Birthday Week (Vol. 1)

Last week, I didn't post - but it was an amazing week.  It was SOOOO amazing, I'm going to have to split this post into 2 separate posts.  (Only I could figure out how to celebrate a birthday for an entire week.)

Monday (aka Labor Day) was my 30th birFday (again, pet peeve...it's birTHday, people.)  Mr. DDA had to work.  So it was me & the three kids.  Not exactly my idea of fun.  But then we went to the Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech game.  I'm a VT football freak.  I live & breathe it during the fall.  We had press box passes.  The game was amazing.  We won in OT. 



Aren't We Cute?

Then, came Thursday...Thursday was HUGE in our house!!!
First, it was the Little Man's birthday.  And in case anyone within 5 miles of him didn't know - He turned 5! 

Also, Thursday was the cast removal day.  Yes - you read that right.  Hannah got her cast off.

Finally - after 3 long months...  I was able to cuddle her, hold her, she was able to take a bath...  It was wonderful. 

That night we went to Red Robin.  Red Robin is one of the kids' favorite places (and one of my wallet's least favorites.)  But what was so significant was that we went there the night before her surgery.  And I sat there with tears in my eyes wondering how we were going to do it.  How were we going to make it 3 months?  And then there we were - 12 weeks later.  With it behind us.  With our little girl - mostly healed.  (She still needs prayer though.  She could have to go through this again in 2 years.)

And as if that day could not get any better - Eli came home from school that day and I quote, "I prayed to Jesus and asked Him to come in my heart."  So he had a double birthday.  My cup overfloweth.  I could've died that night without a single regret. 

Then, on Friday, we headed down to Atlanta for my official 30th birthday party.  We had a giant cookout for Techy & Mr. DDA's birthdays.  My sister had a huge dance party.  I thought I would be somewhat disappointed that I wasn't having a party with all of my friends.  But I knew that as much as I loved Mr. DDA, a party planner he was not.  And the pressure would be on him to step it up.  My solution was a weekend with my family in Atlanta.

My sister made the plans.  And it was all a surprise for me.  We were supposed to run my first 5K.  She even made us shirts.

I can't figure out how to download pictures from Instagram.

Thanks to my bad knees and my sister's septic issues, the 5K didn't happen.  But we did run our own 3.1 miles at a local park.  And even though my knees wouldn't hold up the entire time, I finished. 

Then we were supposed to go to the zoo.  But thanks to poopie problems, the zoo didn't happen either.  But a friend opened her pool to us.

So far, you would think the weekend was a disaster.  Actually, it was wonderful.  This is exactly what I wanted.  But about to get even more AMAZING.  The final surprise was dinner reservations at The Spence.

Now, I'm a foodie.  HUGE foodie.  I love all those cooking shows on TV.  But hands down, my favorite TV chef, is Richard Blais.  He won Top Chef: All-Stars.  And with his prize money, he opened The Spence.  And my sister, being the amazing creative person she is, thought to take me there.  It was an amazing night.  One so amazing it needs it's own post.  But here's a sampling.

Then, after dinner, Mr. DDA took me here.

They sell these:

Only £225.00 - Converted to Dollars - $359!  OUCH!

While, I would *probably* never have bought them, I just wanted to try them on.  But alas - they didn't even have them in black so the temptation wasn't even there! But I did at least get to look around.  And pretend I was rich - if even for 48 seconds.

Then church on Sunday.  Did I mention that my sister goes to the same church as Casting Crowns?  Yes, the REAL members of Casting Crowns. 

All in all the weekend was amazing.  So good that I couldn't even believe it.  I'm up 5.5 pounds.  But it was so worth it.  So, so worth it.

See you soon with my review of The Spence!