Happy Birthday to Mama?

Yes, today I turned 33. The big double three. Or whatever you want to call it. I'm having a fine time in my thirties, so thirty-anything sounds good right now.

The kids and Jeremy woke me up with a marvelously done rendition of "Happy Birthday" with party hats and all. I then got to have birthday cake for breakfast, which is a treat anyone can appreciate.

Then I opened my presents.

Lego Buzz Lightyear with an alien minifig? Wait a minute. Whose birthday is this, anyway?

Well, I guess I am the one who knew the word "minifig" and I am the one who bought these Army men. Twice. Once for my nephew and once for myself. I mean, for Sydney. Yes, the second set was for Sydney.... I'm also the one who let the alien steal the Army guys' jeep. So, yeah, Lego Buzz was a great gift. Sydney and I put him together as soon as Jack went down for his nap.

I must take this moment to tell you that building something according to Lego directions while someone else is building something completely different using the exact same pieces is very challenging. At one point, I actually told Sydney, "You are messing me up."

She got really quiet. Then she said, almost under her breath, "I wish you hadn't said that to me. I wish you hadn't been rude to me."

I thought about my words and how excited she had been to be building Legos with me and apologized.

Just in case anyone wonders if Lego Buzz is all I got for my birthday, here's my new necklace that I picked out at a Christmas in July fair we went to today.

Then, after Jack's nap, we all went out to the Arboretum, a really pretty shopping center in Austin. They have a really gorgeous big fountain.

They also have cows. Of course.

After walking around the Arboretum, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, one of my very favorite special places to go eat.

So it was happy birthday to Mama after all!