Best Decade Yet

Da Boo turned 10.
TEN, people! Double digits! I officially have a tween. So weird.

I am feeling far too decrepit and aged to put together a real post filled with nostalgic pictures. If you'd really like to see those, you can go here or here.

But I'd like to know how this…

Became this…

Seems like it happened overnight.

"With small children at home, the days are long, but the years are short."

Happy Birthday, Boo!

Get Ready to Par-tay!

There is much awesomeness to report.

First, I got in on a swap! It's been ages and this one is Halloween-themed. Also? The hostesses are two of my favorite bloggers, Miss Angie and Beth. Together, they formed Chaotic Goddess Swaps.


Remember the lovely and talented Derrolyn Anderson and her books about mermaids? After she finished Marina's Tales, she began a new series. The first book is out. Come back on Monday to see what it's all about and perhaps win a copy.

Also, next week begins my Birthday Week! Woot! I am putting together a special package of things that *I* would love to receive for one lucky winner. And I am still looking for ideas on how to celebrate…any suggestions?

The Smells of Caramel Apples and Swap Packages are in the Air!

I love Halloween. It's just FUN!

Are you going to dress up this year? I will (of course) but the Man won't (of course). Boo wants to be a witch and Baby wants to be a kitty. The Boy wants to be Spiderman. Or a red Lego. Or Superman. Or a blue Lego. Hey, at least he's it narrowed down to four. I'm still thinking.

Also? It's my Birthday week next week. I've started the celebration a little early by making an appointment with my dentist Thursday afternoon because nothing says "Party time!" like sharp, metallic objects jabbing your gumline. Woot.

So to make myself feel a little more in the party spirit, I signed up for another swap!




Two lovely ladies that I met through swapping are hosting one of their own. Angie from My So-Called Chaos and Beth from Living a Goddess Life put together a Halloween swap. Perfect. I love this time of year (and not just because it's my birthday). So march on over and get yourself signed up!

And while you're at it…got any ideas for costumes?

Two Cool

Baby is very naughty. Despite my constant warnings, rules, and flat-out begging, she went and turned two years old. The kids wanted to do something very special for her birthday...

Remember our roller coaster?

It's been sitting in the basement ever since the Boy got a little too rowdy. Well, the kids haven't forgotten about their favorite indoor toy. They started pestering me about bringing the thing back out this summer. I suggested it might make a great gift for Baby, since we got it when Boo turned two. They readily agreed. I expected them to forget. They didn't. I told them they had to bring the coaster upstairs all by themselves. They did.

Dang it.


Here's the Boy teaching Baby how to push off by herself.


And here's Baby finding other methods of entertaining herself.

I think we might be in trouble.

Happy Birthday, Baby!!

What's a Birthday without a CAKE?

On any given day, I love decorating cakes. Love it. But on my birthday...well...I'd rather have someone else put forth all that time and effort for me.


Aunt Denise baked the cake and then (bravely) let all three kids decorate it. You can almost tell which sections match which child. There's a horde of chocolate chips (pirates, I'm told) swimming in sprinkles. That has to be the work of the Boy. Then the careful writing (it's harder to write on a cake than it looks) and flowers. Obviously da Boo's contribution. Those smudges of color amongst the fingerprint up in the corner could not have been made by anyone else except Baby.

And it all tastes really good with rocky road ice cream.

Leggo My Legos!

I saw a friend's post about her son's birthday party and realized I never posted about the Boy's party! Oops!

Since the Boy is mildly obsessed with Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, and Lego Batman games on the Wii, it was pretty easy to get him excited about having a Lego party. And they have some really cute shirts out right now so he got one to wear for his party. He asked me every day if he could wear, maybe thinking he'd catch me off-guard. He didn't.

This party, I was ready. The treat bags were filled and ready to go. The table was covered. My floor was even vacuum well before the guests arrived. I was dressed and wearing makeup; the kids were dressed and didn't have peanut butter smeared all over their faces. I was in rare form! And I have to brag a little bit...most of my plans for the party came from sites online, except for this little piece of genius:


It's a plastic table cover with matching plates from Wal-mart. I wish I had more plates so I could have made all the doors into Legos!

When the guests arrived, they got a seat at the table (now big enough that kids didn't have to share chairs!), a Lego coloring page, and lots of crayons.


