Memorial weekend

So just FYI, even though my feelings were 'real' in that other post, they were a little magnified as I got my period 2 days later. Emotions run a little higher 2 days before that time and it all made sense once that happened. I know that's TMI, but I'm sure my audience is over that by now.
I appreciate all the messages and input that people have given me, it's nice to know you've been listened to and that people love and want you to be alright. So thanks to all my blogging mates out there, love you.

So we were invited to go to our mates cabin this weekend. We said yes, and went.
I love Pugs' cabin man. It's really nice, tons of room, beautiful place, always great food and entertainments, relaxed atmosphere and zero pressure to do anything, it was just what we needed.
I didn't take any pictures, this trip, of the children. Bad right? All the pictures I took were of myself hahahahaha So selfish.
Pugs invited a family in his ward to come up. They were really nice people and a perfect fit for the cabin. I'm glad they came. He's a firefighter for the Bountiful area, well he's actually a Captain. So he had some cool stories, plus his wife was super nice and their kids just fit right in.
The drive is always long and sucky, but what do you do about that? Nothing but pull your socks up and get over it.
When we got there we put the kids in bed and I fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours, then I woke up and talked to Dru and Pugs till 3am!!
I'm too old for these late nights man........................but I can't help it.
The next morning we woke up and made breakfast for everyone. Dru went and helped Pugs work on some things out doors while I stayed in-doors and knitted and watched a movie. It was really nice.
The kids were just free range chickens man, playing with all the toys and running around like madmen.
Really there's not much to report since the days were simply filled with relaxation, eating and fun.

We made calzones, that night, for dinner. I wanted all the ingredients in mine and nobody could fold it over, so we simply put more dough on top. It was huge hahahaha

Here it is finished. So big right? I ate around 1/3 of it. It was just too much. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.

Look at how little Dru's is compared to mine!!

Here's Stacey and a blurry picture of Pugs behind her. Her calzone got folded over!!
We simply made the kids mini pizza's. They loved them.
We played settlers at night and ate waaaaaaaaaaay to much sweets. Stacey won the first night, Dru the second and me the third game.
We watched Top Gun, cartoons, Short Circuit 1 and 2, 13 going on 30, the Red Sox games and more.
I also went for a mountain bike ride.

Here's me multitasking. I'm riding AND taking a picture of myself riding but trying to get the scenery in the background so you can see what I'm riding in. It felt good to get outside and work my body for a while.
We had some fun talks and some fun melt downs, the kids had 4 wheeler rides by the Dad's. I got one of my knitting projects almost done (just have to piece it together) and we even managed to get some sleep in there. Masaru was able to get in some "Lando" time (their HUGE dog).
I'm glad we went. It was nice to go away, with no internet, and just relax for a straight 3 days you know.
We're always grateful to Pugs and Stacey for keeping us on their list of people they invite to the cabin.
Now it's back to reality, which is fine, cleaning, washing and sorting through the emails........................

And just for your entertainment, here's a video of my youngest throwing a tantrum because she can.
She's really good at them.

