Birthday fun, wonderful grandma time, snow!

I have an unexpected Thursday morning at home, so now I have time to update this blog.  Going right along with the rainy summer and fall that we have had here in PA, we are continuing with the frozen kind of precipitation.  We are having snow and are expected to get sleet and freezing rain, so my morning Bible study at Calvary was cancelled, schools are cancelled, and I already cancelled my choir practice for this evening.  It's nice to have a day at home and I'm so thankful I do not need to drive.  Ice is no joke!  So far it's beautiful out there.  

Last Thursday was my 67th birthday.  I had lots of birthday greetings on Facebook which made me feel really happy, but there was no time to celebrate that evening because of choir practice.  Did I ever write here on my blog about the crazy line-up of our family birthdays?  Back when my kids were young I used to have a Monday evening meeting that I attended.  One year I noticed that it seemed to often interfere with our family birthdays which I always made a big deal about - favorite food, favorite home made birthday cake, etc.  I looked at the calendar and was amazed to see that every one of our birthdays (Dick, me, Lisa, Anthony, Jeremy) had been on a Monday that year!  And so it is!  This was our year for Thursday birthdays, next year we'll have Friday birthdays, etc.  Isn't that crazy??  It gets off kilter on leap years, but then the next year it's back on track again!

Friday was Sam's birthday, and we have always tried to do something together on or around our birthdays. This year Sammy had off school on that day, and Sam had requested off work for Friday and Saturday. So on Friday morning I drove down to Lebanon.  It rained hard the entire 2.5 hour drive.  Ugh.  At least it wasn't snow, I kept telling myself.

As soon as I got there Sammy gave me the card he had made for me.  How precious is this??

And this picture.  That's me in the middle between Bianca and Sammy.  He didn't know how to spell Mahna, lol!  He made up that name for me before he knew how to spell!

And this activity.   Along the left side are items that I needed to find embedded in the picture.  How creative is he????

Bianca wanted to take pictures with my camera.  Here's a shot she took of the birthday people!

We decided that on this rainy day a movie was the best option.  I had some Fandango gift cards to use up, and we were able to get tickets for all four of us for a total of $2.30!  We went to see Dr. Suess's The Grinch.  We laughed a lot, ate a lot of popcorn, and had a great time.

That evening Ray, Ashley, and RJ came over and we had pizza, birthday cake, and ice cream.  And lots of fun, of course.

Of course, all the kids care about is getting a piece of cake with a whole lot of icing!

Later Sammy remembered that he and daddy were going to make cookies together.  So I kind of helped the process along (pre-made dough), but they formed the balls.  The house smelled good.  A great activity on a cold, rainy night!

On Saturday morning Sammy was in the mood for putting up Christmas decorations and lights in the basement. So I helped him with that.  I forgot to take any pictures!!  That night I asked Sam to take a picture and send it to me.  I love this so much!

Later we went to nearby Golden Corral and had their incredible lunch buffet.  We will definitely go there again.

Then we went to Lebanon Valley Mall.  First we had to dig out all our coins to throw into the fountain along with our wishes.

Then we went to the fantastic play area at the mall.  The kids had a blast and there were even sofas for the adults to relax on while the kids played.  Must have been designed by a tired mom, hahahaha!

I had been hoping to get back home before dark (which comes SO EARLY now), so after a while we had to say our goodbyes.  What a fun two days we had together!

Look how these kids have grown!  I posted this picture from several years ago to honor Jenn on Veteran's Day.  How precious!

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV.  I wish you could have heard the congregation sing "Let There Be Peace on Earth."  It was so powerful and touching.

From there we went to Calvary's service and brought the boys home with us afterward.  We had pizza and chicken tenders for lunch, then Hunter went down for a nap and Grandpa and I napped in the living room while Austin played games on his iPad.  When he needed to recharge it he decided he was in the mood for a game of Chutes and Ladders.  A bit below his level, but we had fun with several rounds of it.  Such a crazy, unpredictable game where no amount of strategy works!  At one point when he landed on the same square as me he tried to get his person to balance on top of mine.

Hunter woke up happy and full of fun and enthusiasm.  I think Anthony is raising his own sax player for his future band, hahahaha!

Showing his dance moves, lol!

Later we went to Weis Markets to meet Lori and Anthony, since we both needed groceries.  It was already dark, but I just had to take this video as Hunter sang Old McDonald in the car.  MELT MY HEART!!  He tried to add more and more animals and their sounds even after I stopped the video.  

Tomorrow morning Lisa, George, and Sophie, along with their two dogs Nilla Bean and Stella, will be starting their road trip to State College!!  They plan to arrive sometime Saturday.  It's been two years since they were up here and I am just a little bit excited!!!!  They'll be staying until the day after Thanksgiving.  Woohoo!!!

Sophie has seen snow only once in her almost 14 years, so Lisa wondered if we could keep this snow till they get here.  I have a feeling that will not be a problem.  I don't think there are any milder temperatures in the forecast until after they go back home.  They will get a taste of winter for sure.