Look deep into my eyes....

So, Caleb got this book for his birthday called

How to be the Best at Everything: The Boys Book.

He loves this book. It is probably not the best book for him to possess considering that he has been known to say, "Yeah, Mom, I know that life is not a competition, but if it was, I'd be winning" with a very straight face... (We are a very humble family, let me tell you.)

Anyway, the other day he was telling me about this cool book. He has learned a few magic tricks, how to build a fire and other very useful things for boys. I started to wonder though when he asked me if I could get him a chicken. I was only half listening the first time he mentioned it so I started to tell him how we weren't having chicken for breakfast and that he would have to eat what was offered. You know, the usual mom diatribe.

Well, no, folks, he wanted a real chicken because his new book gives him step by step directions on how to HYPNOTIZE A CHICKEN!! Really! He seriously wanted me to provide him with a live chicken so that he could hypnotize it.

Which leads us to tonight....

We were at Grandad and Gramsey's to celebrate Christmas and were winding down for bedtime with an episode of the Dog Whisperer. The boys were only half interested in it and started to play on the floor in front of the tv. Caleb tells Jonathan that he thinks that Cesar should hypnotize the dogs to get them to do what he wants. Jonathan has never heard of hypnotizing and asks Caleb what it means.

Ever helpful, Caleb tells him that he will show Jonathan what it means by actually hypnotizing him. He tells Jonathan to lie down on the floor and then says, "Don't worry Jonathan, You will be ok because I am a vegetarian." Then, he proceeds to wave his hands in front of J's face and tell him some mumbo jumbo that I am sure he got from the book. He pronounced that Jonathan was hypnotized.

If indeed being a vegetarian is important in the hypnotizing process, I really think Jonathan ought to worry since I am pretty sure that vegetarians actually have to eat vegetables other than french fries.


PS. After walking around like a zombie for the next 10 minutes, Jonathan giggles and whispers in my ear at bedtime, "Caleb really didn't hypnotize me. I was just pretending."

Whew, I was getting worried.

A Golden Day

"Make new friends, keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold."

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of hosting our old friends for a play day at our home. Erin drove in with her 3 kids, MA came with her 2, Carey had her 3, Sue had her 3 and I had my 2. Laura could not make it today and was missed!

We have not been all together in quite some time since life has pulled us all in different directions and cities. However, it felt so great to reconnect today. Our kids did a super job of playing together: we only had about 86 interruptions, 2 minor injuries and one instance of possible poisoning. Not bad for 5+ hours with 13 kids. (before you start to worry about the poisoning incident, one of the 2 year olds ate a cavity disclosing tablet and had her mouth died red for a while...I bet that will show up in the potty later!)

These girls are my golden friends. We have laughed, prayed and cried together. I don't have a sister, but they give me a glimpse into sisterhood. I love them all!

Baby, It's cold outside...

Guess what happened while I was in the car rider line today? It snowed. Yes, in Houston, Texas, it actually snowed. Pretty cool.

When I got my boys in the car, along with the neighbor boy, they were giddy with excitement. Caleb said, "When we get home, I want to go play football outside like the Green Bay Packers."
The other boys cheered from the back seat of the van.

So, we drove home, got on our cold weather gear and they played football in the cold for oh... about 6 minutes...TOPS, and that includes knocking on the neighbor's door to get him to come outside. (Packers' scouts had better look elsewhere.)

There you go!

Happy Birthday to Us

Today is my 37th birthday and it is great to be alive. It has not been hard to turn 37 at all. I actually feel younger this year than I did last year, probably due to cleaning up my eating and exercising. And oh, how this celebration differs from last year.

This year, I went to the gym to work out with my trainer, ate at Subway with a friend, and had pedicures together after that. I really had a great day. Someone even told me at the school dismissal that I looked like a Birthday Girl today. There you go... I felt like a Birthday Girl today!

The interesting thing about birthdays around here is the fact that while I am the Birthday Girl, we also have a Birthday Boy. Yes, nine years and nine months ago I did some very poor planning or very good planning, depending on how you look at it. My firstborn, Caleb was born on my birthday.

It is a fun thing sharing a birthday with your son. It is not a fun thing to have a son on your birthday.

He was actually due on Dec 10th, but he was breech (our first indication that he intended to do things his way!) so the dr wanted to do a C-Section. She offered me the choice of the 9th or 10th. I chose the 9th thinking that it would be such a great thing to have a baby on my birthday. Since my brain blocked everything that they told me in the childbirth classes that I took, I did not realize that a C-section was not the easy way out of childbirth but was actually major surgery.

Linda's vision of her birthday in 1999: Present herself for delivery at 6:30 am wearing full make-up. (I wondered why the dr. laughed at me when I asked Jeremy if my hair looked ok during her presurgery exam.) Be wheeled in to the operating room, through the magic of doctors (much like the magic of Disney in my mind), be presented with the baby, and then have cake that night while the cherub sleeps in her arms.

Trust me, folks, it did not go down like that. Except that I did wear full makeup to the hospital. My birthday meal consisted of about 1/4 cup ice chips and some great meds in my epidural.

Tonight, my birthday meal will be at Shoguns. Maybe if I ask nicely, I can get some ice chips.