Thoughts

So I've been in this new calling of mine, Young Women's President, for around a month now and I'm not really digging it.
I'd say out of the 4 weeks I've spent around 10% of the time with the girls and 90% of the time with other 'stuff'. It's not me. I don't wanna go to meetings, I don't wanna sit and be told about everyone's problems in the ward, selfish I know, I'm sick of the constant flow of emails about upcoming events, how everything is VITALLY important and MUST be done, and we HAVE to do this and HAVE to do that, how I HAVE to be at this and HAVE to be at that, cause, you know, as President, it's super important to show my face!!!! I feel like screaming and slamming the door behind me then crying.
I'm NOT this person, I just aren't man. It's too much. I just don't care. I don't care to be on time, I don't care to sit in a 90 min meeting and 2mins of it be for me, it's killing me man.
I need to pray to the Lord and ask Him if this is REALLY what he want's me to do, cause I'm not 'feeling' it.
Now I understand why  'A' types are the best Presidents. They can handle schedules and organizing people and 'getting' things done and respecting time and meetings and all this crap. I'm a 'free spirit', I'm a people person. I love ministering, teaching, loving, serving, leave me out of this administration  stuff, it's driving me nuts. I'm not a business person, never was......................
I just wanna love and teach the girls, I'm so good at that and doing that isn't happening enough for me to like this calling.
I'm not sure why they thought I'd be good at this, or what they were thinking, cause I'm not this person. So I need to work it out.
My 'team' of women are awesome. They do everything I ask them to, they help and serve and pitch in where they can, it's not that I'm not getting enough support or help, I really am. Plus I'm delegating the crap outt've things but it isn't making up for this admin stuff that only I can be at.
My stake president (a leader in the church) talked to me on Sunday and told me this would help me grow. I dunno if I wanna grow THIS way, I don't know if I care to be stretched in the admin area you know, I don't think that's benefiting my life at all to be honest.
I'd say 70% of my friends in Boise aren't members of the church, or are, but aren't coming to church.
I serve, all the time, I LOVE people, I listen, I hug them, cry with them, give advise when asked, shut up when I need to, laugh, eat, pray babysit, clean, cook and help. That's the area's I wanna grow is my Christ like love for my fellow men. Teaching music to children was so much easier, I know it's not about being easy though, so I don't' need the lecture thanks.
I'm just not feeling it aye. I dont' feel more spiritual being the President or more 'in tune' or closer to Christ, hell I don't even feel like I'm gonna get a chance to feel close to the girls and that's the ONLY reason I'm still in this calling!!
I love those girls and I want them to be safe, happy, cherished, cared for, loved, hugged. I want to help them love themselves, become whoever they're suppose to become, never feel judged. I want their self esteems to rise and shine, I want them to feel the love that Christ has for them, and I feel like all this admin stuff is getting in the way of me being able to do that.
This past Sunday, for instance, I had to get to church early for a meeting, I was emailed multiple times during the week before, reminding me, of what I was suppose to do on this Sunday as it was Ward conference and the YW had a couple of things to do. THEN I had to stay for a meeting afterwards, which was a waste of my life!! And guess what.....................didn't get to talk to the girls at all.
Like I said, I need to go to the Lord and have him confirm to me that this is the right place for me, cause if it's not, I'm outta here.

Moving onto my next thoughts.

