Birthday Dinner

There is a long standing rule in my house that when it is your birthday I will either make your cake or cook your favorite meal, but I will NOT do both. (I mean really, between three small kids, a much too large house to take care of, and a more than full time job, doing both would surly push me over the edge, and I am already much too close as it it....)

Needless to say my kids ALWAYS chose the cake option. Can you blame them??? Seriously it's custom made to any desire or whim they might have. Plus there is a good chance that a couple of weeks after their birthday if they beg for their favorite meal they will likely get it anyway, after all I do have the nagging moral obligation to feed them daily.

For Lauren's birthday she chose California Pizza Kitchen, and we were joined by Jeff, Linda, Courtney, and Brian. (Its a good thing Linda is so agreeable, and likes that restaurant too, because Lauren basically dictates all birthday activities and food despite the fact she shares her birthday with Grandma.)

For some reason on Monday night they were exceptionally slow, it took 30 minutes to get our appetizers, so Rick took it upon himself to provide entertainment for Mark and Katie. Only problem, after seeing daddy put crayons in his ears, Katie thought that might be a good idea....need to be rethinking entertainment options....

Mark found a rubber band amusing. Toward the end of our meal Mark's drink was running low and he wanted a refill. I told him we had to wait until our server came around again and then we could ask for a refill. Well Mark being the determined soul that he is, followed the server with his eyes until she could feel the gaze of one small subject. Once he caught her attention he began moving his empty cup up and down on the table to signal her that her service was required. She came to the table laughing at the creativity of my child, and he left her totally charmed by his whit.

Finally at the end of his meal he announced to the table "I had some drink and I farted."

The birthday girl, giddy with delight at her delicious food.

My yummy BBQ chopped chicken salad...umm my mouth is still watering.....this is why it is good to be the mommy on your child's birthday! (After all who did all the work, then and now????)