Happy Birthday to Me!

We went out for breakfast at IHOP this morning. Everyone went except for Alex. He wanted to stay in bed and I was fine with that. It was ironic because last night when we talked about going to IHOP for breakfast, he said that he didn't mind getting up early for IHOP.

Last night also, I walked into the formal dining room to find Anthony and Alex sitting in front of a kraft paper-wrapped present. I wondered why they were wrapping one of the kids' presents right where they could walk in. It was only later that I realized that the wrapping paper wasn't Christmas wrapping paper.

After we got home from breakfast, they presented me with the present that they had decorated themselves. I love the little personal touches, like the narwhal and the shark. I didn't ask them who drew what, but Eric said that the car was his and Natalie said she was the one who put the shark on the side (big surprise).

As I started opening it, Patrick said that I would never guess what it was. I thought for a second and realized what it probably was. I guessed it right, of course--a pillow with that special foam stuff to make it firmer. I'm leaning on it now as I'm typing it. Very nice! As soon as I said "pillow" I knew I was right because of the big smile on Patrick's face. :)

We did have a busy morning. Breakfast at around 9am then home to open my present and then Natalie's recital was at 10:30am. This is a picture of her with her teacher. As you can see from their body language, they are not as close as Natalie was to her previous teacher. Still, she seems to be learning things from him and he is very patient with her. She did a fantastic job with her two pieces and then we picked up Wendy's for lunch since Wendy's is her favorite fast food place. We had just barely eaten breakfast, but she and her brothers were already ready for lunch.

Oh, and I almost forgot--Natalie's piano teacher gave the kids a "holiday scepter of excellence" after each of their performances. That is better known as a "candy cane". We all got a kick out of that alternative way of describing candy canes.

We stayed home all afternoon, went to church, then out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at the Rim. This is a new location and so far I was impressed. I ordered my usual Chinese Chicken Salad. Usually I ask for a to-go box right away so I can split my meal before eating any of it. That way I can keep the other half from getting soggy from the dressing and it tastes better the next day that way. Well, at this location, they split it up and boxed it for me. I was impressed.

We were all too full to eat any cheesecake, but we ordered one slice of their Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake to eat later and a whole cheesecake to leave in the freezer until we get back from Disney on Christmas Eve.

I had a great birthday today. I got to spend it with my family, which is all I ever want, but I also get to go away to one of my favorite places tomorrow. Disney, here we come!