Masaru has always struggled at school. He's not unintelligent, quite the opposite actually, but it took him a while before the school would recognize him as a good reader and now they're telling me he's not a good writer, which is total lies, he's a great writer. But he's always struggled with math and he's barely hanging in there and it breaks my heart to watch.
Dru and I have been considering a private tutor for him to get him at grade level and feeling more confident with his maths you know. We knew it was going to be expensive though and have been playing around with our budget to try and work it out.
There's this new center, close to our house, called 'Mathnasium'. Here's the link if anyone cares http://www.mathnasium.com/
I rang them to ask how much it was a month. It's a lot. I blew it off. But the guy asked me to come in and he'd do a session with Masaru to see how he went.
Masaru wasn't keen to go. I told him we'd just go this once and if he didn't like it, he'd never have to go there again, I promised. So he went with me.
It was amazing. What he did with Masaru and how he talked to him and what he taught him blew my socks off. I actually sat there with tears streaming down my face because I knew this is where he was suppose to be but also knew it was going to be too expensive for us to be able to afford.
He did a 'test' with Masaru to find out what he knew, and the test wasn't that great. My heart broke. I felt like such a bad mother.
I've been trying so hard with him you know. I've been doing everything that I can think of to help him, I'd found something that I thought was working and he seemed to be doing alright, but after seeing this test my heart sank and I felt like a failure as a mother. Isn't it my job to make sure that my kids are alright? What kind of mother was I?
We left the session and Masaru asked when he could go back. He said he loved it and he knew he would learn things there.
I told him "Listen bub, they want over $200 a month for you to be able to go to this, we simply can't afford it"
He looked at me and goes "I understand mum, it's ok, I'll be ok"
It was all I could do to get home without losing it.
Dru came home and I bawled my eyes out to him saying that there's this programme out there, that could totally help Masaru to feel confident, and because we don't make enough money, we can't help him and sobbed and sobbed.
Dru got to work.
He crunched numbers, sat at the computer with the budget and thought and thought.
I went to bed feeling like crap.
In the morning Dru told me that if we wanted to do it, it'd take some sacrifice, but he thought we could do it.
Mathnasium says that it'll take a year to get Masaru where he needs to be, Dru said we could do it for a year if we lived a little differently.
Dru said he'd start biking to work so we aren't spending $$ on petrol. He also said we need to tighten our belts in a couple of other area's, and if we did that, we could afford it..............just!!
I talked to the guy at mathnasium and negotiated with him a little.........succeeded and got him signed up.
I was so excited to tell Masaru we'd found a way. He was so surprized and really grateful.
He's been twice now and LOVES it. He told me he wants to go 4 times a week for 1 hour sessions.
You get to choose how many times and how long you wanna stay, it's an unlimited, monthly thing.
I'm so excited for Masaru and so proud of our family for figuring out a way to pay for this.
Masaru thanked us today for our sacrifice. I'm excited. I can't believe he's excited to do math!!
Now...............let's see some results aye hahaha
Watch this space..............

I think I should stop here with my thoughts. This is kind've a crazy post, but I think it's important for the journal, so up it goes and up it stays.

High school Rugby State Champs

 So it was the high school state championship for rugby, this weekend. We were excited to go to the game. A kiwi coaches one of the teams. I, randomly, met him at Takeshi's soccer game and we chatted for a little while.
He said, after coaching the highschool for a couple of years, he's brought them up from losing 50% of their games to almost a perfect record and here they are now in the state champs.
Pretty awesome.

 We sat in the front row of the bleachers and were happy. The weather was alright and we were warm. The two highschools were Capital and Mountain View. The game was awesome.
I mean it was try to try and conversion to conversion. By the end of the 70 mins it was tied. So they went into overtime.
That's the kind've game you love to watch, the nail-biter kind. Talk about exciting.

In the end Capital won by a conversion to win the state champs. Mountain View was the high school that the kiwi coached. I texted him later on and told him how awesome it was to watch and that I was sorry his team lost.
Really though, Capital played a better game, but it doesn't do any good to say that to the losing team. No reason to kick someone while their down.
We had so much fun watching this game and were glad to be there.
I love that there's rugby at high schools and that it's getting more and more recognition in the USA. Makes me feel happy.
Masaru was so pumped watching the game. He kept asking us when he was playing rugby next. We told him this summer and next spring. I hope he can keep that fire burning, he's gonna need it if he wants to play with the big boys, that's for sure.
Rugby's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
Love it.

Emi's picture

So Emiko actually drew her first 'real' drawing the other day.
She drew this and told me it was dogs. She then said it's T-shirts as well. Pretty random since she's never talked to me about dogs or T-shirts, specifically, before.
But I thought it was too cute to not put up.
I love kids drawings.

Field trip

So Yuki had a field trip yesterday. Like last year, she went to the zoo. I asked the teacher if I could bring Emiko and she said yes. So we were in.

I tried to go to Masaru's field trips but the teacher wouldn't let Emiko come and their field trips were from 9am till 2:30pm!! That means I'd have to find a babysitter for the whole day for both my kids. It's too hard. I felt bad about that, but it is what it is I guess.