I knew this would be tricky because some kids use lots of colors, take their time, and really enjoy coloring. Others stab at the paper with a crayon once or twice and call it good. So for the fast ones, I had them try to write their name or draw a picture on the back. That held their interest long enough for everyone to arrive and get a chance to color.


Next, the kids got a bag of Lego bricks (I got the big 650-piece set and used less than half for the party). They could build whatever they wanted using as many or as few of their Legos. Originally, I intended to give everyone an award for their creation, like "Most Colorful," "Tallest," "Most Deadly If It Were Real," etc. But at the last minute, I couldn't find my award ribbons, so we just skipped over that portion.

After building, it was time for the pinata!


I got this one from the local party store and thought that if we used our imaginations, squinted our eyes, and had recently suffered a head trauma of some sort, then it would look like the 5 was made from Legos instead of whatever stuff was leftover from making those Mexican llama pinatas.

And why is it that store-bought pinatas are impossible to break? We were heading into our fourth round of taking swings -- and I didn't even blindfold the kids or make them dizzy! -- before the Man used a box cutter to weaken the integrity a little. These ought to be recycled for a new maximum security prison facility. Inside, I had filled the pinata with Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls, and more Legos. 'Cuz it's not a real party unless I've worked the theme into every nook and cranny.

After using all their energy to break the pinata-that-wouldn't-die, it was time to refuel with some cake and ice cream!


For better pictures of the cake, check it out on my cake blog. And once again, there's diversity amongst eating styles but I was prepared! Each kid got a handful of candy building bricks (sold in bulk at my local grocery store). These went over so big that we spent more time at the table so they could build with them/suck on them until their tongues turned colors.

And I have to show you the lemonade:


I made these using the ice cube trays from the Lego stores.

After cake comes presents!


What a surprise...he mostly got Lego sets.

With almost perfect timing, the parents started to collect their little ones. Each guest was sent home with a balloon and a goody bag. This is what was inside the bags:

Homemade soap (which was surprisingly easy), molded crayons (which were agonizingly tedious), with more building brick candy and their Lego creations. Oh, and there was a kazoo, too. I'd like to apologize to all the parents...the Boy insisted.

While I didn't feel like the party was chaotic and out of control, I was still exhausted at the end. I really ought to consider changing these to every other year...

One Year Ago

It's not fair. In fact, it is down-right tragic. Why does it have to go like this?

First, I get this:

Then, just one short year later, I have this:

Where did my little infant go? What happened to the tiny lump that slept most of the time? Who is this strange person who keeps pulling herself up on the furniture and puts everything in her mouth? How did my baby get so big?

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait until tomorrow,
For babies grow quickly, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Tiny Party

Something you may have noticed about Boo: she is tiny. I mean really, really little. She is often mistaken for the Boy's twin because - despite the 2 1/2 year age difference - they're the same size. So when we were discussing themes for her birthday party (last November, no less), I told her about a Tiny Party I'd seen in a Martha Stewart magazine (because, let's face it, when it comes to parties, Martha and her minions are far better at it than I am). Boo was pretty excited and wanted to plan it right then...with 11 months before it would happen.

Finally, her birthday arrived. So we had a Tiny Party. Small party, huge fun!

As the kids arrived, we played musical chairs with small chairs. Not that creative but hey, I needed something for them to do while I finished setting up. Next, came hats. I ordered the party kit (because, once again, she's better at it), so I set the kids to decorating their own tiny hats with stickers.


And here's a party tip for ya: when ordering supplies for your party, keep in mind that the birthday child counts as one, too. Not enough hats for Boo. She didn't seem to mind when I presented her with an awesome hot pink crown.

After hats, we had a couple games. First, there was the Mini Ring Toss.


I used lollipop sticks wrapped in ribbon and stuck in a Styrofoam circle. The rings are bracelets. We had to keep moving the line closer because, despite years of party game practice, the rings weren't landing around the pegs. After the ring toss, we had a miniature bowling set. We kept it inside the lid of a large box, so the pins didn't scatter all over the room, but also to give them a hard surface to roll the ball. That went over big and even though they had to wait a long time, they still wanted to keep playing. While they played, I began setting the table...and it took me far too long. I had to create a new game for them so I went with an old grade school favorite: Small and Smaller. The kids sit in a circle on the floor. The first one names an object (usually a pretty big one, like a house). The next kid has to name another object that is smaller than the previous one, and so on and so on, until they can't think of anything smaller. Then, the game starts over with another large object but you cannot repeat any objects from the previous rounds. This games lasted about two rounds and then they were done.

