Happy Birthday to Mike

Yesterday was Mike's birthday. A sadly uneventful one. No party, no cake, no presents, no phone calls from family wishing him well- except his mom at 5:30Am.

Don't worry, we did it on purpose. I knew he would be out of the house from 6AM to 8PM so we celebrated a day early on Sunday night. We had a nice family evening together. Mike chose to grill steaks and shrimp for dinner and we had an ice cream cake for dessert. During dinner we went around the table and took turns saying why we loved Mike/Daddy. The kids' answers were cute. Things like "Because he plays cars with me" or "Because he is silly" and "Because he gives good big hugs" and "Because he takes care of me and keeps me safe" After dinner the kids presented him with their gifts.

Start humming whatever redneck song you can think of now: A NASCAR hat (Andy picked it out), a Braves T-shirt, and a Jeff Foxworthy page-a-day calendar. It occurred to me that we might have been living in the south just a little too long and that it is time to start hunting out those Yankee job offers, just to save our family from a total conversion.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mike! We love you!

Here are some pictures of the big day. Triscuit the cat loves Mike as much as any of us, as soon as he sat down the cat was in his lap and wouldn't budge for the rest of the night.