We arrived at the zoo and it was............well......a zoo. I couldn't find a park ANYWHERE, there were school buses EVERYWHERE, there were children running around all over the place. Here I was, thinking I was a rockstar for turning up a little early and it turns out all the time was used in simply finding a parking space and then hauling Emiko, in the pram, over to where Yuki was eating her lunch.
It was all quite the fluster.
I was expecting a group of around 6 kids. Nope, just Yuki and her little partner Livi. I loved that there was only the two that I had to look after and one of them was my own child. It was quite pleasant.
They had a clip board with information they had to write on there. So we worked on that, while we ran around.

 I found out my mate, Shannon, was there with her little girl so we hung out together for around 70% of the time. It was nice. She took these pic's.

 Silly faces.
I find the zoo pretty sad. I feel sorry for those animals, stuck in those cages. I just don't think it's right man. But I'm not gonna make a big fuss about it, I just quietly don't think it's right you know!!! If they're rescued, sure. Can't survive on their own, I think that's alright, but perfectly good animals just living in cages? Seems sad to me......moving on.

 With the Giraffes.
We had fun, running around, and seeing all the animals we could. Emiko was ok, at best. She can be quite the pill man. She gets in this certain mood and it's hard to pull her out of it. When I'm at home I can simply put her in her room and ignore her. But in a public place, is quite the different story, so then it's a balancing act between disciplining her and not 'setting her off. It frustrates me man. Oh well.

Shannon said "Ok now be a Giraffe" The girls looked at each other and this is what they came up with hahahahaha

 I never said she wasn't cute, I just said she was frustration sometimes hahahaha
Look at that sweet face man..................now I've got guilt......................"Stay strong Milz, she needs discipline"

We ran around some more and rode on the toys and slides and looked at more things and had some fun. I'm glad I went. I'm also glad they let Emiko come so I could come. I get tired of always trying to find a babysitter. Do any other women feel this way? Thank goodness for my 'go to' women who help me out all the time. Bless their hearts. With no family around, it's essential.

I saved this picture for last cause I want you guys to make up a speech bubble for this Wallaby.
Mine is "I eat kiwi's for breakfast mate, back off"
hahahaha He's not looking too happy aye. Crack up.

After kisses and hugs and the long haul back to the car, we stopped off to pick up Takeshi and headed home, where Emiko peed her pants and spent the rest of the afternoon in her bedroom!! She just sat in this chair, looked at me, and peed!! It was her first accident in a couple of weeks!!! Oh well.
I'm glad we went.

Give me your speech bubble people!!!

Other happenings

 So our mates got a rabbit then left on a weekend trip. They asked if we'd watch their rabbit. I said yes. The kids were very excited about this. I barely noticed the rabbit was there. The kids looked after it the whole time. It's name is 'Pepper' and it's a girl and it's pretty cute man.
So since our backyard is a forest, the kids decided to make it an 'outside' house. I told them they had to watch her, as she could get lost, pretty easily' in that 'forest'. They never lost her.

 Here she is, discovering her 'new' place.

 She's tiny and really liked the kids. Everytime they were around she tried to reach out to them but standing on her back legs.
They fed her carrots and gave her a TON of cuddles and love.
But NO, we will NOT be getting a rabbit, or any pets. I don't care how 'easy' they are, it's just one more thing man, and I'm not in a place for that.

 How cute is this picture of Yuki with Pepper?
Here's a couple of video's of the kids telling Jobecka about Pepper's new home.


Pepper survived the weekend and we were happy to have her and I was happy to give her back.

Soccer season is over for the spring and that makes me happy.
They kids did really well this season.
Yuki remains a rockstar soccer player.
They inivited her to go to the 'upper' level, but Dru and I aren't interested in that. More money and more time commitment. One of the places her games would be, is around 25 mins away ONE WAY. I'm sorry but neither Dru or I are good with that. We put her in a special soccer unit these last 5 months and out of 12 games, she went to around 4. We just find it hard to commit to a 25 min commute. So we've learned our lesson and had to simply 'eat' that money we spent on that.   Dru contemplated it for a few minutes, the next level, and we had a talk, but I soon talked him off the ledge by reminding him how horrible we were with her last soccer commitments.

