Happy Birthday, Brad!
Brad turned 31 today! We did most of our celebrating yesterday, though. I threw him a party at our house, inviting a small group to our home for dinner and drinks. We ended up with 16 people at dinner. I served a buffet of Latin food: sweet potato and root vegetable chips with salsa and guacamole, cilantro-lime shrimp skewered with nectarines and jalapenos, coconut rice, roasted corn and black-bean salad, and gaucho steak with chimichurri sauce, and made mojitos to help everyone wash it all down. We ate dinner inside, then ended up outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the guys play a round of washers. (Brad made his washer boards this week and was quite proud to show off his carpentry skills!)
It was a great night for a party--it was pretty cool once the sun set, there was a nice breeze, and the mosquitoes actually left us alone. After a few hours outdoors, we all went in for chocolate chip cheesecake and coffee. Aiden insisted that we sing and blow out candles, so I ended up using votives shaped like flip-flops for the top of Brad's cake, since I hadn't bought candles. After dessert, the boys hooked up the Guitar Hero and we all got to play. The group slowly trickled down and eventually it was just Brad and I and one other couple, Molly and Andy, playing Catch Phrase. We had a great time celebrating with all of our friends.
Today, we woke up early and went to church. After the early service, our Stage 2 group had a Wii Party at the church--we hooked up several video game consoles to projectors, brought in a bunch of couches and set out munchies and sodas. Everyone had a great time playing video games and talking. We've found a great group of friends at church and always enjoy the opportunity to spend time with them.
After church, we came home, ate a quick lunch and all took a much-needed family nap. Afterwards, Brad and Aiden played while I made Brad shrimp and crawfish etoufee for dinner. We had a "picnic floor" (as Aiden calls it) at dinner, watching a movie Aiden picked out. Afterwards, we enjoyed some homemade ice cream for dessert.
Brad got a new home theater system from me for his birthday, much to his delight. (He has been complaining about wanting a new sound system ever since our old one got broken in the move from NC to TX). He received many cards and money and gift cards from our friends and family as well, which means he'll be spending some afternoons in Home Depot buying cool "guy toys." Aiden bought his daddy a water gun for his birthday. It was so cute!
Aiden recently got a big Super Soaker water gun to play with. He loves squirting people, but since we only had one, he couldn't really play with others with it. When we were at the grocery store on Thursday, we walked down an aisle with big water guns and Aiden yelled at me: "Mommy, I want a water gun!" I told him no, he already had a water gun, he didn't need another one. "But daddy doesn't have a water gun. I want daddy to have a water gun so we can have a water gun fight." I asked him if he wanted to give Daddy a water gun for his birthday present, and he sad yes. He had such fun picking out which color to get daddy and then he carried it through the whole store. As soon as we got home, he had to give his present to daddy. He couldn't wait. I set him out of the car, handed him the water gun and he ran over to Brad: "Happy Birthday, Daddy! I got you a water gun. Now we can have a water gun fight together!" It was very cute. I was so proud of him, too. He's really starting to grow up and think of other people. He likes to make things to give to Brad and I and enjoys sharing his food and toys with us.
Brad had a great birthday and I'm very glad. He works hard for our family and is such a wonderful husband and father--he deserves to have a day that celebrates him.
It was a great night for a party--it was pretty cool once the sun set, there was a nice breeze, and the mosquitoes actually left us alone. After a few hours outdoors, we all went in for chocolate chip cheesecake and coffee. Aiden insisted that we sing and blow out candles, so I ended up using votives shaped like flip-flops for the top of Brad's cake, since I hadn't bought candles. After dessert, the boys hooked up the Guitar Hero and we all got to play. The group slowly trickled down and eventually it was just Brad and I and one other couple, Molly and Andy, playing Catch Phrase. We had a great time celebrating with all of our friends.
Today, we woke up early and went to church. After the early service, our Stage 2 group had a Wii Party at the church--we hooked up several video game consoles to projectors, brought in a bunch of couches and set out munchies and sodas. Everyone had a great time playing video games and talking. We've found a great group of friends at church and always enjoy the opportunity to spend time with them.
After church, we came home, ate a quick lunch and all took a much-needed family nap. Afterwards, Brad and Aiden played while I made Brad shrimp and crawfish etoufee for dinner. We had a "picnic floor" (as Aiden calls it) at dinner, watching a movie Aiden picked out. Afterwards, we enjoyed some homemade ice cream for dessert.
Brad got a new home theater system from me for his birthday, much to his delight. (He has been complaining about wanting a new sound system ever since our old one got broken in the move from NC to TX). He received many cards and money and gift cards from our friends and family as well, which means he'll be spending some afternoons in Home Depot buying cool "guy toys." Aiden bought his daddy a water gun for his birthday. It was so cute!
Aiden recently got a big Super Soaker water gun to play with. He loves squirting people, but since we only had one, he couldn't really play with others with it. When we were at the grocery store on Thursday, we walked down an aisle with big water guns and Aiden yelled at me: "Mommy, I want a water gun!" I told him no, he already had a water gun, he didn't need another one. "But daddy doesn't have a water gun. I want daddy to have a water gun so we can have a water gun fight." I asked him if he wanted to give Daddy a water gun for his birthday present, and he sad yes. He had such fun picking out which color to get daddy and then he carried it through the whole store. As soon as we got home, he had to give his present to daddy. He couldn't wait. I set him out of the car, handed him the water gun and he ran over to Brad: "Happy Birthday, Daddy! I got you a water gun. Now we can have a water gun fight together!" It was very cute. I was so proud of him, too. He's really starting to grow up and think of other people. He likes to make things to give to Brad and I and enjoys sharing his food and toys with us.
Brad had a great birthday and I'm very glad. He works hard for our family and is such a wonderful husband and father--he deserves to have a day that celebrates him.
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