The Bestest Birthday Gift Ever!!!

Thursday afternoon was my 34th birthday. My friends snagged me last Saturday and surprised me with a fantastic Pirate Party and really ya'll, as far as I was concerned it doesn't get better than dressing up like a pirate and acting silly in public with your closest friends... but boy, was I wrong...

Two of my dearest friends, Brad and Rachel, have been waiting for a long time for their son to come home to them from South Korea. The adoption has been a long process, with a lot of tears and joy mingled throughout. Needless to say, we (them, their family and friends) were anxious for Matthew to be in their arms.

Last Monday Rachel received a phone call from the adoption agency that said Matthew would be coming home on Thursday (my birthday... I KNOW, how cool is that?) We were a couple of the friends they asked to witness this miraculous moment and oh, the sweetness of it all.

Grab a tissue (or 10), sit back and enjoy an evening and birthday I will never forget!

Chad drove a van full of girls to Chicago!! Yeah for road trips!

This is me and Joanna and Sara

This is the Chicago traffic... Yeah for rush hour! Ha!

This is the Chicago skyline and let me just say almost impossible to capture in a moving vehicle on the expressway. But finally all those darn semis got out of the way...

The board showed that Matthew's plane had landed and we were just waiting for the "arrived"

One of the 50 best and totally unrateable moments of the night was when Brad gasped "There his is"!

In his Momma's arms... right where he is supposed to be.

Oh the joy!!

Father and son!

A family of 3

The new Hunt family of 3 along with the couple that escorted Matthew from South Korea

A precious moment during a prayer. The sweet man from South Korea wanted to pray for their family. Not an eye was dry. It was so beautiful to hear him praying in his native language for this new family.

And this is the eye candy... can you hardly stand it. He is so beautiful!

Congratulations dear friends! You finally have your little boy!!

Ahoy Me Mateys... Yo Ho!!

Last night my bestest friends were nothing short of a rag-tag group of scurvy pirates!





And it was all for my birthday!

When I showed up to Applebee's for our long anticipated date night I was met my friend Rachel who held a scroll in her hand...

...a scroll that I was to open...



which contained the following:



and...



along with this clue...



Which led me to the Outback where I was met by my other friend Rachel



Who held another clue...



along with some fabulously large silver hoop earrings and a pirate bandana for my hair...

This would also be the point in the story where we run into a very lovely and classy couple that attends our church... you'd think I might be embarrassed at this point... but that would indicate you don't know me very well.

Strap up ya scurvy landlubbers we're about to set sail!!

Off to the Olive Garden we go... yo ho!!







Where we had a fabulously Piratey dinner... and an extreme amount of laughter, eye patches, pirate tattoos, not to mention a few funny looks and exclamations of "Look they're pirates"!!

I think this was the most wonderful birthday surprise I've ever had and I love my friends to bits for getting dressed up and silly for me!! You guys are the bestest Piratey Pals ever! And, should I ever take to the high seas... you will be the first Scurvy Dogs I call!

Wow... So Much Going On, So Little Time To Blog...

I hope that you all are having a great summer. Ours is going by at the speed of light and I am starting to get a little bit worn out. We always start the summer with few if any weekends booked up. There are always the family reunions and what-not that we know are going to be coming up, but other than that we really try to keep the weekends open... well, here it is July 27th and the rest of the weekends -- straight through until Labor Day are busy... and I don't think we've actually had an off weekend since the summer started and all our family reunions were cancelled.

I don't know how it happens it just does. Our weeks are filled with Doctor, Dentist, Optometrist and Car Maintenance appointments along with trips to here or there for this or that.... Oh, and I try to get our laundry done and some food stashed in the refrigerator (for those rare times that we are home) and make sure that the bills get paid (Since I'm not working on a regular schedule, these things sorta go by the way-side. Fortunately, we haven't had any debacles... yet!)

Once the weekend arrives we are usually packing to go away to visit with family that live a couple hours away or taking a short weekend trip with our friends... I'm not going to lie and say that I don't love it because I do and I know we are very fortunate to be able to spend our summer gallivanting around and having a grand ol' time... but I do get tired. I'm sure the 2am bedtime that we seem to fall into doesn't help much. I am actually working on getting that bit back under control, it puts a bit of a crimp on my 7am workout time. Anywhoo... we've been having such great fun and I have been terribly remiss in sharing it all with you.

