Happy Birthday, to YOU!

Bryan’s birthday celebration spanned from sun up to sun down this year! Our family desperately needed some recreational time together so that we could set aside the demands of Bryan’s very stressful work week/month/year, the never ending home/yard improvement projects, and the busyness of church/volunteer responsibilities. On this special day of birthday celebration and togetherness, we all dressed in Bryan’s favorite color (red) and were each allowed to select one activity.

Here’s what we came up with:

Vivi (with Bryan’s help): Dream Cafe for breakfast.

Ariana: Bowling. The first venue we went in charged a fortune, so true to our Tolbert frugality, we found a more reasonably-priced location.

Lori: $1 Movie–Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Worth the price of admission, plus Vivian actually sat through the entire movie–a first!

Bryan: Elliot’s Hardware store, visiting a friend at the hospital, homemade white bean chicken chili and games enjoyed with friends while the girls went with Allie V to the pinewood derby. As a birthday gift, I also granted Bryan some leeway in dressing Vivi; when he put Guppy’s socks on her, I didn’t intervene.

Bryan was also the “victim” of a “heart attack.” The young women made him a cake and decorated our yard with TONS of darling paper hearts on which they had penned cute birthday messages.

Happy Birthday, BT!

Do other moms want to run away sometimes? I don’t mean the mom’s that you hear about on the evening news. I mean “normal” moms. The kind that sit next to me at church, or that I see at Target or swim practice or PTA meetings.

It’s been building for a while. It seems like I am caught in an endless cycle of laundry, cleaning up after everyone, cooking, dishes, grocery shopping, taking out the trash, sweeping crumbs up off the floor, homework help, swim team shuttle, nose wiping, bum wiping, etc., etc. And yet I look around, and I haven’t scratched the surface on things that need to get done. The Christmas tree box needs to be hauled upstairs. The ladder needs to be hauled to the garage. I’ve got paint peeling on exterior woodwork that, unless I sand it off and repaint soon, the wood will deteriorate from exposure to the elements. Cracks in the mortar need to be caulked. The garage is a disaster. Pictures need to be hung. My shower is a science experiment. I need a haircut!

Is it so incredibly selfish to want a break? To NEED a break? To want to go back to a “real” job where people actually say, “Thank you” and give you big fat paychecks and bonuses and awards? Where you feel like you are learning and growing and making a difference?

And just when I think that I might be the next featured story on the evening news, my sweet husband, who has been run absolutely ragged with work and other commitments, (though he’s so tough he’d never want me to admit that to anyone) sends me this sweet email:

While I’m sitting here thinking about you sleeping upstairs, waiting to come say good morning until I hear you stir, my heart is filled with love for you, almost to overflowing. I’m also filled with gratitude for the sacrifices you make for me and for our family. I know that our two girls will grow into wonderful ladies just like their mom, and that makes me happy. I couldn’t have written a happier story for my life.

Love, Bryan

And so my heart is softened. I step back from the ledge. I start another load of laundry . . . empty the dishwasher . . . read a story to Vivi . . . dust . . . clean the toilet . . .

To get the full effect, I recommend that you play the attached sound clip while reading this entry. (The song actually has special meaning to me because we sang it in 4th grade honor choir).

[audio:http://tolberts.org/lori/Audio/cricket.mp3]

Last night, I found our lucky little cricket after cleaning up the dinner dishes. Because I am entomophobic (I fear insects), I asked Bryan to “relocate” our new little friend.

Unfortunately, Bryan’s idea of helping me dispose of bugs is to chase me around the room with the poor critter in his hand and threaten to put it down my shirt. Luckily, at least to this point in our relationship, I’m too fast or Bryan is wisely merciful.

I was shocked when Bryan brought the bug over to Vivi and she didn’t freak out. In fact, she giggled as the little guy tickled her and jumped all over trying to get away.

Even Ariana, who was initially scared, got in on the fun.

Or at least she thought that it was fun until the cricket tried to get lucky and gave her a kiss on the nose.

Ariana FREAKED OUT and is lucky that the cricket didn’t hop in her mouth while she was SCREAMING, “It’s in my hair! It’s in my hair!”

After some reassuring hugs (but failed attempts by Bryan to get her to hold the cricket again), Ariana calmed down, and our cricket friend was lucky to be let loose in the backyard.