-hole walking course nearby and I did alright! At least, I never lost a ball and most of the time I hit it straight. And I liked being able to hit from the women's tees because they were WAY closer. It made me feel like I was already making progress even before hitting the ball. :)
After golfing we finished up our date with dinner at P.F. Changs (oh how I wish I could make those delicious lettuce wraps at home) and then to see the movie Date Night (with Ben's free movie tickets that he won at work! awesome!). So, it was a fun night! Wouldn't it be great to go out like that every weekend?!
On Sunday we went on a morning walk/bike ride through the neighborhood... we've really been liking this lately because we don't have church till 1. So, it gets us up and partially ready earlier and it's a nice way to spend the morning, as opposed to bumming around at home (although, that can also be nice). We end up having pretty amusing adventures on our walks together...
Monday was Ben's official birthday, so we celebrated with the traditional dinner (chosen by the birthday boy), presents, and cake and ice cream. Ben chose to have steak, baked sweet potatoes, and salad for dinner... this choice came as absolutely no surprise to me. I had the steak ready and marinated, so when Ben got home he grilled it up for us. During birthday dinners we go around the table and share things we love about the birthday person... with Ben this was easy... there is so much to love about him. Here's some of his many admirable qualities:
The BEST daddy
The BEST husband
Thinks of others before himself
An amazing cook
Loves a clean house and OFTEN helps to keep it that way
A great decorator... anything nice in our home has Ben behind it
Fun and spontaneous!
Loves reading and teaches the kids to love it too
After dinner, he opened his presents - the girls each picked out a treat for him and Becca drew a picture of him... her people drawings are really funny.
He also got a Memory Jar. I did this for my dad at Christmas, and thought Ben would like it too. Thank you to the many family and friends who contributed their Ben memories! Right now the jar has about 6 months worth (one per day), so I'll supplement it more this week so that he has a year's worth.
His big birthday gift this year was an ice cream maker (we got the kind that attaches to our KitchenAid mixer). Ben (and I) have been wanting one for a while. He opened this gift earlier so that I could have ice cream made for his birthday. We made cinnamon ice cream... it was to die for!! really. And since this was the 30th birthday, I thought I should commit a little more and really make a cake (instead of just using a box mix... which I often do). So, I made a Coconut Layer Cake - it's been years since I made this recipe because it takes some time... but, oh, it is worth the effort! It has a lemon filling too... coconut and lemon... mmmm. And with cinnamon ice cream. Pretty darn good.
Lawns just need help sometimes. We had to re-seed some areas of ours this year and we aren't in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell you have a pretty nice yard. I even like your concrete privacy wall.
My neighbors dogs stick their noses through the openings of our fence and bark at me. Sometimes I have to be mean and squirt them with the hose.
I like seeing pictures of your morning walk. You're in a nice area. It looks like a great place for a young family.
You sure made a good birthday celebration. Your dad will be lucky if I can do half as well for him.
The cake looks really fancy. I bet it was good!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. BEN.
sounds like a great birthday! And a really fun weekend too. I am way impressed you went out and golfed, I need to try it, I just think I might embarrass Brandon ha ha ha. Your cake looked awesome!
ReplyDeleteSuch a good wife you are. Looks like lots of fun. See what you have to look forward to this side of 30:)
ReplyDeleteI think you win the WIfe of the Year award. What a great weekend! I love the memory jar. Tell me more about it. I want to use that one. I am going to have to try that cake, because lemon and coconut are my two favorites. yummy! I used to always complain about church being at 1, but then we go in the hang of doing fun things in the morning and it ended up being okay. The nap thing is the hardest part! Great post, Girl
ReplyDeleteMy mom has a recipe for lettuce wrapps that I think taste as good as PF chang's. . . you should email her and ask for it, or check her recipe blog to see if it is there already. . .
ReplyDeleteHey... I'm taking Mike golfing on his birthday too next week. Except he's really old. 34! We haven't been forever and I know he just loves it. It'll be fun.
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