He got me!

Tuesday night was the final night of our Theo class at church, and we had a pot-luck party at a couple's house in Fort Myers. I brought, as requested, the apple dumplings from this site. It pains me to present these as a home-made item as the ingredients are apples, crescent rolls, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and Mountain Dew. It is embarrassingly caloric and far too easy to make to accept any praise. But they are go-od.

Brad had work to do on his school work so he stayed at home.

Or so I thought. While I was out, Sneaky Pete ran to the store, purchased a cake mix and eggs, came home and made me a CAKE! He even threw in some chocolate chips and a big scoop of peanut butter just for fun! But while it was baking he realized that frosting doesn't come in the box, so he had to dash back out and pick up frosting!

When I came home, the house smelled amazing, Brad had completed his reading for school, and we got to party a little. (No, Court, that's not a euphemism.)

Lighting the candles... (see the wall of boxes in the background?)


Four times eight = 32. Clever man. The birthday candles are packed, but the tealights are still out!


"How do I frost this?"


I am so very proud... and so full of cake. We nibbled on the cake pretty much all week, and also took it to family night on Saturday where it received high praise. I'm so proud of my sweet, adventurous, thoughtful man!

We also broke the rules and opened presents on Tuesday night. I received a darling box from my mother with stickers all over it-- very festive and appreciated, Mom! Inside were real! autumn! leaves! and a sweet Susan Branch calendar. And a check that will go toward some fun shoes, I'm pretty sure. I also opened Grandparents' card and check-- thank you both so much! My present from Brad was a necklace I've been wanting for a while--


My mother gave me the pearl, and I wanted it re-set and strung on a chain. We shopped around until we found a mom-and-pop place that would do it for less than $50-- much less, actually, and they were terribly accomodating and kind. So nice to find shops with a personal touch. (P.S. You can also sort of see my homemade haircut, too! I'm thrilled with it! Somehow I convinced Brad to try it on Sunday, and he did a wonderful job. Straight across the bottom, plus long layers! Impressive. I just noticed that it looks crooked in the picture, but I'm leaning. I promise it all lines up and doesn't look weird.)

Such a lovely birthday week I had.