I don't think I could possibly put it all on one post and not put you to sleep so I'll just give you a little bit here and hopefully I'll be able to blog a little bit more later this week... or whenever... I really shouldn't promise anything.

The day after school let out (approximately 6 weeks ago) Curt and I headed out to MIS for Sprint Cup practice and qualifying. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with hubby and the boys spent their first weekend 5 days or their summer with their grandparents. Curt's parents and my parents took turns over those 5 days so they could each have a turn. Fortunately they live about 10 minutes apart and just made the swaps themselves because we live about 45 minutes away from all of them. It was great. I don't think Curt and I have been alone for 5 straight days since Jacob was born. I appreciated every minute.

On Saturday our church was a Big Top in the Park. We spent the day there playing games with the kids, handing out water to runners in the park, enjoying worship services and hearing our Associate Pastor preach twice. It was a great day!

On Sunday we were back to the track for race day! Seriously, I love Nascar... I just can't help it. I love that Curt and I actually have that in common because he is such a big sports fan and quite frankly... I'm not... But Nascar, I can get behind that! We had a great time there but we were so tired when it was over. Don't think that stopped us from heading over to Chad and Rachel's afterwards. We sat around outside with Brad and Rachel and talked while watching Chad clean the air filter in his car. It was really exciting stuff. OK, maybe not exciting but it was funny to be sitting around doing nothing while he worked on his car.



On Monday we headed up to the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant with 20+ friends and acquaintances for an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. Seriously, if you love seafood and you don't care that the restaurant is in a casino you should go... I think its around $20 per person but as a special treat you cannot beat it. And they have soooo much more than just seafood. I'd pay $20 just for the salad bar... I'm not even going to talk about the dessert bar.... FYI -- the seafood buffet is only offered on Monday nights.

Tuesday we got our kids back and they started VBS.

We cut off their Mohawks and started eating our fair share of Popsicles (our share isn't done yet).





We've played with worms...





and sprinklers...





When we are home and the sun is out I lay outside in the sun and read, the boys often join me and Jacob even brings his own book. Ethan just wants to talk... so napping in the sun isn't a viable option. I do laundry and fiddle around on Facebook (which my husband just joined last week and has now become slightly obsessed with), I've been Twittering and texting. I know, I have finally joined the Text Messaging Revolution (it's not a real revolution... I was being facetious). I workout at least 3 days a week, but usually 5. I still work at the church, but only on Thursdays.

This week we are going to be looking for a second car. I'm hoping that the whole car shopping thing goes smoothly. I'll try to post some more pictures from our summer because I have some really, really good ones. And we have been doing a lot of things that I just have to share with you.

This last picture is my favorite of Jacob, I think its his eyes. They look just like his daddy's.

Yes, I'm Alive...

Summer hits the Ford household sort of like a tornado... and then it carries us off to parts unknown and wears us out. I am still in the middle of the tornado (it is only July) but I thought I'd better say something to all of you since my dear friend Rachel left me this doozy of a comment:

"Summer is here & Kristy is gone. She had plenty of things to blog about but no time to do it. Is Curt hogging the computer? Is Kristy been tied up by her boys in the basement and being fired upon with Nerf guns? Or is she just reading book after book in the back yard. I don't really know but I do know she is not here on her blog. She may not be for some time if last summer's trends hold true.

Kristy, Oh how we miss your cheery prose. Do come back some day soon!"

We have been having tons of fun visiting with family and friends, driving across the state to play at the beach, going to weddings, graduation parties, overnights here, overnights there, laying in the sun, reading novels, scrapbooking, taking pictures, watching sunsets, roasting marshmallows, jumping on trampolines, catching a nap or two or three and just plain having a good 'ol time. One of these days I'll post some pictures of what we've been up to but for now I'll just leave you with a Lake Michigan sunset.

Summer is Here...

...at least according to the calendar. However, if you are wanting a corroborating opinion by the weather man, you are in for some disappointment. Today it is freakishly ridiculous roughly sixty-three degrees and rainy. It is cold and wet. Not my favorite type of weather. I'm definitely a 75 and sunny girl. Definitely.

Anywhoo...