She's more than welcome to stay in this 'rec' league until she's 10 and then she can move onto whatever else she'd like to do. If she's still rocking it and likes it, then we can talk I guess.

She's been with the same coach and the same players her whole soccer life. It's sad because her soccer coach and some players are moving to the next level. She had a bit of a cry about it, as we'll miss those players and coach. He was awesome. Oh well. Yuki seems to be athletic and has 'fight' in her. I think she'll be good at whatever sport she chooses to be good at.
This last game was funny as we overheard her saying to a player on the other team "Stop pushing!!" and gave her the 'evil eyes' That's my girl man, not taking crap from the other side, and telling them how it is. I must admit, I told my kids "If someone on the other side is pushing you around, push them back, they'll soon learn they can't push you around without a fight"
That's how I played sports, as well as my siblings. You gotta show that you're not a pushover and you're in it to win it man.
But in saying that, we busted Takeshi totally pushing a kid over in his soccer game the other day. I ran over to him and told him off, telling him he wasn't to push someone for no reason, it's not nice or the rules of soccer. He said this to me "Mum, he pushed me as well, it was like 8% him and only 1% me!!" Trying not to laugh I said "That's not what it looked like Takeshi, watch yourself!!!"
Gotta give him kuddos for his excuse.
Takeshi did really well in soccer this season. He's an emotional player. Everything is high intensity man. If he scores it's like his first goal ever, over and over again. It's pretty cute. If the other team scores he'll get upset. He cracks me up.
He's a good scorer and has aggression in him, which will make him a great athlete. He enjoyed soccer and I'm interested to see how he'll do in the future seasons.
Masaru played his last soccer game this past Saturday. He's too old to stay in the 'rec' league. We prepared him for this and told him this was his last season. He doesn't seem to care. So that's really good.
He told me he wants to try basketball, track, and mountain bike more, which is just fine by me man. He'll play rugby again this summer and next spring. This Autumn season he can do track and basketball with his school teams. I think that sounds good.
Masaru's heart never really seemed in soccer. He didn't show much 'fight' which makes me sad. You have to 'want it' you know? He's a good athlete though. So if he finds something worth fighting for, I think he'll do great. I don't think soccer is his 'worth fighting for' sport. Secretly I hope it's rugby, but I need to settle down on that hahahaha

Masaru took my phone and took pictures of his latest lego build. It must be important to him, so up it goes on the blog.

I assume it's a landcruiser.

So cute.

End of year field trips are happening and all the 'winding down' that happens with the end of the school year.
I like this time of year, it means summer is coming and I get my children, full time, for almost 3 months. I love it.

Bring on summer man................

Mother's Day

 So Mother's Day and my birthday were the same day. I feel a little ripped off, but I had a great weekend, so I need to just deal with it I guess.
Yuki filled this page in at church. I think it's pretty cute.

 Dru gets me my potted plants, for the outside of the house, for Mother's Day. I love them. Our landlord's don't care and won't help us with the yard, so we do what we can it make it look ok. Flowers make everything prettier I think. So I have five hanging baskets around the front of the house, as well as four pots. I love it. Takeshi has pledged to help me look after them.

 Masaru made this tea cup thing with a herbal tea bag in it. I think he did a great job, but I think it's a lame gift that the teacher made them do.

 Yuki made me this book.

 She's got my long torso and short legs right. So cute hahaha

Takeshi made me this pinch pot and chose the colours as well. I love it and it's in my kitchen waiting for me to put my rings in it while I do the dishes. Sorry it's upside down.

We got some chocolates at church, which was really nice.

 I love how all the kids are looking at Masaru in this shot.

