Happy Birthday To Me!

Friday, I celebrated my birthday!

I began my day with a 16 mile run with Jimmy, Lynn, Kelly, Heather, and Esther.  Actually, only Lynn, Kelly, and I ran all 16 miles together.  Heather and Esther started running at 5:00 AM, and we joined them at 6:00.  Esther ran one more mile with all of us, and Heather and Jimmy ran 8 or 9 with us.  Jimmy went on to run a total of 24!

After all of that running, Jimmy, Lynn, Kelly, and I enjoyed a Salty Caramel Mocha at Starbucks.  Then Jimmy and I came home to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon cooked by my sweet children!  They had the table all set and decorated festively.

Next, I opened my presents!  (And after the present opening, the children completely cleaned up the kitchen from our breakfast!)

Leah and Julie with the Chair of Gifts

I received precious handmade cards and gifts from the children.  Jimmy had also taken them shopping, and I saw Sam give his contribution to the gift fund just as I began opening my presents.....he donated $.53.

Leah recently learned how to crochet animals, and she gave me her first creation--a jellyfish.  Clay carved me a beautiful wooden spoon out of cedar from our woods.  Olivia and Julie worked together to sew me two sets of cloth napkins.  They did a fantastic job--the napkins even have mitered corners!  They also gave me two more pieces of cute fabric with the promise to make me two more sets of napkins.  Sam drew me a precious picture for a birthday card.

I also got a new pizza pan (which I used for the first time last night), a bundt pan (to make pound cake in), and a necklace with charms--5 of them, each one has one of the children's names on it.  Thank you, Aunt Debbie for helping Jimmy with this gift!

the jellyfish

I know that I look rough---remember, I ran for over 2 hours before this picture!

After resting most of the afternoon, we all went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, and then we went to the mall.  

It was a wonderful day!

A family photo on my birthday