Today was Jacob's last day of First Grade. Yes, I do realize that it is the middle of June. Yes, I realize that everybody else ended school last week. Yes, I think it is ridiculous. Anything else you want to know? Ahem...

What I was saying was that today was his last day of First Grade and it was also Field Day. Wonderful, wonderful Field Day. And also cold and rainy. Nevertheless, I, the ever doting and always up for a good game of pass the sponge momma that I am (insert sarcasm here), attended field day.

I promise I won't bore you will tales of soggy shoes, wet hair, or glasses that should have come equipped with mini windshield wipers. Instead, I will show you some fabulously cute pictures of the just this morning First Grader who this afternoon morphed into a Second Grader.

I also promise not to cry on your shoulder leaving a wet spot of tears and snot.

As long as you don't come too close.





This was a fortunate game choice. The game leader didn't have to worry about the kids spilling all the water and thus forcing them to refill the bucket. The rain was doing it for them. Talk about time savers...

I love his smile.

And I'm just going to send out a warning to all of the Antcliff Family Reunion attendees... Jacob has been practicing the potato sack race... and this boy has some skilz!

I warned you. You better start practicing now or come August you are going down...

The Year of the Scarf Continues...

My good friend Rachel is hosting the second installment of the Year of the Scarf Bloggy Carnival today. If you haven't visited her blog, please do, just click the button up above or her name. Either way, you will reach her blog. If you are a scarf lover and wearer, upload some photos and link up.

Last time I participated in her Scarf Carnival I made a video. After I watched and posted that video, I thought maybe I shouldn't actually let people in the blogosphere know what I am really like. I mean, I do want you to keep coming back to read my nonsense and all. Anyway, I am way cooler when you can't here me talking. So, this time I have some photos.

First things first; my photographer is four years old. Yes, you heard me right, he's F.O.U.R. I think he did a pretty darn good job of operating a camera that is almost bigger than his head. I should point out that his head is rather large. Ahem... Second, it appears that I may be goofy all the time and not just when I speak. I know, a shock to my system as well.

This is my standard 'Ol wrap the scarf around the neck and let it hang where it may style...

No, I'm not wearing cute little sandals as Rachel suggested, I'm wearing flip-flops. But hey, at least they aren't tennis shoes.

This is the exact opposite of the first style.



See, it hangs in the back...



And here we are with our incognito look.



Now this can be worn for either thwarting the paparazzi that follow you around or if you are working for some type of agency that hunts down bad guys... very sneaky don't you think?



Now, throw on a scarf, snap some pictures and link up over at Rachel's blog and have some fun!

Picking Posies and Jumping June Bugs...

We started our Saturday by going to the soccer field and watching Jacob play... he scored a goal. His first one of the season, and I missed it. I was paying attention to these little cuties...


... and this one...

... aren't they all precious?

After the game my mother-in-law took the boys to her house because Hubby and I were going to my nephews graduation on Sunday (will post pictures soon) and we wouldn't have time between church and when commencement started to get the boys to her. So, that left Hubby and me all alone for most of the day.

We went to a favorite pizza place of ours and didn't eat pizza. Hubby had a salad and I had a burger. And it was lovely. We also watched part of the Nationwide race and he shushed me (on our date mind you) so he could hear it. But it was fun anyway.

After we got home I asked Hubby if he would start a fire in our fire pit, but before he could Rachel called and asked if we wanted to head their way because they were having a fire. So, I quickly grabbed a bottle of Diet Mt. Dew (because you can never have too much caffeine. Right, Rachel?) and a bag of Strawberry marshmallows and away we went.


We did some roasting...

some eating...

and some jumping...

Apparently, before Hubby and I arrived Rachel asked the others if they thought I would make it all the way to the fire or if I would stop at the trampoline upon my arrival... let's just say I could never turn down a good 'ol game of popcorn...

This is Dare Devil Rachel... Oh my!!

And Bouncy Rachel... she kinda reminds me of Tigger.

And then, at 8:00 on the button Hubby's cell phone starts making a noise. Apparently we were on a schedule because the Red Wings are in the play-offs and we had to watch the game. What to do, what to do?

Super Chad to the rescue...

He brought the T.V. along with power and cable to the fire. Oh yes, he did!


And after the excitement of another Red Wings win... or maybe just a half a bottle of Diet Mt. Dew and a dozen S'mores I had the urge to jump again!