Everyone Should Have A "Birthday Day"

My husband and I started a tradition a few years ago with the grandkids.  Instead of buying them things they don't want or need we take them each on a Birthday Day every year.  They get to choose an activity, a place to eat, and a shopping spree at a store of their choice with a set amount of money to spend.

The kids really love it and look forward to it each year.  It has become such a fun day for them that my stepdaughter wanted one also, lol.  Last February was her first Birthday Day:)

Yesterday we took our granddaughter for her Birthday Day and what a day it was.

Mike and I picked Ella up at 9:30 for her big day.  Our first stop was at Claire's for earrings.  This is one of Ella's favorite stores:

Whew....we made it out of there easy.  Ella has another store she wants to go to later on today.


Then it's off the go bowling.  Ella has never been so she is pretty excited about it.  Once her shoes were on she really liked the bowling alley floor, lol.  She showed us some tap dancing:)  Hey it's her birthday day and it's all about her, her choices, and having fun today:):)

Here she is bowling and the ball is staying out of the gutter.  That's a good thing:)  She wanted to be  a big girl and not use the gutter bumpers:

She did pretty well throwing the ball for her first time:

Here I am trying to give her a few tips:

Ahh...happiness:

Ella and her side kick, Papa.  They are best buds:)

It looks like she is enjoying herself:)

After the first game we thought she might want to stop but she wanted to play a second game.  I'm glad she got a better score on her second game.  That is always encouraging for kids:)



Then it was off to lunch.  Ella picked a new Chinese Japanese combo restaurant that just opened.

My two hams, lol:

And a free birthday dessert for the birthday girl which she was willing to share with Papa:

Since the free dessert was not planned, we took Ella to the place she really wanted to go....The Marble Slab Creamery:)

And then for her last wish of the day with us.  Mike and I took Ella to an antique store a couple of months ago and she really liked it.  She told us she wanted to go back for her birthday day because she had her eye on something.

Sure enough when we got there, Ella went right to the booth that had her "princess" phone:

There are lots of things to look at here so we did spend some time there:

Ella even had two of the owners helping her find certain items.  She had miniature tea sets on her mind:)

Ella with her choices:

I'm really glad she had such a fun day.  It's a nice tradition for Mike and I to do with the kids.  They really seem to look forward to "their" day each year.  We get to spend one on one time with them and they get to do what they want.

Our next Birthday Day is in December for our grandson.  We told him yesterday he needs to start planning what he wants to do.:)


We have had lots of good times and good memories with the kids on their birthday days.  We have been bowling, camping, horseback riding, to the movies, and of course we eat out each time with them.  Shopping is pretty much the same.  Ella likes Claire's, AJ likes Game Stop and their mother likes the Kitchen Store at the Outlets.


I think everyone should have a Birthday Day...don't you?:)

Denver Omelet Breakfast Burritos

Yum...this makes a great quick breakfast.  The breakfast burritos are made ahead of time, frozen and then they can be reheated as needed.

Here is my version of a Denver omelet with cheese breakfast burrito.

Start with:
peppers
onions
ham
cheese
egg whites
Laughing Cow Cheese

Sautee the chopped onions and green pepper.  I used about one half of each one.

Add enough egg whites for the servings to match the number of burritos you have.  Mix in the ham and cook until the eggs are done:

Once the egg mixture is cooked, you can start filling your burritos.  I use Laughing Cow light cheese.  I use half a triangle of cheese for each burrito.  I spread it on the burrito:

Add some of the egg mixture:

Roll it one time, then you have to wrap the ends in and finish rolling.  You can see the finished burritos in the background:

Once all the burritos are done, wrap each one of them in plastic wrap and put into a freezer bag in the freezer:

To reheat frozen burritos:

Take one out of the freezer and unwrap.  Wrap a paper towel around it and heat in  the microwave 1-2 minutes until hot.  Turn it over half way.

My breakfast with some salsa on the side and fresh strawberries.

Breakfast burritos can be made with any combinations that you like.  Try it your way to have a quick and hearty breakfast on hand.

Chapter 159...Eaves, Electrical And Building Interior Walls

Hello everyone.  Today's chapter is about getting the eaves cut, painted and installed, working on the electrical wiring inside the store, and building the walls for the bathroom and utility room.

So let's get to work:)


We are using the extra T1-11 for the eaves.  The eaves are the lower edge of the roof.  We use the saw horses to measure and cut the boards.

Mike is measuring:

After we get some of the eaves cut I get them painted:

I ran out of room on the saw horses so I set up some cross boards and started painting the eaves inside the building:

Mike starts working on the electric inside the store.  He is nailing in the electric outlet boxes every eight feet:

Once the boxes are in he starts the wiring:

Drilling a hole in the top of the wall so we can feed the electric wire above the trusses and over to the electrical panel box:

Mike pulling the wires over to the utility closet:

Drilling holes into the sides of the walls to make room for the wires.  Every stud needs a hole drilled:

More boxes being nailed in:

Feeding the electric wire into the circuit breaker box:

Mike wires the outlets for our overhead lights:

I nail in metal plate covers on every stud to protect the electric wire.  This needs to be done so that no nails or screws go through the electric wire when the sheetrock is installed:

Yay...another delivery.  My insulation is here....my favorite job:).  We also go some more 2x4's for the interior walls:

We empty the building and then we refill it, lol:

We alos have to make shelves for the store.  We will be making them out of plywood.  Mike measures for each shelf:

Cutting them down to size for 16 inch shelves:

Bringing them inside and stacking them until we are ready to paint and build them:

Here are our stacks of shelves and eaves that we will get back to.  Right now Mike needs my help building the walls for the bathroom and the utility closet:

Mike measures the 2x4's for the top plate for the wall:

Once the 2x4's are cut down we lay them out and get ready to nail them together.  We use pressure treated 2x4's for the bottom plate which will sit on the concrete floor and regular 2x4's for the rest of the wall.

Once we get a section of wall done, we stand it up and anchor it into the ground:

Mike trying to get our section straight:

Nailing the section of interior wall to the inside of the truss:

We have rooms:)  The bathroom and the utility room studs are up:

Now it's time to install the eaves that have already been painted and are dry.  Mike nails the first one in place on the back of the building:

Moving along:

And we are done:

That's all for now.  Mike and I are happy with the progress.  Next time I will tell you about my insulation job and Mike will finish up the electrical wiring and do the plumbing.

I hope you enjoyed the story and have a great week:)