sweet home colorado: My Birthday Weekend...Labor Day...

I had a fantastic birthday weekend and was super spoiled by all my guys...

They got dressed up for the occasion! Ha!

On Saturday, I was treated to a morning of pampering! It started with a massage and ended with a mani/pedi! The perfect way for this busy Mommy to spend her day!

That evening we kicked off the festivities with a fun birthday party at Mark's parents house. It wouldn't be a backyard party without a little running around...

I requested Tilapia and rice for my birthday meal. It was yummy!

After dinner I got to open some fun presents! I was surprised with a new address stamp from Barb & Bruce! I had been wanting a new one...so this was super thoughtful! All of the kids wanted a stamp on their hands...

We scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get them off the next day! All of the Sunday School workers now know exactly where the boys live! Ha!

And of course, it wouldn't be my birthday without a delicious DQ ice cream cake!

CHEESE!!!!! with my big boys!

Payton wrote me a note and attached a Hershey's Hug with tape. What a sweet heart!

This little one doesn't pass up a chance at dessert! He STILL requests cookies for breakfast even though he has never once been given a cookie for breakfast!

Cohen and Nolan opted for popsicles!

At the end of a late night I got some snuggles with my cute and ever easy Brooks! (Do not pay attention to my awful hair! Why Mark did not point this out...I DO NOT know!) Oh, and do you see our fun new chair! We bought some living room furniture last week and I took the plunge and did a chair in a fun graphic print! It's a cool statement piece for sure!

Sunday morning was my REAL birthday! The boys woke me up with birthday hugs and kisses and breakfast in bed!

We got ready for church and then I came down to check out my AWESOME birthday chair! Mark really outdid himself this year!

He got 31 messages from 31 of my closest friends and family members and typed them up/printed them out and attached them to the birthday chair! It was so fun to read them all! Thank you to everyone who contributed sweet notes to my chair! You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself!

After checking out the chair we headed off to church. When I picked up Nolan from Sunday School, he ran out the door proclaiming, "Now we get to go home and open your PRESENTS!!!!!". Not sure he really took in all that he should have been learning in church that morning...think his mind was on other things! Ha!

Attempting to get a nice picture with my boys. Nolan smiled super nice but did not want to take off his Sunday School sticker and Bible verse. And Heath, at least he agreed to be in the picture this time, BUT...he WOULD NOT look at the camera. He defiantly starred out the window! Oh, that child of mine!

So we snapped another one of just Nolan and me! He still LOVES birthdays, even when they aren't his! Hope he always loves celebrating others the way he does now! That is a really cool trait!

We Skyped with my parents while I opened up my cards and gifts.

Kati Davis Hart sent me such a thoughtful present...

from one mis-placed Chicago girl to another!

And Jill sent me this cute camel belt and a fun yellow bubble necklace! Thanks girls for loving on me from afar! What would I do without you?

I also got some nice gift cards and money and a subscription to 5280 magazine!

After presents, we picked up a quick lunch at McDonalds and brought it with us to the pool for some afternoon fun in the sun! Brad, Jayne, Cohen, and Arie joined us too!

We have had SO MUCH fun at our new pools this summer! Nolan has become more and more confident in the water and Heath literally asks to go to the pool every single morning! He just takes off by himself all the way to the deep end!

That evening, Barb & Bruce watched the boys for us and Mark and I got to go out on a FUN date!

I chose sushi of course, my fav! So we hit up Happa for some yummy edamame, rolls, and wine!

I have always loved my birthday because it automatically gives me a day off of school! I LOVE that it always falls on Labor Day weekend! On Labor Day we woke up and took the boys out for donuts!

Nolan LOVES wearing my hat, even outside of the house! Heath opted to sport his Rockies cap for the day! They sure were excited for their sweet treat!

After donuts, we drove up to the cabin for a few hours.

Nolan worked hard setting up this whole scene in the sand! He loves getting creative in the sand box!

Brooksie had fun swinging with Auntie Sue!

We took our Bags set up and Mark did some surgery on them. He has always thought they were too heavy to transport, so he hacked off a foot off the end of both boards. He had originally made them 4 feet long, but the game can be played at 3 feet as well. He thinks we will use them more now that they are shorter and lighter and easier to take with us places. The boys had fun playing and so did the adults!

Nolan kept asking me to take him hiking, so we took a few short hikes around the cabin. He brought a baggie with him to collect some cool pieces of nature that he found along the way.

He put rocks, pine cones, sticks, and feathers in his baggie. He LOVES exploring!

Sue and the family have been working hard to make little improvements in and around the cabin. It looks great and we sure appreciate all the hard work they put into keeping the cabin such a nice and relaxing place to escape the city!

I can't get enough of this photo! It is just so sweet!

Nolan did a lot of stick whacking as well! He loved finding dry sticks and smacking them against trees to see them break!

We spotted a few baby deer in the meadow.

Zero the Hero, a.k.a. Rylan, and Heath checking out the deer!

We hung out at the cabin and ate and played and chatted and laughed until about 3ish. Then we headed back down for one last dip in the pool! It closes each year on Labor Day.

The weather was cloudy and it drizzled off and on but that didn't stop the boys! They played together so nicely and Mark and I actually got to sit back and relax in our pool chairs for awhile! A glimpse of what our future will be.