Late Night Downton Abbey

Midnight on a Friday night and I'm still awake...this is unheard of.  I blame it on the caffeine I had this morning, but I am finally watching the Downton Abbey premiere and enjoying some hot cider adult beverages.  I'm counting down to Girls' Weekend which starts tomorrow morning.  I'm heading to the beach with Sarah and Sarah, two of my besties, and I can't wait.  I know I'll miss spending the weekend with Trey, but I'm excited about him spending some quality time with Randy and, of course, I'm looking forward to some time away with my friends.

Speaking of friends, Randy and I were lucky to celebrate Kellie's 40th birthday with her last weekend.  Kellie and I have been friends since 1993 when we pledged together at Pi Phi at Willamette University.  We lived together for at least two years (I might be forgetting something), and we spent a fair amount of our 20's together causing trouble.  When Randy and I lived in northeast Portland, Kellie and her family lived about 10 blocks away.  It was such fun to spend seven years with Kellie just around the corner.  Spontaneous walks, happy hours at Breakside, and getting the boys together to "play"...it was a true gift to have her nearby and it's honestly one of the things I miss most about being in our old 'hood.

Her husband, Ethan, threw a great 40th birthday party for her, and it was great to have a night out.

Ethan's sister created this great poster of all things we love about Kellie. 

Getting ready to blow out a shitton of candles... 

Okay, maybe there weren't 40. 

One of the best parts of the party was seeing Joy.  

Joy, Kellie, and I lived together for our senior year in college, 

and we had such fun.  The only downside to seeing Joy was it made me

really miss Jessica, the fourth Musketeer.   

Ethan, the DJ 

Saturdays are extra special when we are in the throes of the school year.  I love spending time with Trey, and there are moments when I have to consciously put aside chores so I can sit and spend quality time with my boy.  Last Saturday we were driving to swimming lessons, and as we drove down our street I saw a glorious rainbow in the sky.  I pulled over and unbuckled Trey from his seat.  We have talked a lot about rainbows and read about them, but he's never seen one in real life.

If you look closely, you can see that there was actually a double rainbow.   

Trey and his first rainbow 

I came in on Trey during "quiet time" (I use the term loosely) on Saturday and found him in his "nest" of pillows on the floor reading books.  We have read these books so many times that he is able to pick one up and "read" it to himself.  I've been trying to expand Trey's horizons when it comes to books...mostly because if I read one more Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Doc McStuffins, or Jake and the Neverland Pirates book I might just poke out my eyeballs.  Luckily, Trey has been enjoying Henry and Mudge books and I have been introducing some other early chapter books like the Ant and Honey Bee and the Bones mysteries.  I cannot tell you how much I love that Trey loves books.

On Sunday, we spent some time with Grady.  I also cannot tell you how much I love spending time with Grady and how much I love watching Grady and Trey together.

playing with Legos 

Someone has discovered the dog door.

This could be a problem.  

I forget how close of an eye you have to keep on a two year old.

If you look closely, he has Randy's shaver in one hand.  

Randy is in football heaven right now with the Broncos being in the playoffs.  He has been trying his hardest to get Trey to wear his Broncos jersey, but for some reason Trey is totally opposed.   Fingers crossed that this Sunday goes well, as I won't be home to keep Randy from raising a ruckus if his team starts to lose.

Tuesday was Randy's birthday, and we celebrated with a dinner at home.  We got some short ribs from Gartner's and had some smashed potatoes and delicious wine.  Trey had helped me bake cupcakes the day before which we enjoyed along with gifts.

I am feeling pretty disappointed that my book didn't arrive at the library before my trip to the beach this weekend.  I have selected some books off of my shelf, but I'm not feeling super excited about them.  I have been on such a good run of books lately that this lull in reading (even though it's only a few days) feels sad.

I've chosen Sense and Sensibility by Austen which I've never read and Ann Patchett's first novel which I've had on my shelf for years.  I have read all of her others, and I'm sure this will be good too.

I know I'll get notified as soon as I hit the road for the beach that my library book has arrived, but I guess I'll just need to be patient.

It's 1am and I'm almost caught up on Downton Abbey (and the blog).  Still not feeling tired.  Damn caffeine. I know I shouldn't drink it but I still do...