I had a perfectly wonderful birthday. I spent the morning doing things I wanted and needed to get done. Claude and I spent the middle part of the day canning tomatoes (salsa and whole tomatoes). We canned 14 pints. This always feels so good to add to the food storage from our own efforts. We can taste some great soups that Claude makes this winter with those tomatoes added in to the soup. Then we cleaned up and went into Georgetown for a nice dinner.
Nissa and family called to sing me "Happy Birthday". It was fun to have Todd added to that mix of Michigan voices. Later Jake called and sang the first line of "Happy Birthday". I assured him he needed to finish the song. Jake has such a lovely voice and I always want to get every note I can out of him. Then he and I had a great conversation.
Andie and Hayden had been having conversations about Ma's birthday. Hayden was sure I needed more trains. Andie found another teaching moment opportunity and asked Hayden, "Do you think Ma plays with the trains when you are not at her house?" Hayden had to honestly reply, "No." Then Andie explained to him that when you give a present it should be something the person will enjoy and not what you want them to have so you can play with it when you visit. (I assured Andie that Gramma toys are always acceptable gifts. But she really wanted him to learn this principle of giving.)
Hayden processed all of this to try and think of what kind of gift would be just right for Ma.
Then he came up with his idea. Ma needed a mug. Not just any mug, a special mug, one that she would only use on special occasions, not every day, just special occasions. (Andie made a special plate in a ceramics class that is only used for the person whose birthday it is for their piece of cake. We think this is what he used as a source for his gift idea.) So Andie bundles up the mini-Marx's and heads to Michael's. They find a kit with 2 ceramic mugs and permanent markers and purchase that for Ma's birthday present. Then in a phone conversation with Hayden, he tells me about this mug and that it is a secret...hmmmm...we may need to work on secrets next...or do we want to encourage that!!! He assured me it was a special mug to use on special occasions, not just every day, just for special occasions.
Now Andie had been fighting a cold. She was really worn out but Hayden was sure he had to be here on my birthday and give me my mug and be sure I had a 'special' birthday. I talked with Hayden and told him I was older (now I'm officially 59) and that it was okay if we did my birthday on a different day. But he was full of giving and providing this 'special' birthday. Andie did not want to squelch her great teaching moment so, after the kids final gymnastics lesson, they headed from Louisville to Sadieville.
They brought 4 little individual chocolate cakes, Claude and I had vanilla ice cream. Hayden made sure I covered my eyes so they could give me my 'surprise'.
Hayden and Bailey gave me my presents and helped me open them. In addition to the mugs, they found a bees wax candle of the praying hands. The story behind the praying hands is one of my favorite stories and I was very happy to get this added gift.
We had ice cream and cake and then Hayden snuggled in for a HUGE hug. He looked up at me and said, "Have you ever felt so special?" My heart melted and I assured him I never had felt so special. What a truly nice birthday.
We had a great visit with the mini-Marx's. They spent Thursday night and left Friday early evening. Friday we built bridges out of pillows, the love seat and the coffee table.
We invited Papa over to watch the kids play in the morning. He stayed until time to go feed Mimi. He truly enjoys watching these grandmonsters play. Tiny loves the attention although she does get jealous of the kids sometimes. Claude had a meeting in Lexington all morning but was back in time to fix us sloppy joes for lunch. We played on the patio with ice cubes and little whisk brooms. Hayden tried his hand at using my camera (I'll put that in the next blog entry). The kids colored on the mugs for me. We played trains and Play-doh. Bailey got a nap and so did Andie. Hayden played in the big whirlpool tub. We just filled the day with fun things.
After nap time it was time to pack up and the Marx's needed to head back to LaGrange. But first we had one more thing to accomplish.
Hayden has a new found love for all things truck. Michael purchased the kids a little video that has 2 parts. One is 'monster trucks' and the other is 'trucks'. Hayden loves this video and has developed a keen interest in trucks. He points them out when you go down the highway telling you what kind of truck it is. Once when Claude and I were sitting at the Pilot truck stop in the parking lot overlooking the highway eating our dinner and watching the traffic, Claude said, "We should bring Hayden here sometime and let him watch the trucks." The idea was born and this was the day to make it happen.
Andie and I drove in her car with the mini-Marx's. Claude took his Jeep and headed to the Wendy's drive thru that is part of this particular Pilot truck stop. He got Frosty's for everyone. We met at the curb where Pilot has a grassy hill and some great trees. I pulled out the blanket and covered the ground under the trees and we sat and ate Frosty's in the open air. Every few seconds Hayden would yell, "Look, look over there. A truck! Look!" Now if you know that on the other side of I-75 is another Pilot truck stop you will know there a LOTS and LOTS of trucks moving around here. When you sit on this little hill under the tree, you have a good view of the gas pumps for the trucks and the scale they can weigh themselves on. Hayden really enjoyed seeing all kinds of trucks carrying all kinds of loads.
After we finished our Frosty's and Andie wiped the kids down, Andie and Hayden took a little walk around the edge of the truck area. He climbed a hill of dirt and they checked out the scale and the gas pump area and the big garages for fixing trucks. Hayden really enjoyed his visit with the truck stop.
Bailey was able to con Claude into walking down the grassy part of the hill. The big Pilot sign is there and a huge concrete base for the lid to the water meter. Bailey climbed on top or Claude put her there, not sure which, and then we turned to find them having a pointing match with each other. He would point to her chest and say something, she would look at him and say something, back and forth they went with neither backing down. Andie got this cute picture of the dialogue going on. Later Claude explained that he was saying, "You're a pest." and Bailey was pointing back at him and saying, "No, I'm Bailey!!"
We ended out truck visit with a few more waving at the trucks on the street coming into and leaving the truck stop. One even blew his horn at Hayden. We found a tree with lots of little, tiny baby acorns growing on it's limbs. Hayden and Bailey loved jumping up trying to catch a limb. Bailey managed to corral or Pa again. She is in control when it comes to Claude.
The Marx's then headed to LaGrange and Claude and I headed back up I-75 to Sadieville. Yep, I had a most "special" birthday.
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