43 Smackers

This guy had another birthday.

Now he's 43.  Yikes!  In the words of my dear Mother, "I didn't think people lived that long."

Hear, hear.

He may be old and moldy, but we still like him.  Most of the time.  Except when we're having hormonal surges.  But we don't talk about those times.

We can, however, talk about the delicious prime rib we had for dinner.

And the divine annual chocolate cream pie.

Eva made him a card and a drew a picture of the two of them together.  It was adorable.

I gave him a gift certificate to have his car detailed.  Not quite as adorable, but very needed.

It was a wonderful day and we sure are glad to have this old man in our family.

Happy birthday, Mykey!

Funny Kitty

I love having a kid around.  She makes me chuckle all the time.  Here are some funny comments from Kitty lately.

Combing her hair:

Kitty: "I can't wait for the fair."

Me: "Yeah, we did have a good time last summer."

Kitty: "Yeah, but no Shockwave ride this year.  I learned my lesson.  That made my tummy roll-baby-roll!"

In the car:

I was wearing an especially itchy shirt.  We were out running errands and I couldn't satisfy the itch on my neck and back.  I was clawing at my skin as we drove down the road and exclaimed to Kitty, "I don't know what's making me so itchy but it's driving me crazy!"

Kitty casually replied, "You probably have fleas."

At bedtime:

We were reading scriptures when Kitty climbed onto my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, and hugged me tightly. She then kissed me a couple of times and said, "I love you, Mama.  Being with you makes me feel like I have a hundred cats."


Getting the mail:

Our mailbox is down the street from our house so we often take the dog for a walk to retrieve our mail.  Kitty brought along a bag full of stuffed animals for our walk, and was carefully cradling one and gently singing it a lullaby to get it to sleep.

Of course, she had to pause to climb something and tasked Michael with cuddling her baby kitty.

After a moment of being a statue, she hopped down and promptly announced, "I need my kitty back.  Unfortunately, you don't know anything about babies, Daddy."

Again at bedtime

We were talking about when Christ was resurrected.

Me: "What does it mean to be resurrected?"

Kitty: "It means you come back alive after you die."  Then she paused and with an emphatic wave of her hand added, "But not as a zombie."


Hiking:

We were walking down the trail pretending to be hunting for a big, black bear.  Kitty was up front, leading the charge.  Suddenly she says, "Ah! There's the bear!  Up ahead."

She quickly runs behind me, pushes me forward and shouts,  "Sorry, Mom.  You're the bait!"

Hmmm...I think that's the very definition of motherhood.

Easter

Here's the thing about parenting - the longer it goes on, the lazier I become.  Did I mention my daughter is only 6?

Hmmmm.

Anyway, last Easter I agreed to throw a big party for my little kitty.  It was a great success and lots of fun.  This year she asked for another big party, and can you guess what I said?  Remember, I'm a year lazier now so I said, "Well, dear daughter, that was a whole lotta work last year.  So...ain't gonna happen."

However, I did agree to let her have only an Easter egg hunt in our backyard.  I even let her invite school friends.  That's love right there.  And, I made confetti eggs out of real eggs again - with no help from my helper.  In fact, now that I think about it, no one around here should be complaining about my so-called "laziness."

It was a grand success and lasted a little over an hour.  Perfecto!

Our grass was embarrassingly overgrown but that turned out to be the ideal landscape for hiding eggs!  Who knew that my so-called "laziness" in not mowing the lawn would be such a benefit?

The next day the Easter Bunny surprised Kitty with a basket full of treasures.  A balancing bird, mosaic art kit, and treats.

I bought Kitty a York bunny.  I think the Easter Bunny would have liked to get it for her but Kitty saw it in the grocery cart despite heroic efforts to hide it under my purse and other items.  So I bought it for her instead.

That Easter Bunny needs to be a little more wise and inconspicuous.

She took the balancing bird to church and immediately got to work on her York bunny and mosaic art project.  Easter was a roaring success.

Except for one little fail...someone completely forgot about dying eggs.  That someone made a mental note to boil eggs on Saturday night, yet somehow became distracted.  Maybe by ice cream.  Who knows.  I even bought 2 egg dying kits but shoved them into the cupboard and forgot they were there.  I mean...someone did that.

Hey, no one else seemed to notice we forgot to dye eggs so there ya go.  Must not be important.

I truly love Easter.  Not just for the fun of hiding eggs and eating candy, but for the chance to talk with my daughter about our Savior and the miracle of His life and Atonement on our behalf.

I know that my Redeemer lives!  Happy Easter!