Luckily, I was ready by then.


I really ought to take a class in table setting or food styling...it looked much cuter at the party. Visit The Cake Cow for better pictures of the cake. Along with cupcakes*, the guests got scoops of ice cream (made with my melon-baller), root beer floats in their little cups, Mini Oreos, Mini M&Ms, and Baby Goldfish. I just loved the tiny forks that came with the party package!

After cake and ice cream, we realized we forgot one more game: Mini Pin-the-Candle-on-the-Cupcake. I made this using leftover stickers from a previous birthday. There were just barely enough candles for each child, including the Boy.


And I'm proud to say that da Boo cheated. Takes after me, she does! (That isn't Boo pictured...that's one of her friends who would never, ever, ever cheat. Ever.)

And what do you do after tiny games? Open tiny presents!


When it was time for the guests to go home, they got a pretty spiffy goody bag.


Using Marth's boxes, I filled them with all the fun miniature items I could gather. There's a magnifying glass, mini maze, tiny art set, small bubble kit, tiny deck of Uno cards, little cup, miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, and Hershey's Miniatures. Of course. Tucked inside the coordinating tiny tote (seriously, how does she come up with the cuteness??) is their own mini bowling set.

And then I took a nap for nine hours.

* I will admit that I had grand plans for the cakes. Grand, I tell you! I intended to make each guest their own miniature cake because how adorable would that be? But when it came time to make the cakes, I had just finished putting together and executing a party for 300 people. I was beyond exhausted. Mini cupcakes seemed an acceptable substitution...but I'm still kicking myself for copping out.

Lucky #7

This is da Boo's Birthday Week. She got to pick the menu (and I had to limit her to only two nights of pizza). She gets to pick her clothes (oh boy...). And she gets to pick a restaurant for her birthday dinner. For the past five years, she's demanded the International House of Pancakes. This year, her tastes have greatly matured. For her seventh birthday celebration, Boo chose Sakura, a Japanese grill where dinner is prepared in front of you. The deciding factor, I think, was the flames.


She's so excited to finally be seven. When I asked if she felt any older, she said she's felt like she's been seven for a whole year already. Oh, the days when you couldn't wait to be another year older...


Here she is trying her first taste of sushi. This is crystal shrimp and she loves shrimp. Consequently, she liked the sushi. Her father's daughter, after all. And the waiter made her some "cheater chopsticks," so now she thinks she's an expert at those.


And here is the Boy and the Co-ed. You'll notice the Boy's choice for the evening's meal. (And if you tell him there's no chocolate milk on the menu, be prepared for tears.) Why does the Co-ed look so sad? Because she was pelted with food the whole dinner! First the chef flung her vegetables on her plate a little too hard. Then he smacked her pretty good in the face for multiple pieces of shrimp (those are supposed to be caught in your mouth, silly Co-ed). THEN the Boy knocked over his drink...right into her lap.

We have yet to get Boo her birthday present. She can't decide if she wants more Littlest Pet Shops (she's not quite to the 100 mark) or an Easy Bake Oven. Hrmmm...maybe she is my kid.

Happy Birthday, Boo!

Mmmmm...Cake!

(This is an old post that I never published...oops!)

In grand birthday tradition, my kids decorated my birthday cake the Sunday before my birthday. Aunt Denise always bakes me a chocolate cake using the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder can (so I don't have to go without or break down and bake it myself). Then she brings over frosting and decorations. The kids go wild! Every year, it gets more and more elaborate. This year was by far the most decorated...


Don't they look pleased? As rightly they should! I don't think they left any portion of the cake uncovered by frosting or doused with sprinkles.

Boo even wrote "Happy Birthday Mom" which you can just barely see through all the sprinkles...Here is Baby's contribution:


She had to do it twice because the Boy covered up her first effort with his sprinkles. She didn't seem to mind! Unfortunately, I was recovering from a touch of food poisoning and just couldn't eat birthday cake. By my actual birthday, I had recovered enough to enjoy it. And I gotta say...inch-thick frosting topped with another half-inch of sprinkles sure does cheer up a person!

