Happy Birthday Mom!

My dad, of whom Jack is completely terrified, got the boys more Halloween costumes to add to their dress-up repertoire. This Batman costume is totally "the invisible pedestrian" from that old Bill Murray SNL skit-- all blck, covers his face, long and easy to trip on-- hilarious

Harry's the red Power Ranger-- I'm glad he has another muscle suit because those never get old for me. Thanks for letting him carry around an old Wii gun, Uncle Ben. Thanks for liberally using the word "gun," too, and for showing him the XMen movie.

We had to go to dinner at like 5 because otherwise the kids (read: me) get cranky, but everyone was really nice about it. I even brought a cake to serve at dinner and then ASKED FOR IT BACK because the meal too a while and I wanted to put the kids to bed. I am classy AND really considerate.

Look! Here are my brothers pretending to like each other-- no, they do like each other. And they are about as far apart as Hary and Jack, so I feel like maybe they give us a glimpse into our future.

Here's Jack FINALLY liking my dad-- it takes him like a day or so to stop screaming hysterically when my dad's in the room. Although on this visit, he had a relapse. My dad came in Jack's room Sunday morning (the day AFTER this smiling picture) and said "Hi," and Jack burst into loud, wet tears. My mom said if my grandma Bette were still alive, she would find Jack's fears hysterical, and I think that's probably right. I know I get a kick out of it. So does Harry, who makes a giant showy production (complete with jazz hands and an intermission for more milk) out of being grandpa's favorite.


After dinner, Ben cemented his favorite uncle status by dragging us to Toys R Us to buy more stuff for Harry and Jack. We rushed back to my parents' house, practically threw Jack in bed, yanked Harry's PJ's on, set my mom's cake ablaze and ran out the door to meet old college friends at a bar (shut up-- it was an official university-sponsored alumni function).

Happy birthday Mom! Hope 57 is your best year yet!