Party Time

Cate's fourth birthday is coming up in just a few weeks. At any given moment, it's both hard to believe that four years have gone by and hard to remember life before these two little kids made us a textbook nuclear family.

I have set to work planning Cate's party. There is a great carousel at Gage Park in Topeka, so we are having her party there on August 14. Invitations (handmade by me!)were mailed Saturday to six of her closest friends.
I am working on all the other preparations -- princess cake, hot pink/lime candy buffet (the other parents will love me!) and coordinating plates, cups and decorations.

In the mean time, my birthday came and went about a week ago. Stephen and the kids kindly treated me to hot dogs and ice cream for my big day. They also chose the most lovely purse and ruby pendant necklace as my gifts. I had a great birthday and had already begun looking forward to next year.

Saturday evening, we had dinner planned with another couple in Kansas City. Stephen casually suggested we stop on the way for a drink for just the two of us. I happily complied as he veered from the path to the restaurant where we had 6:45 p.m. reservations. We pulled up to another restaurant that I truly enjoy, La Bodega. As we walked in the door, Stephen reminded me that I had been giving him a hard time all day, claiming I made all the plans for our kid-free night on the town. I laughed as he said, "Well, you didn't make all the plans."

I followed his pointing finger to the back of the room where seven other couples sat waiting to surprise me for a birthday dinner. My gaze ran the length of the table and it didn't really register for me until my eyes crossed the Governor and First Lady. At that precise moment, I realized exactly what happened and the shock set in. It took about 30 minutes and three glasses of sangria for me to settle down.

We had a lovely dinner and followed up with more drinks and fun at the Cashew Bar downtown. It was a great time and certainly an unforgettable birthday. Thanks to my thoughtful husband for planning a true surprise.

On another note, I will spend a lot of time thinking about how many lies he so easily told to pull this off.