Tiki Time!

I have the best, most wonderful readers! All of whom are very attractive, too. Thanks for you encouraging words...I really needed to hear them, even if I was totally fishing for the compliments.


Saturday was the Boy's 4th birthday party. A couple years ago - which seem like only a couple weeks ago - we had a big BBQ to celebrate. Well, it was so much fun that we decided to do it again. I forced convinced the Boy to go for a luau theme (since I already had a bunch of decorations from the Man's 'Survivor' party - which we had before I started this blog so sorry, no pictures - and I am nothing if not cheap). We had to limit the number of people invited because we weren't sure what the weather would do (we got over six inches of snow a few days before!) and can't fit that many people in the living room of our house and be happy about it. Then I had to decide what to make for the cake that was a) unique (I've made too many volcanoes) and b) would make the Boy happy. I decided to shift the theme to tikis and made the cake to reflect that. Wanna see the cake?

As people began arriving, I had plenty of help getting the food ready and the chairs set up in the backyard. I should have done a LOT more prep work but we had just returned from a camping trip the evening before. It was all I could do to have the cake baked and cooled before collapsing onto my much-missed bed.

Da Boo's job was to give leis to our guests as they arrived. One little boy took it upon himself to show his sister how much he likes her.


He was very proud that he emptied the lei box. It was too funny!

It turned out to be a lovely day and we stayed outside for the most part, enjoying hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, fruit and the Boy's favorite drink: Black Cherry Kool-Aid (soooooo glad that was outside!). There was only one game. The Boy - during our argument discussion on the party theme - had insisted on having bowling. So I suggested coconut bowling - with a real coconut.


The kids loved it and I got hit with the coconut only once. I taped the tiki printouts to empty soda cans. If I do this again, I might try to make them a little heavier. After bowling, it was time for cake!


I'm going to do a product review on the new kind of cake mix I used but it was very tasty. There were only a couple cupcakes and one slice of cake left. I served it with vanilla and chocolate crinkle ice cream.

Since the house was getting a little crowded with all the sugar-stuffed kids, we moved outside to open the presents.


Shortly thereafter, our guests began to leave. The treat bags were kinda lame because I spent most of my budget on the food. But hey! There was candy inside so the kids were pretty excited.

We got everything cleaned up and let the Boy bust through the packaging on a few of his presents and start playing with them. He got a lot of cars and a big walking monkey/King Kong type toy. It didn't take him long to start sending King Kong crashing through his new car lot...


Oh, the imagination of a little boy!

Happy Birthday, The Man!

Happy Birthday, The Man!

While he doesn't make as big a deal out of his birthday as I like to, I still tried to do some things for him. We didn't eat out all week (because he doesn't like to go out - the crazy person) and he didn't have to change a poopy diaper. This year, I didn't burn dinner, so it was actually pretty nice. Oh, and I got him Mario Kart on the Wii. Hopefully, it was a fairly decent birthday.

The Man is an incredible person, a wonderful father, and he spoils me rotten. Really, I don't know why I am celebrating here on my blog since he doesn't read it unless he's bored and there's nothing good on Slashdot...

I Demand A Do-Over

Things I'd rather not do on my birthday (and yes, it's today):
Clean the bathroom and put in a load of laundry.

Things I'd REALLY rather NOT do on my birthday:
Clean the bathroom, including scrubbing the bathtub, because the Boy has a serious case of explosive diarrhea, requiring me to also put in a load of laundry with his clothes and the bath mat. Luckily, we still have some pull-ups or I'd really be miserable.

At least I have some chocolate that the Man brought me back from London.

Oh, and something else that totally is not cool? The shop lost my birthday present. They can't find it anywhere. Since it was rather pricey, it was the only thing I was getting. So no presents.

Let's pretend that it's really my birthday next week and try this again, shall we?

Let's Get This Party Started!

It's that time of year again...my Birthday Week! And I'm a little surprised to say that it has kinda snuck up on me. Last year, I had all sorts of plans and ways to celebrate but this year...not so much.

