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Suzi made me this birthday card--a picture of the two of us.

Today is my birthday and the kids are driving me crazy. I was downstairs making coffee by 6:00, but Suzi was joining me 15 minutes later, wanting to finish a sewing project we'd started the night before.

I dropped what I was doing and finished it with her, and finished Ivey's too. It was fun. I loved seeing their smiling faces when Little Johnny Bear (Suzi's) and Mess Bear (Ivey's) were ready to cuddle. Unfortunately, spending time on this before doing any of the usual morning jobs got the day off to a hectic start.

And everything just spiraled from there. Fight after fight after fight. No naps. Whiny, uncooperative kids. There is nothing quite like a full day of fussing at your children every three minutes. I feel like a referee. Where is my whistle?

There have been some good parts, though. A lot of good parts. In a day that has made me so stressed and tired, the good parts could easily be forgotten, and especially since it's my birthday I thought I'd write them down here.

1) I loved making those bears with the girls. Suzi sewed a lot of the edges on hers, and Ivey picked out all the things to go on hers and stuffed it.

2) I got phone calls from my mom, my brother Paul, my grandma, and my mother-in-law. It was nice to talk to them even though I had to close the other ear to hear them over the screeching children.

3) Suzi asked me to spell baseball and when I got to the second B she asked me "B again?" Like it was just ridiculous for a letter to be in a word more than once.

4) Suzi saw my frustration and said "Mom, if there's a big problem, just call me and I'll get out of my work, and come help. Okay?" She was working at her desk.

5) We made our favorite oatmeal cookies. Ivey was in the kitchen helping me when I came to the sad realization that the chocolate chips, pecans, and raisins for my double batch were not going to fit in my mixer. I took the bowl off the stand and started to squish it up with my hands. When Ivey saw what I was doing, she growled "ohhhh." So I had her wash her hands and let her squish a little. While I wasn't looking she licked her hands off, so I had to tell her she couldn't help anymore.

6) Suzi fed Robert and Ivey talked to him while I was busy with cookies. "Here comes Mr. Bat! Mr. Bat is flying into the bat cave! Swooooop!"

7) A chocolate-covered piglet, enjoying his cookies.

Toofies!

8) And then, cookie drunk. If you have never seen a baby fall asleep in a high chair, you should.

He leans to the side...

Did I doze off?

There was no real nap following this cuteness though. I took him out of the high chair, changed him, and nursed him. Then he was ready to roll again.

9) Jordan finally came home and he knew I was having a hard day because I'd called him a time or two, so he came over and gave me a hug. I whispered in his ear, "the baby smells like puke, and he needs a bath." It's my birthday. I'm cashing in my get-out-of-baths-free card.

Ohhh boy I'm tired. I hope derby practice goes well tonight.

P.S. If you'd like to read more about roller derby, my fresh meat teammate and I are blogging about it here on the URGE blog.