 Like that forrest that's in the background there? Masaru told me the other day "Mum don't mow it, cause it's awesome, it's like our very own forest in our back yard, I LOVE it"
Hahahaha we'll see mate.

I figured it'd be a good idea to get pictures together for Mother's Day. They didn't turn out that great, but it doesn't matter. I think it's good to take pictures, together, every now and then. It's not too often we get pictures together, which is sad, it's usually ones of us doing something or of each other individually, but hardly ever all together you know.
Mother's Day was basically sabotaged by my birthday. There wasn't really any 'Mother's Day' celebrations you know. That kinda sucked. I think it's nice for the kids to appreciate their mother. Plus it's good for Dru as well. Usually he'll write me a nice note. Nothing this year. He's a little stressed at work, so my guess is he barely had time to sit and think. Oh well.

Being a mother and wife is more than wonderful. I actually don't think there's words that can describe it in the English language.
The changes that come from both of these roles are so substantial that it's tough to comprehend.
I'm not sure how I became so blessed, but these roles, I take very seriously and am glad I've been entrusted with it.
I'm a person outside of these roles with loves, goals and dreams, but being a wife and mother have kept me humble enough, by serving so much, to keep me close to the Lord. It's good to be kept humble, it keeps life in perspective, and I like that.

I also talked to my own mother the day before, since it was mother's day in NZ on USA's Saturday.
It was nice to talk to her.
My mother is a good person. I miss her sometimes. She's good to have around. She's coming in July for 2 weeks, and we're all excited for that. She's a good grandmother to my kids and I love that about her.
My mum is a strong woman who has an opinion. Yet she doesn't like confrontation (like me, I get it from my father) and will diffuse a situation pretty easily. She's intelligent, witty and I love how she laughs at her own jokes. It cracks me up thinking about it. She's beautiful and loves us kids, warts and all. Man we gave mum hell growing up. I cringe thinking about it. We were never really disrespectful to mum, we were just trouble man. We got into fights and arguments with people, and were naughty at school and were crazy opinionated and were tough kids to get along with in a lot of ways. Mum had to do a lot of apologizing to others and sorting things out with others, because of us. She would get tired and looking back, I don't know how she did it. Some of us were fiercely loyal though, to a fault. One of my brother's got into a fight with another kid at highschool and beat him up pretty bad. He got suspended for it. When mum asked him what on earth happened he said "The kid said you were fat, so I made sure he knew he was never gonna say that again and pummeled him." The kid never said anything about mum again.
My brother's love my mum. It's nice. I like seeing it. I have hope that my kids will continue to love me when they're older as well, even though I make mistakes and have weaknesses. My brothers have a great way of looking past my mother's weaknesses, which aren't too many, and simply loving her. Maybe this is a boy thing? I dunno, but it's really nice.
I have a new found respect for my mother since reading Dad's journals last year. I wish I could've been there for mum, but was so young that there was nothing for me to do.
I'd like to think that mum has contributed to me being the woman I am in a number of ways. I like it.
I was asking Dru the other night 'What's the one thing you really like about me babe?'
He simply answered 'Your strength'
I'm like 'Like my physical strength or mental?'
He said 'Both'
I'd like to think I get a lot of my mental strength from my mother. She's so strong. She's so wonderful, hard working, determined and doesn't give up or back down.
I've also managed to see a softer side of my mother as we've all had children. My mum was tough with us kids, there wasn't many hugs or cuddles or 'I love yous' but watching her with her grandkids, I've seen all of the 'hardness', which was probably due to her upbringing and struggles, wash away while her hugs, 'I love yous' and cuddles have been given to her grandkids. It's been great to see and be a part of.
I've always known mum loves me and is proud of me. I think she looks at her kids and smiles because all of us have 'worked out'. That says a lot to her, as my Dad wasn't around for a lot of my younger brother's lives. It's probably why my brother's are so loyal to her.
I love mum. I'm glad she's my mum.
I hope she had a good mother's day.