Let's see...today we had our traditional family celebration. Since I had to make dinner, I made one of my favorite dishes and made sure there were plenty of leftovers (which, I just realized, is exactly what I made last year!). Aunt Denise brought over a cake (because I'm weird and refuse to bake my own birthday cake). Then she and the kids banished me to the upstairs until they were done decorating it.


Pretty cute, eh? You should have seen their faces after they were done...not because they were glowing with pride at their creation but because they were covered with various colors of frosting and sprinkles. One should always sample one's own work to ensure quality, right? And I did get a picture of the little monkeys but am saving it for Foto Friday (or whatever day I get it posted).

So here are my plans for my birthday week:
Monday: We're having a family over for FHE. Keep in mind: this is *not* a birthday party! I refuse to plan my own party (goes with the cake concept) so these nice people are coming over for a spiritually uplifting evening. And we're gonna play Rock Band.
Tuesday: I will have a couple hours to myself while the kids are in school so I am planning on taking some of my birthday cash and seeing if anything sparkly catches my eye. Also? We're having Costa Vida for dinner that night. Because I said so.
Wednesday: Going to dinner with friends without the kids. Wooohooo!
Thursday: Yet another parent-attended field trip. But I'll make up for missing out on my two hours of freedom by once again getting Costa Vida for dinner. I wonder if they'd be interesting in advertising on my blog?

I'm going to bust out the Halloween decoration this week, too. And that's it...no other plans. Some of my wishes are slightly hampered by the fact that the Man is leaving me. Yes, he did just get back from a trip on Friday night. He leaves again on Tuesday. I made him take me out on a date on Saturday but he was still fighting jet lag so we had to call it an early evening. And the restaurant we went to wasn't as great as I had expected. We didn't get dessert. You know it's not a good time when I don't ask for dessert after my birthday dinner! Oh well...we'll try another place when he gets back.

And I've manage to break another cardinal rule of the Birthday Week: I am sick. I think it's allergies but whatever it is, it's wrecking havoc on my sinuses and since I can't take any medication...it's not very fun.

What else should I do for my Birthday Week? What's something you want to do during your Birthday Week?

Birthday Blues

Remember how my birthday kinda was not so good? How I whined and whimpered and ate cookies? And I was still totally pampered and adored and smooched until I had whisker burn? Yeah...well...

This is the Man's Birthday Week. Not a big fan of eating out, he asked that I make him one of his favorite meals at home. But that wasn't "nice" enough for me. Because his birthday celebration is all about me, right? So for something special last night, I farmed the kids out to a friend for an hour and set up for a romantic candlelit dinner right here. But it didn't quite go like that...

I ordered his birthday present online. It still has not arrived. Dang it! Only had one other gift for him to open and it was a small one that he probably would have just bought for himself weeks ago but I wanted to give him something so he waited until his birthday. Stupid standard shipping...

Instead of making his favorite cheesecake for dessert (because I'm serving that for after dinner Friday night), I made his favorite cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. But I was baking them and getting dinner ready at the same time. Have I ever mentioned - perhaps in passing - that I am pretty much an airhead? Yeah...so I burned dinner. And for those of you playing along at home, it's actually rather difficult to burn pork chops. Well, I did it! I am just that good.

The Man still insisted that the pork chops would be perfectly edible.

I remade the sauce the pork chops had simmered to death in but it wasn't as good. Tasted more like soup than sauce. Bland and blah.

Usually, I have rolls but I didn't get any from the store on account of this incredible new bread recipe I've been using that makes the most fantastic rolls! Didn't remember about the rolls issue until about 15 minutes before dinner....so no rolls.

Turns out the goblets we were going to use for the sparkling cider were actually kinda crusty from their last trip in the dishwasher so we used juice glasses instead.

I got my nice crystal candlestick holders that were a wedding gift. Then I could only find one candle. This candle refused to light! Re. Fus. Ed. I went through nearly a dozen matches trying to get it to stay lit! So we left the light on over the kitchen sink so we wouldn't be eating in the dark.

There we are...sitting at our wobbly little table with burnt chops, bland sauce, no rolls, ugly glasses, light shining on the overflowing stack of dirty dishes and a candle that's smoking because the flame just went out (again!) but the house is silent except for us talking and laughing.

It was a good dinner.

We Had A Ball!

