The whole kit and caboodle

 If you know my husband at all, you know he spoils me rotten. Especially when there is a great excuse, like my birthday. He got both my birthday, and the day after my birthday, off work so we could be together. Felix has school both days (as did the other kids) so we got two full mornings together.
About 8 weeks ago Travis and I decided to make some dietary changes. Based on the books Eat to Live, and The Green Smoothie Diet we created a meal plan that we have been so excited about. We feel amazing! Food tastes good! This meal plan is something that we can do for a lifetime and it is all whole foods. It makes a lot of sense to us. I don't know why I hesitate to talk about it. Maybe I wanted to see if I could do it (it IS a very strict way of eating) or just let results speak for themselves.
One reason I mention this change is because I was able to reach my goals (both weight and full 8 weeks) so I want to celebrate! Also, I needed new clothes! So we decided to go shopping for my birthday. I won't go into details about what I got, but I will say we were successful! I feel like a kid in a candy fruit :) store. I was spoiled and had an amazing time with my man!

 The kids were so cute about some little gifts they made for me. They were so excited about giving them to me! This is the Statue of Melissa-liberty made from play-doh from Zoe.

 This is something she made from cutting and pasting images she found on the Internet (how did she know how to do that?).

This is what Liam made for me. A "town" with stores for all the things I like. There was also a book store and a sleeping store on the other side of the "street". In the middle is a pond and fountain with Iron and Wine singing in the middle. Adorable!!!
Lydia colored me 8 pictures. She is quite the color er.
I was showered with love and well wishes from all the amazing friends and family that I have been blessed with.
I realize that this post could seem like a boastful post, but I don't feel bad about talking about my blessings, my accomplishments, and my loving family. Thanks for sharing with me.

Concert fun!

Before this year, I can't remember the last concert I went to (Simon and Garfunkle in 2004?) Anyway, it had been a long time. Travis and I had had a conversation earlier in the year about the very few artists that we would be interested in seeing in concert. We both named a few and knowing the chance was very slim any of them would be passing through Boise, forgot the conversation.

Later on we found out that two of the artists on my list and two on Travis list were coming to Boise and the tickets were reasonable, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. So, in May we saw Iron and Wine (who was on both of our lists), then this week we went and saw Ray LaMontagne. It was a fun venue outside on a lawn, in the sunshine.

While I am generally a "cautious spender" (a friend so nicely put it :) I think that experiences are generally worth the money more than items are. We were really glad we went.