38 and feeling great

So the birthday celebrations started friday night.
Dru asked if I wanted to open my presents 2 days early!! I said "Maybe one so I have something to open on Sunday" He said "I don't think that's a good idea" hahahaha

I'd texted all my mountain biking mates and asked them if they could get together and come on a group ride with Dru and I. Group rides are so much fun, and that's what I wanted for my birthday.
Most could come, which I was super grateful for, and it was planned and set.
Dru told me I'd want to open my gifts before the ride, otherwise I might regret it!! So I obliged and opened.
Here's what I got.
Just what I wanted. New tires, new grips and new sunglasses. Waitta go babe. Totally nailed it.

So Dru worked hard to get everything on before we were to meet our mates.
One of his other buddies came to babysit the kids, which was really nice. It's always great to have free babysitting!! Thanks Ben!
I love my bike man. It's so perfect. I'd like it, if it was 5 pounds lighter, but maybe I just should lose 5 pounds hahahaha That'd be easier. Everything is set up so beautifully. I get excited to ride it.
Anyway we met our mates and started to shuttle up to the trailhead.
Dru's mates have the e-cup going on right now. Remember last year when he had that month of racing his buddies and Matt won the cup? Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but that's going on again this month. So we chose a ride that would be fun, but also had segments that are part of the cup racing, so people could practice if they wanted.
My goal has and always has been to be able to trophy the DH of 3 bearz as well as Shane's. I've been working on it for a solid season and was only slowly getting closer and closer.
3 bearz has had over 100 women ride the trail and Shane's has had over 200. So it's been tough trying to trophy.
But I DID IT!!! Must've been the new tires ;)
I just can't tell you how pumped I was about it. I was so happy. Best birthday gift to myself. Totally rocking it and feeling awesome!!

I know that most don't care, but I also know that everyone has goals they're working towards no matter what they are, and when you reach your goals it feels epic right? This is the feeling I had after I saw this ride and the potential I still have. Love it.

We had the best time. Everyone had a great ride and had fun hanging out together!!
I love our mountain biking crew. Lot's of fun people that we adore. Lot's of hang out times with these guys.

So there's Dru in the back with all his DH gears on. It makes me feel a little better now he's all padded up. There's me and Jobecka in the back with Dmo beside her then her hubby Matt with the happy face hahahaha. Beside Matt is Paul and in the Pink helmet is his wife Lynette. Such fun people.

We went to chic fil e (I'll never spell that right) and had something to eat, then went home and watched 'Divergent' again.

Saturday was full of soccer for half the day and I had an earache, so that was weird. Dru tidied the house while I lay down and napped the earache off.

Later on that night Dru and I went out for a birthday date. Dinner and a movie. We went and saw 'Insurgent' which is the second movie to the 'Divergent' movie we'd watched the night before. It was good.
We then grabbed some dinner at McGraths fish house. It's been, kind've a tradition. I wasn't super impressed with their food though, so maybe I'm changing my tune as I get a little older. It was nice to be with Dru though. He tried to convince me to wear the 'fish hat' but I wasn't in the mood. Not like me, I know, but he let it go.
We came home and then watched another movie together, but I forget what it was. We watch so many movies!!

Sunday was a really nice morning. The sun was shining and the kids were happy and it was a really fun, relaxed morning. I loved it.
Church was nice with some great talks about motherhood, of course. I was sung to by the youth, which was sweet.

When we got home we got things ready to have a few mates over to help us celebrate.

 Best lemon cookies you'll ever taste, from my friend Rebecca.

Our mates the Jares family and Bleazards as well as Nawang and her brother, Tashi, came to be with us.
I appreciated it and had a great time being with them. Dinner was nice.

