So many Elijahisms ...

so little brain power to remember them all, but here are a few ...

we were walking past men's warehouse the other day and he said he saw the president, but he didn't have a head. i asked him how he knew it was the president and he said because he was dressed like him and wearing a bow tie :)

he thanked me yesterday for marrying dan. we were at the school and he had just spent a few minutes in dan's office. they love to show their love for each other by punching/smacking/kicking and wrestling each other and do so even in the office. so, on our way back down the hall he thanked me for marring "papa." i assured him that i was very thankful i did too since i wouldn't have him (elijah) if i hadn't :)

elijah just had a birthday. he's six now, and he sure knows how to live up the birthday attention. he got a crown from school and was so happy to announce "i'm the birthday boy!" we went to chuck e cheese with peyton, madelyn, noelle, mom-mom, pop-pop nick, me and papa. they had sooooooo much fun. it really was a fun day.

another thing on his birthday is that he and noelle found a dead mouse in the yard. elijah thought for sure that it was a dead beaver. i assured him it wasn't since beavers live near rivers and he replied, "maybe a hedgehog then." there was just NO WAY it was a mouse :)

elijah and noelle had a really intense conversation yesterday on the way home from school. it went a little something like this ...

e: you should not make jokes about people dying. it's inappropriate and it's like you are making fun of someone who died.
n: yeah.
e: my mom-mom ruthie died because she was really sick. and really old.
n: how old was she?
e: uuuummmmm ... 93 ... i think ... oooorrrrrr ... 99.

the conversation went on and changed a little. i didn't hear everything, but they were so sincere and low key about it all. it was really cute.

we were at the dentist today and oh my did elijah have a good time. he asked questions about EVERYTHING he possibly could ... what is that button? why do you have that light? i know why you have gloves on. how are you doing that? ... and on and on ...

when he asked about the light she told him that his mouth was really dark so she needed the light "unless YOU have a light in your mouth. if that's the case, will you turn it on please?" so, of course he pretends to turn a light switch on on the side of his cheek. twice. each time she needed to get in his mouth after that :)

when he was done he said he was going stop brushing his teeth so he could come back to the dentist sooner. yikes.

Cousins

Having a loving family is so great. A few cousins, sister and I went and celebrated my cousin Cindy's birthday tonight at the Cheesecake Factory.

Man oh man is their chopped salad divine, and I don't use that term loosely. I want to go back and eat another one as soon as I am hungry again.

It occurred to me that I don't know how old Cindy is now. Does it really matter though? Seven of us got together. We chatted, laughed, ate, drank, and had a merry 'ol time.

I'd write more about what we chatted about, but frankly, I believe that was just between us girls. If you are a girl, you know how it is. Some things aren't meant for the public, only for us girls.

So, thanks Cindy for having a birthday. Thanks Becky for arranging the dinner. Thanks guy who brought me my yummy food. And, thanks food for being so yummy. Seriously. Get the Factory Chopped Salad. It will make your taste buds sing and allow a little extra room for a glass of wine and some cheesecake.

Deeeeeee-lish!

Fun Weekend

Last weekend my mom had a big Birthday. So, of course a celebration was in order.

She and Nick came up Friday. We played Scrabble. Two games. I lost both. Nick and my Mom both won one. The one Nick won wasn't even close. He used ALL of his letters for a word ... twice! Ugh.

Good times though. Dan was watching March Madness, the one time of year that he watches a ton of games so he was excused from Scrabble.

Saturday I had secretly planned for my mom's family to come and surprise her. I told Mom I was taking her out to lunch, but she didn't know there were going to be 12 of us.

Okay, surprises are stressful.

I didn't tell Madelyn because I didn't want to put her through the torture I was going through, even though I knew she would be SO excited. I didn't tell Nick because he can't keep a secret to save his life. I know this is just a saying, but it's really true with Nick.

I see my Aunt's car pull up, but I knew it would take them a few minutes to get everyone to the door. I tell Madelyn I will help her with her outfit and then she says for all to hear ...

"Is anybody else coming today?"

Ummm ...

Dan and I don't lie to each other, never have, even when it comes to surprises. Dan is far more gifted in this ability. I can't "fudge" things to save my life (I'm like Nick). We don't lie to our children either. So, here is where I confess something ...

I lied. I told Madelyn that no one else was coming and "why would you think someone else is coming?" (nervous laugh) ...

Then I pull her aside and whisper, "Yes, other people are coming, but it's a surprise and Mom-mom doesn't know."

She replies, for all to hear, and very matter of factly, "Mommy I won't tell Mom-mom!"

Quick poor cover of more nervous laughter and then my family walks in ...

I am not kidding when I say I had a stres blister on my lip from all of this secrecy. Secrets wear me out! I don't think I will try to pull anymore surprises for a long time. It was fun though.

We had a lovely lunch. Elijah was in full entertainment mode asking EVERYONE what they were having. It was very cute.

We came back for cake and ice cream and coffee ... YUM! (especially since I just gave up carbs for a bit). I won't mention that I over cooked the cake and one of the tea bags broke while brewing ... oh wait, I think I just mentioned that.

This is why I don't bake much. I will admit that I am enjoying cooking more though so I will stick with that since I HAVE to do that for my family.

All in all a good weekend. I think my mom had a Happy Birthday. Mission Accomplished, and then I crashed that night.