A Quiet, Productive Day...and An Early B-Day Gift!

Today was pretty productive...

Dean kindly dropped me off at the store on his way to work this morning. (I had to pick something up for supper and wanted to just get it over with.) I figured the return trip home counted as a sufficient warm-up as I half-jogged, half-speed walked all the way back. Once the groceries were put away, I squeezed in a 45 minute workout. (Woohoo!) Everything was going great until my arms started quaking and shaking during the push-ups. Then I growled and muttered death threats at the perky TV instructor with my face planted firmly in my not-so-plush carpeting. (Stop judging me.)

After the children got up, it became glaringly apparent that the day's schedule was going to be shot to the four winds. Sierra and Ethan greeted the day with sniffly, snarfly colds, with Sierra suffering the worst of it. Abby woke up sweet and content with life though; that was helpful. So, being the kind hearted, gentle, doting mother I am, I decided to just let them all take the day off from school. (Yes, it is hard to be this fabulous sometimes...sigh...)

With school officially out of the way, I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. I...

• Finished/posted 1 review and drafted 3 more
• Wrote 2 rough drafts for Vala
• Completed this week's Featured Member column for tomorrow
• Chatted with my sister for about 30 minutes (a necessity after my youngest nephew split his head open on Sunday night. Yeah. Talk about your freaked-out-Auntie moments!)
• Cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, dusted, swept the floors and did up 2 loads of laundry
• Spilled my laundry soap. Mopped the floor in front of washer...
• Managed to spill my chai concentrate while shaking it up
• Cleaned up the counter, kitchen floor, myself...
• Made a sandwich. Dropped it on the floor. Watched Cassie (Dean's dog) eat it up in one fell swoop of her nasty tongue....

See? A productive day, for sure! But despite the plethora of mishaps and spills, my day improved considerably when my mother came by with my "early" birthday present. She apparently couldn't wait.

Yes, my fabulous readers, it's a Livescribe Pulse Pen! Granted, the ever-wonderful dynamic duo, Rebecca & Rachel, purchased one for me to use when conducting Vala interviews, etc. I now have one of my very own. :) See Rebecca? Now we can both write reviews/interviews! Hee hee! (Half kidding...)

What a wonderful way to end a frustrating, albeit productive, day! :)

Party Time!

The Birthday Boy

Ten candles aglow

Take a deep breath!

Way too eager for cake.

Squeeze him back to infant size! He's too big!

Officially in the double-digits! Hooray!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

This is one of his "smaller" baby pictures. He was 20 lbs by the time he was 3.5 months old.

For at least a year, this is was how he'd go to sleep at night.

We'd put him to sleep but he'd always crawl out of bed, dragging his things with him--a cup of water, book, blankie, pillow--and crash at the edge of the hallway.

He would stay there until we went to bed a few hours later.

Then like clockwork, he'd creep up into our bed in the middle of the night.

He did not like sleeping without us.

"Bob the Builder! Can we fix it?" Man, he LOVED that show!

My "heavenly" 3 year old son.

With the cupcakes he made (with a little help from Mom) for his 4th birthday.

With big sister, Sierra up in a tree.

Six years old with 2nd cousin, Titan. He still adores Star Wars!

The Pirate Birthday--7 years old. "Yo ho, yo ho! A pirate's life for me!"

My beautiful son,

May the LORD bless you and keep you safe; physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally.

May you grow to love Him more with each passing day, and eagerly seek His face.

May your heart remain soft, and your spirit teachable.

May you be blessed in everything you do, both now and always.

May you always hold fast to your convictions, and never sway under pressure.

May you be a bold and dazzling light to your generation, leading thousands to the LORD.

I love you, Sunshine. Happy birthday...