Old McDonald never went birthday card shopping with kids

Today is The Brain's Birthday!!!

I feel bad for him. I really do, simply because he does not get excited what-so-ever about his birthday.

Have you ever tried buying a gift for an extremely picky guy who honestly doesn't care about his b-day? It's frustrating I tell 'ya.

I thought this year would be different because for once he had a wish list. Granted it was a short list containing only a Blu-ray player, but it was something! Knowing nothing about electronics and not wanting to get the wrong one, last night we went to BestBuy on a mission. An hour and a half later we left...empty handed. After adding up the cost of the Blu-ray player, HDMI cables, and myriad of movies, he just couldn't bring himself to spend the money. The one year he actually wants something!!!

On another note:

Yesterday, I took the boys to pick out birthday cards. Boy 1, being the economically sensible child that he is, decided on the 99 cent Hallmark 'Birthday Dog' card because, "Dad will appreciate that I didn't spend too much money on a card that he is just going to throw away eventually." The sad thing - He's right!

Boy 2 took a different approach. Boy 2 is in a bit of  a "Girl Crazy" phase (at 6 yrs old!!) and insisted on a card with a half naked woman on it....Umm... She say maybe NO! He settled for one of those annoying musical cards instead that sang, "You don't care about your birthday..." It was perfect, especially at 6 am this morning.

During our 30 minute stint in Greeting Card Land, Boy 2 found a card that had a farmer on it. Did I mention that Boy 2 can read now? Well, he can. The card read, "E.I.E.I. O CRAP!!! I forgot your birthday." Needless to say Boy 2 thought it was the funniest thing in the world and proceeded to sing "E.I.E.I. O Crap!" at the top of his lungs. I promptly warned him that if he didn't stop he would be in trouble.  The conversation went a little something like this:

Boy 2: "E.I.E.I. O CRAP!"

Me: "Stop that!"

Boy 2: "E.I.E.I. O CRAAAP!"

Me: "That's not funny! Stop it now or you are going to be in big trouble!"

Boy 2: pause for serious thought "How much trouble?"

Me: "If you do it again you will be grounded for a whole day."

Boy 2: again, serious thought process going on...." That's really not that long...E.I.E-"

Me: " EIGHT WEEKS! You will be grounded for eight weeks if you finish that sentence!"

September already

It's almost that time. I can feel it in the air. I want to open my windows and clean the house. I want to eat Rotel dip, little sausages, and other tiny finger foods. I want to drink beer and watch football. I want to wear my hoodie and jeans. I want to start a fire in the fireplace and, yes, I even want to rake leaves.
C'mon Fall - I'm ready!

Just roll with it

Yesterday, for boy2's birthday, we rented a boat for the day and went tubing on the lake.

The Brain's wonderful cousin came along - Thank God! - she is amazing with the kids and they have so much fun when she is around.

Before we even got on the boat, boy 2 got stung by a bee!! Let me tell ya', that kid is tough! Of course he cried a little, until we told him that the bee's natural punishment for stinging is death. That seemed to perk him up considerably- not sure if I should be worried, but that's another matter.

After a few hours of playing on the water, it started to rain. For most people this would signify the end of the day, but not for us. Boating/tubing in the rain is fun! (no need to fret - once the lightning came we stopped tubing) Picture this: 2 adults, one quasi adult, and 2 kids dancing and singing along to the radio, on pontoon boat, in the middle of the lake. How much more fun can you have?

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes you have to make adjustments. And sometimes those bumps in the road make the best memories.