The McMahon Family

I love birthdays and birthday parties, but I especially love them if they’re for me.  I still get so excited anticipating my birthday coming up.  This year was so strange because I was planning Mom’s surprise party and it happened to fall on my actual birthday.  Because of all the planning, I completely forgot my birthday when it arrived!  I was still blessed beyond belief with loving cards and presents.  I still reread them each day and get so happy all over again at the great family I am blessed with.

My boys signed the card themselves. LOVE it!

The main theme this birthday for me was money for clothes.  Because I hate shopping so much, I use a lack of spending money as an excuse not to go.  But with gift cards, the guilt of spending money is gone.  On top of gift cards, I accumulated quite a wad of cash to contribute to the fund also.  So, I have begun the shopping and actually had a great time on my first outing with my gifted money.

Mom’s surprise birthday party went off great.  She had no clue!  It was my first time throwing a surprise party, so I was happy that it actually worked.  I hate them and would just die if anyone threw one for me, so I wasn’t sure how Mom would respond with us throwing her one.  But she was a trooper and I think she even enjoyed it! 🙂  She even got a little misty eyed a couple of times, especially seeing her ‘baby’ had come just for her.

We told Mom we were meeting Uncle Denny, Aunt Nancy and Nicki’s family at the restaurant.  When she walked in, she walked right past her party table with her cake and balloons and was still surprised seeing family and friends all there.  On Tara’s great suggestion, we put together a party favor of Mom’s favorite candy for each person to take home.  The 60 M&M’s were a hit.

I love my photog skills here with Nate's priceless expression.

She was truly surprised when she saw her friends at dinner.

Party favors for everyone.

Custom made for Mac and Matthew.

Really enjoying his ice cream...

Of course, Shannon’s pics were better.  He got shots of the cakes and guests, including a great whole group shot.  Check his out.

I did a little dance on Wednesday in celebration of being done with another school year.  Several students brought me presents this year as a good bye.  I got flowers, stationery, and much more.  Come to think of it, this class was big on presents.  For Christmas I got bags, candy, and even personal gifts (like a Superman button that played the theme song!).  This was a generous class that really paid attention to my personal likes and wanted to cater to that.

I also completed my last year with a Jones boy.  I’ve had all four of their boys in class over the span of 8 years (I think!) and have loved every moment with this family.  Three of the boys came on the last day so I made them pose for a pic with me

The oldest, and the first one I had in class, graduated from high school this year!  Way to make me feel old, Garrett! Oh wait, this is about you, not me! 🙂  Anyway, I will really miss this family.  The boys are great to teach, the parents are totally supportive of me and their kids (great tip for those of you who have kids just entering school:  support your kids and the teachers. There is a great balance!) and they give the best gifts ever! April has made all my boys’ quilts/favorite blankets and even some for me. The first year  I was with them, she made my Cubs pillow cases that I still use!  We’ve been through quite a few sheet sets over the years, but I always use my Cubs cases.  It came with a quilt also, which Mac has now claimed as his…along with his Lightning McQueen quilt she made him.

And the great Scentsy gift this year!

Thank you, Jones family. I will miss you all.  Including the famous father. 🙂

It was time to clean their room…again.  But it was also bath and bedtime.  The room hadn’t been picked up all weekend and you literally could not get to their dressers to get clothes!  So I decided before bath and bed, they each needed to do a little.  So Shannon said, you need to pick up 9 things before bed.  Mac tried to negotiate it down to three, but no-go with Daddy.  So he headed in to pick up his 9 things.  When I came in for bath time, he proudly told me he made his bed.  Inside, I cringed, thinking,  Here goes the fight.  He didn’t pick up his 9 things. “See?  9 blankets, all made on my bed.”

Well, I guess no need to be disappointed.  He did listen, technically.  And not to be outdone by his brother, Patrick made his bed also.

Then when it was finally time to crawl into the bed, neither wanted to mess it up and get under the covers.  So, Mac asked for another blanket so he didn’t have to disturb the others.  Um, no.  You already cannot find your bed with all the blankets and stuffed animals.  No.

I love those evenings when it just all goes perfectly.  We enjoyed a nice dinner out.  The boys behaved.  We went out for ice cream.  The boys behaved.  We came home and played outside.  The weather behaved.

Ice cream mustache

And look at Patrick riding his bike!!

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It was a great date night with my boys.