Why today was the bestest birthday ever.

What did I do to make this the bestest birthday ever? Did I hang out at the spa all day? (not since kid number three) Did I go out and kayak all day on some super scenic river in Iowa? (don't snicker, they exist) Nope. I stayed home with my sick daughter. Now, you may be scratching your head and wondering if maybe I slurped down some of Julia's steroids, but I must tell you that I am completely sane. (as sane as any woman w/ three small kids, two dogs and a cat)

My day started at 6:27 am with Julia singing "Happy Birthday" to me while I was still rubbing my eyes in bed. When she finished up she gave a big smile and exclaimed "I am so excited that I get to spend your birthday day with you mom!" She ran off and appeared a few quick eye blinks later with a big pink bag. Julia had plundered her room and found two rocks we previously picked up on a trip and a mosaic decorated hook I had yet to hang in her room. "You can pick out all the movies since it's your birthday." Now, you need to know that she just handed me the holy grail of her childhood. In our house the sick kid who stays home from school gets to watch any movie they want without their siblings rolling their eyes, going into convulsions and muttering "not this again!" She also spent a good portion of her day making a bejeweled version of me, complete with a heart.

The next birthday surprise involved my preteen, angst ridden, adolescent version of mini me smiling. What, you may ask is so miraculous about this? First of all, see the above description. Second of all, Bella is not a morning person. I received a smiling "Happy Birthday" and then she pulled out a sign made of glitter that she had worked on the day before that said "Happy Birthday Mommy." She even mixed together several colors of glitter to get just the right look for me. With a quick hug she ran off to go bend her chicken bones and get ready for school.

Andrew had disappeared in this time, and I couldn't quite figure out why he wasn't upstairs scarfing down breakfast while watching Scooby Doo. It turns out that he was going through all his toys and stuffed animals and came upstairs to hand me Winnie the Pooh. Andrew has had Winnie for as long as I can remember and he decided to bestow him onto me for my birthday with a smile and a hug. Later he also painstakingly made his own sign for me using glitter, pom poms and jewels.

What, you may find yourself pondering, was Gary doing on this fine day? While at work Gary called my mom to get the directions on how to make my favorite dessert. Gary can cook up some wonderful stir-fry but he does not bake. In the 17.5 years we have been together Gary has baked once, and that was just a couple months ago when he made cupcakes for one of our kids birthday treats. So I now have an Angel Food cake stuffed w/ strawberries, pineapple and whipped cream. Oh yeah, he made homemade whipped cream.

So after receiving these wonderful, heartfelt gifts and eating a great dinner (bow tie pasta w/ sweet sausage, tomato cream sauce and fresh basil, orange and sage green beans w/ candied pecans and a bottle of white wine) and a truly spectacular dessert I am ready to declare today the "Bestest Birthday Ever."

What's in your mind?

Last weekend we were staying at Dad and Lynette's place and while we were in the kitchen Julia reminded us that we promised her she could have a hard boiled egg after she ate lunch. Food is very important to Juila. If you tell Julia on Monday that on Thursday after dinner she can have a treat, than Thursday after dinner she will remind you she gets a treat. Gary was explaining to Lynnette that Julia has a special compartment in her brain dedicated to just food related information.
This whole time Andrew is just quietly listening to us talk when he suddenly blurts out "My head is a black hole!" Does this mean it is an empty void or that it sucks up all available information? What special compartment do you have in your brain?

An Exciting Day for Iowa

As a faithful Christian, I wanted to take a moment to help debunk the notion that today's Iowa Supreme Court ruling will somehow ruin the "institution of marriage."

1. This is a civil rights issue.  Two people who love each other and are in a committed relationship should be allowed to marry, even if there are of the same sex.
2. Churches will never be forced to marry people if they don't agree with same sex marriage.  These marriages will only occur in churches that agree with same sex marriage.  Predominately, same sex marriages will occur in a civil setting (court houses, city parks, etc.)
3. This slippery slope argument about ruining the "institution of marriage" has a long, storied history.  Remember, it hasn't been that long ago that States denied marriage between people of different races or different religions.

I applaud the Iowa Supreme Court for their decision.

Creative Art

All three of our children are very creative in their own way. Andrew likes to create sculptures with dirty dishes, Bella likes to draw fairies and caricatures and Julia just loves art in general. Julia is the really sneaky one and she uses art to get her point across. Some of you may remember a blog from my myspace page where she tried to use a sock puppet to get more food.

Just recently we were driving to Dubuque with the kids to run some quick errands (as quick as you can be with three kids) and Gary was taking some new road he found (I never know where he will take us). Andrew and Bella are listening to their I Pod shuffles while simultaneously reading their books or playing their Nintendo DS which leaves Julia on her own and usually using me as her sole source of attention.

"Mom, why is it raining outside?"

"Mom, what am I thinking about right now?"

"Mom, why can't an ostrich eat peanuts?"

Julia is the queen of random questions and a lot of them envolve me attempting to read her mind to get the right answer.

"Mom, what is this?" I look back and see she has drawn a long sinuous line down the fogged up window created by the warm air inside the car while a cold rain pours outside.

"The Amazon River" I say with a smile.

"Nope."

"The Mississippi River."

"Nope."

"The Nile."

"Nope."

"A snake, worm, hiking trail or smoke curling from the fire."

She just looks at me with a grin and says "No mom, it's a tear. Do you know why it's there?" I just look at her and shake my head wondering where this is going. "It's a tear because we haven't been to the movies in a long time."

I break out laughing and find myself looking at the clock to see if we have time to fit in a movie and reviewing in my head what I have seen in commercials lateley for family movies. I almost feel compelled to reward the creative way Julia has chosen to ask for something. Once again I find myself hoping that she will use her cuteness and creativity for good and not evil when she grows up.

I explain to her that there just isn't time on this trip to see a movie and she just smiles and says "we don't ever get to do anything fun." How do I explain to her that I get all the fun I need just from listening to her and that she is more entertainment than any movie I will see.