How to Have a Great {31st} Birthday

1. Wake up at the crack of dawn so that you can beat the crowd at the DMV (nothing like putting off your driver's license renewal until the very last minute).
2. Half hour after that wake-up time, greet your child in the hallway, a child who has previously never met you in the hallway in the morning. Yes, that very child, on your special day, has learned how to climb out of his crib, altering life as you know it. Happy B-day, Mama.
3. Arrive at the DMV at 7:57 a.m. Attain the coveted #1 spot and quickly exit with a shiny new driver's license (unfortunately, also exit with a much lighter wallet. $65 are you kidding me!?).
4. Go grocery shopping at Walmart. (I don't know about you, but Walmart is always on my list of fun things to do on my birthday)
5. Drive to grocery store #2 since the aforementioned Walmart didn't have everything you needed.
6. Pay an exorbitant amount of money at grocery store #2 and suddenly appreciate the value that is Walmart (with the good comes the bad, right?)
7. Change your first (and let's hope only) major toddler blow-out (and I mean BLOW-OUT), complete with giving said toddler a bath.
8. Babysit two neighbor children, leaving you to care for three children under the age of three.
9. For first half hour, think to yourself, "I could totally do this--having three kids 18 months apart isn't so bad."
10. For the next two and a half hours, think to yourself, "AHHHHHHHH! Why would anyone do this?"
11. Rock crying 8-month-baby girl until she finally falls asleep. Read your own child a story and get him in his crib for his afternoon nap.
12. Once again, greet your child in the hallway, accompanied by squeals of delight at his proud accomplishment.
13. For the next hour, continually be greeted by child in hallway. After that, just give up, lock your child in his room for 1/2 hour, only to hear him playing choo-choos and cars.
14. Once your hubby comes home, go on a much-needed bike ride.
15. On that bike ride, get chased by a dog, stared-down by a cow and followed by a chicken.
16. Come home to a newly fashioned crib for your child (holes drilled lower to move the mattress down), a clean house, a sleeping child and a scrumptious homemade dinner. (It was a long bike ride).

Happy Birthday to me. At least I got I greeted by a b-day video from this guy: (Josh had this video waiting for me on the computer when I woke up. Very sweet). And at least every year I insist on having a birthweek. So, here's to more, and hopefully better, celebrating! {Friday is when I plan on having my b-day re-do since Josh has this Friday off}. Enjoy this little gem of Will singing "Mama Mia!" and wishing me a Happy B-day!

Easter: Bring on the Candy

What did the Easter bunny bring Will? Well, Will sure didn't know and/or care. What did he care about? Why, the lovely, brightly colored eggs that held mounds of candy, of course. After all that, the rest of Easter was kind of a let down. Too bad for Will, Easter is the only time he gets to consume ridiculous amounts of candy. Hopefully, one day he will not only recognize but appreciate the full import of Easter: it's not about the candy, it's certainly not about the presents but it is about the fact that our Savior lives. And hopefully, he will also one day recognize that this knowledge can bring better joy and satisfaction than any Reese's egg-shaped peanutbutter cup ever will.

The VT Madsens and the NYC Jane joined us for our Easter celebrating/Conference viewing. How blessed are we to have such good, fun family so close so that we can share all the good times? And how blessed are we that, because of our Savior's life, death and resurrection, we can live forever as a family? And who wouldn't want to live with this guy forever:

Posing with his NYC presents: light-up bunny ears from Granny and a taxi cab from Mama.

His Easter loot: notice said Reese's peanut buttercup in his hand. (When he looked in his basket, all he saw was the candy and he just kept saying over and over, "Eat it! Eat it!").
The cute kids in their Easter garb watching a church show while the adults attempted to watch conference.
Willy Will.
Will and his dada.
The three kids actually looking at the camera at the same time! Love this kid.

General Conference at our House

I don't know what General Conference-watching looks like at your house, but at our house it looks a little like this:

Will and his cousin Beth watching the "Guy Show" (the Incredibles) on "Mamadada bed";

Sam playing "choo-choo" in Will's room;

Oh and there it is--some people actually watching conference in our makeshift tv-viewing area in our office (Jane, Josh and Nate). Josh is even studiously taking notes. He gets the gold star.

We were so glad to have visitors for Conference/Easter, even if that meant General Conference viewing was a tad more crazy than usual. It's a good thing they replay it online. Hope your Conference/Easter weekend was as good as ours.

Girls' Trip 2010

What do you get when you take seven crazy Madsen girls and let them run wild for three days in the Big Apple? This is what you get:

• One viewing of a police take down.
• One spotting of a movie star on a bus (Kyra Sedgwick of "The Closer" fame).
• One much-needed spa pedicure (sooooooo worth it).
• Two opportunities to be in a Glenn Close movie.
• Two late nights eating lots of yummy yumminess (Carnegie Deli Cheesecake and Crumb cupcakes) and talking girl talk.
• Two nights at "shows" (The San Francisco Symphony at Carnegie Hall and "Mamma Mia")!
• Three trips to Levain Bakery to eat the biggest, dreamiest cookies you ever did meet.
• Lots and lots of good eats. Of course, it's NYC for heaven's sake.
• Countless hours of laughter, silliness and fun being with some of my favorite ladies. We love you Girls' Trip 2010! Thanks go out to Jane for being such a stellar tour guide. Can't wait til next year.

Photos to document the trip:

Central Park with Hans Christian Anderson statue. Adele, Kasey, Jane, me, Hans, Amy, Jill and Jane.
Central Park bridge.
The eating of the famous cookies.
Carnegie Hall.

All the ladies outside Sarabeth's (yummy brunch!)

The Brooklyn Bridge.

The spa pedicure.