I Heart February and February Hearts Me

How is it the last day of February???  I know February gets a lot of hate as far as the months go, but I personally love it.  It's a short winter month (as opposed to January and March which seem so long!), we get a week off from school, there's Valentine's Day, and of course, the best day - the double birthdays of John-Paul and me (I?)!

After a morning filled with Mass, Religious Ed (him) and a workout (me), we went out to lunch to carb-load for another big year ahead:

Then home for a basketball game (Eamon) and a nap, followed by an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Phil.  Chicken Cordon Bleu was our birthday pick, as it is every year since I was a little girl.  I'm just glad JP agrees with me how delicious it is and wants the same!

And then it was present time!  These teens are getting harder to shop for, and he wanted a few new things to wear, so I brought him shopping earlier in the week and it was a lot of fun.  He had never tried on clothes in a dressing room before!  He kept getting one shirt, going in and trying it, coming back out, heading in with another shirt, etc.  He saw me in passing and said "I think the worker is getting annoyed at me because I keep going in and out!" and once I realized what he was doing, I explained that he's supposed to shop around and bring in a bunch of things to try on at once.  Ha!  Things I never thought you'd have to teach someone, but teenage boys are a different breed :)  He ended up with this shirt, this hoodie, and these jeans.

When he opened the gift above, my Dad said "It's sure to make you smile!" because it was teeth whitening paste.  The kids thought that was hysterical.  

JP had asked for Timberland boots but they are too expensive for him to outgrow in 6 months, so I bought him a pair of these instead.  He's a size 10.5 mens now.  Also 5'10" and 140 pounds (he needed to know what he weighed on his 15th birthday).  I need my babybackbabybackbabybackbabybackbabybackbabybackribs.

He's wearing a Vineyard Vines jacket that we picked up at their outlet store in Maine.  Is this totally just a preppy New England brand?  It's so popular here!  Then he opened his (generic) (cheap) (well-reviewed) Smart Watch to some jealous siblings :)

Then it was my turn!  Squee!  Phil got me a SodaStream which I had been wanting because I drink so much seltzer water.  Once we figured out the cost of the CO2 replacements and flavorings, we realized we could buy seltzer cheaper at the store, so back it went.  Don't feel bad for me though!  That money was put to good use towards the house cleaners he had come to deep clean our casa the day after my birthday!  Three cleaners were there for 8 hours and did a wonderful job!  

The real winner of the night was this print by our friend (and former coworker and neighbor), Katie Sahm, titled Our Lady of Revelation:

I love it so much!  I'm showing my mom the baby in utero in the photo.  My house is becoming a Marian Art Hall :)  Go check out all of Katie's beautiful work!

Cake time!  39 and 15!

I make all my kids promise me when they are little and want all my hugs and kisses, that they will let me hug and kiss them for the rest of my life.  I cash in on that promise frequently.  Though not on the lips, never on the lips.

Brendan loved Phil's delicious cake.  I was telling Phil about how great it was and said "and I don't normally like chocolate cake!" and JP said "Oh, sorry Mom, I would have picked something else if I had known".  What a sweetheart!  That's why I let him pick the dessert.

Cards from the kids and some of them, ahem, cleaned out my car too.  

JP has always been a great artist, and he made me this card, which is soooo cute...

...but then wrote this on the inside, which is soooo not cute ;)

And just like that, we are now the parents of a 15 year old, and I have to retire my age of 29 and start being 39 for the next ten years or so.  Hope you all had a wonderful February too, and if not, tomorrow's a new day (and month!).