 Nawang brought me this from Nepal. She'd just gotten back from there this week. She told us of the horrors of the earthquake and the devastation over there. She has a 'go fund me' account to raise money for her village. I need to get it from her and put it up here on the blog so people can help. She said that the Red Cross are SELLING tents to the people!!! She SAW THIS!! Shocking!! So if I could make a suggestion................it'd be to NOT give money to places that you don't know where it's going.
I suggest this website: http://www.nanausa.org/
This is a Nepal organization of nurses who are over there, giving money and help to those who need it and are NOT selling ANYTHING to them. Nawang's sister is a nurse and is over there right now with 30 other nurses who wanted to help. If you're local and wanna just give Nawang money, she'll take it towards the $10,000 she wants to raise for her village. That'll ensure that your money, ALL OF IT, will go straight to her father, who will distribute it to those in need, which are many.
Tashi is working on a website which will tell people exactly what everyone needs. I'll put that website up when it gets finished.
Alright, off my soap box.
So I hung this gift up here and am putting all special notes in there. I like it.

 I got this awesome top and undergarment from my mate Nat. So funny story. We just happened to both meet at a store the other day. We hung out and talked and I showed her stuff I liked in the store. Well she was there TO BUY ME A GIFT!!  She said it was perfect timing.
When she gave me the gift she said "I guarantee you'll like this"
She was right. I love it. It's gonna be nice for summer.
My other mate Jobecka got me some much needed chocolate as well as gloves for lifting, which I totally need. My mates know me man.

 I was sent texts, given hugs, emails, phone calls, fb messages and cards with money in them, from family and friends. So, so nice. It's always nice to be thought of you know, and I appreciate it all.

 My mate, Cesha, gave me this knitting bowl. Isn't it so cute? You pull the end of the wool through that pattern in the front and it keeps it straight so you can simply knit from the bowl. How cute is that? Totally floored by this gift.

 Shannon got me some grips for my bike, which I'd already gotten, so I went in and swapped them for some, much needed, mt biking gloves. I LOVE them. She also got me a cute jewelry box. Nawang also got me a birthday sash I wore the whole night, as well as a beautiful scarf from Nepal and some prayer flags.
Tashi told me they're a Buddhist tradition where you hang them up, outside of your home, so the wind can catch them. He said every time the wind catches them it's good luck. The kids LOVED that. Takeshi is always out there watching them move in the wind and telling me all the luck we're getting!! So cute.

 Here they are up on our house. I put them there so they'd be protected in the weather, yet could still catch the wind. I love it.

More cards from mates.
Everyone celebrated and laughed, talked and had fun (I hope) and all left after about an hour and a half. I was a little shocked, but it ended up being great. We watched 'Big Hero 6' with the kids and snuggled and then Dru and I relaxed and watched a movie in bed together.

What a great weekend right? I was totally spoilt and was able to recognize the blessings in my life and the people I love who help make my life so much better with them in it. There really is no replacement for a good friend and I have some gems whom I love with all of my heart.
I have to give a quick shout out to my BFF. He worked hard to make my weekend just how I wanted it. He loves me. I treasure that love with all my heart and try to never take that for granted. He's the best person I know and it's a gift to simply be loved by him and adored. If I had nothing else, just that gift of his love, would be enough. Love you babe.

Usually I would cringe at the number 38. You've all been with me on my 'growing older' journey and how hard it's been for me, but this birthday had zero effect on me in that way.
I can honestly say I don't mind being 38. I feel SO good, so strong, beautiful, loved, so full of potential with my mind and body that it's actually exciting to be alive and celebrating birthday's.
Sure I have wrinkles and scars, cellulite, zits and I don't heal as fast as I used to, but growing older is a gift that I'm beginning to recognize as exactly that.
With age I get more experiences, which gives me more perspective, which helps me to be a better person. I see that as a gift that I'm grateful for, the older I get.
Things shift with age, like what matters and what doesn't, who matters and who doesn't. I like it and I'm really happy, and at the end of the day, that says more than a number.
Happy birthday to me. It was a great one.