Yesterday was the Boy's birthday bash. Instead of herding toddlers, I invited their whole families and made it a BBQ. Then a cold front moved in and I started to get nervous. Saturday morning dawned a little cloudy but sunny. By the time we were setting up the tables, it was actually getting pretty nice outside.

Of course the morning starts with an emergency. It wouldn't be my life if something didn't go horribly wrong at the last minute. The previous night, my chivalrous husband helped me unload all the groceries from the car. He was also slightly medicated due to allergies and thus, forgot to close the sliding door. So when he headed to the garage this morning to pick up the balloons for the party, he was stopped in his tracks. The battery was dead. And his little car was too small for all the balloons. Luckily (now, anyway), our last car had a habit of draining it's battery so we had invested in a battery charger, which saved the day.

Now the party can start! When guests arrived, we sent the kids out into the back to play. The theme of the party was balls. Couldn't you tell from the cake and the title? There were about a dozen normal-sized playground balls and then one gigantic beach ball. It was almost as big as da Boo! I should have taken a picture of her with it.

The kids are having a great time playing with the balls and our next door neighbor (also at the party) let them use her little playhouse. The moms are inside helping me with food stuff and the dads are gathered around the grill, grunting and making non-sensical comments about propane and raw meat.

There were no organized games. Toddlers don't play musical chairs and they don't take turns. I did fill a tumbler-style thingy with peanut M&Ms, then the adults guessed how many there were inside. The answer? 307.

We start grilling. Burgers and hot dogs. Didn't even grill veggies. In fact, since I can't stand potato salad, I asked someone else to bring it! :)

There was also a strawberry caesar salad, fruit salad (with melon BALLS), lots of different chips, and several bowls of candy. And a vat of lemonade.

Food is served and everyone seems happy enough, munching away. This is Aunt Denise, keeping an eye on the Boy while I ran around like a crazy woman, making sure everyone was having the time of their lives before I got my hamburger.

After food comes THE CAKE! The Boy got to practice blowing out candles stuck in a mini cake on his actual birthday so he knew just what to do when I started to light the candle. He was a little too eager...a friend had to cover his mouth so he would stop blowing out the flame before the candle was lit! We ended up singing to him first and then lit the candle for him to blow out.

After cake comes the presents! The Boy was getting a little too distracted with each gift, wanting to play thoroughly with everything before moving on. Luckily, toy manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, have made the packaging around the toy virtually impossible to remove. While the parents are wrestling with the heavy-duty, steel wiring that holds the plastic toy firmly to the metal-enforced cardboard, the toddler loses interest and will then select the next package to tear to pieces. And da Boo got to help.

In their goodie bags, older kids got a porcupine ball, a dog ball, a tangle ball, and a punch ball. Ball theme, remember? And then there were sixlets, dum dums, and mini Reese's PB cups. Since there were several babies there, I let them take home one of the playground balls.

It was pretty fun! Afterwards, while the Man was showing da Boo how to play with the Wii, I took a nap. Wanna help clean up?

Happy, Happy Birthday to The Boy!

Today is The Boy's 2nd birthday! And since I am a very emotional person, I've already teared up several times just thinking about this funny little kid that sings me the Mama Song every morning. So to honor my son, here are some of my favorite pictures from the past two years.

This was taken shortly after we brought our Boy home from the hospital.

At eight months, the Boy started solid foods. Or at least, that was the plan. As you can see from this showdown with the spoon, he wasn't keen on the idea. He never took a bottle or a pacifier and he was nursed exclusively until he was 14 months...this was NOT my intention! Believe me, I TRIED to get him to eat real people food!

Church was cutting into the Boy's naps. As soon as he finished lunch, he was ready to go down. Sometimes, he didn't wait for me to get him out of his chair.

Standing just before he turned 1!

The Boy's 1st Birthday! That was some good cake!

Enjoying a car trip over last summer. I just love his big blue eyes!

Just trying to entertain us so we don't realize he is playing in the cabinet he is not allowed in.

This one is from Christmas. Can you see the ring on his forehead from when he was trying to drink the melted ice cream out of the bowl?

And then we have this picture, taken today. Where is my baby? Who is this little person that makes me laugh and cry at the same time? How did I get to be so lucky?

Happy Birthday, My Boy!