Birthday Pictures

Clif claims that I switched the candles, but I really didn't. He was just being absent minded. He is five years older. That would make him 19, right?

From 7-28-2009

From 7-28-2009

From 7-28-2009

I Don't Feel Any Different

The only reason for the neon sign is for fun. I've been watching a Photoshop video podcast and this was one of the lessons. What better way to tell your old age than a neon sign?

I truly don't feel different. I'm very thankful that today has been relatively quiet. We broke some water restriction rules an put a blow-up pool in the back yard for the kids to play in, went to lunch out after church and are ordering pizza for supper. No cooking today. The best part really is the no (or little) clean up part of the previous sentence.

It has been a crazy 40 years (and a few hours) and I'm looking forward to 40+ more years that are even crazier.

This post probably makes a lot of other people feel old, though. My Dad could hardly believe that he was calling to wish me a happy 40th. I think Mom has been thinking about it for a while.

They say 40 is the new 30, so we'll go with that. You're only as old as you feel anyway, right?

Thanks for all of the emails, calls, and cards!

Happy Leap Year Birthday Mark!

Today my brother-in-law is celebrating his 10th birthday! He was born 2-29-68. He looks kind of old for 10, huh? He even has kids who have had more birthdays than him. So I guess this should make this leap year "kid" special. Actually, it does.

He is driving my sister crazy trying to figure out her plan of celebration. I sure hope he's not disappointed.

Happy Birthday Austin!

He's excited to be four. In the blink of an eye we have a four year old.

I can't begin to describe what a special place Austin has carved in our hearts. Maybe that's because he was born in our hearts. Four years ago today we travelled several hundred miles to see him born.

Even though my mind knows that he was adopted, my heart forgets it. He was definitely sent from above to be with our family. We are always amazed as we see the similarities in him and his siblings (especially Tyler).

Today we’ve planned a big celebration. Our little man asked to have a repeat of birthday number 3 of sorts. We have the same cake theme, although this year it’s a “pull-apart” (cup cakes instead of cake) and the same location. The guest list is a little different, but mostly the same.

We can hardly wait to celebrate. Happy Birthday Austin! We love you!!

Pictures will come later!

Happy Birthday Grandma K

Happy 82nd to my Grandma K. She still quilts, cooks, belongs to several groups and reads more books per year than most librarians.

Keep it up Grandma! I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

A Christmas Eve Birthday

Today is my Mom's birthday.

Over the years she's probably felt a little cheated as she has gotten numerous combination gifts and had to spend most of her day getting ready for holiday festivities. Today, the whole Internet knows that it's her special day.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Clif

Today is my sweetheart's birthday. He's a wonderful husband, father, friend and brother.

He never wants a big celebration, but we usually end up doing something fun. We met a couple of weeks after he turned 36. Since then we've celebrated everywhere from a football tailgate to a golf trip to Monterey, CA. The California trip was for his 40th and it will take a pretty big celebration some day to top that one! (Hopefully the kids will enjoy golf as much as Daddy and we can go again as a family for his 50th or 60th.)


Recently birthdays have been spent closer to home but still as fun and crazy. He is now serenaded by 4 young kids who call him daddy. For this year's birthday we'll take the kids to Stone Mountain to ride the train and see the pumpkin patch.

I don't know how we have stayed so close during these last few years. We've had lots of distractions (mostly of the baby kind). Becoming parents of multiples challenges the best of relationships. Somehow we keep things together with a good sense of humor and humility.

We are both very blessed and I'm especially blessed to have him. I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you!

Not so Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday John, Lauren, and Tyler

Having triplets has been a blast. All I can say is look how they've changed!

Happy Birthday to my little trio!

John (baby A), 2lb. 13 oz.

Lauren (baby B) 1lb., 6oz.

Tyler (baby C) 2lb., 3oz.

Happy Birthday Debbie

My friend Debbie is having a birthday today. Unfortunately, I know that it won't be a happy one. Her boyfriend Jerry of almost 20 years is in very critical condition in the hospital. Instead of saying Happy Birthday I'm going to pray that this is the day he turns around.

Three weeks ago he suffered a major heart attack and has been on a ventilator ever since (with the exception of about 48 hours). He is a very private person, but they have created a blog with all of the updates and prayer requests.

Please pray for both of them as they walk this journey.

Happy Birthday Donna

Happy Birthday to a dear friend and Austin's Godmother, Donna. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Unfortunately my track record this year of getting cards in the mail is about 30 days behind! I could send an e-card, but isn't this better? Now the whole world gets to celebrate your big day. Well, at least the handful of people that read this blog.

A Popular Birth Date!

The end of July must be a popular time to have babies. I know 3 people that I want to wish a happy day today.

Happy Birthday Ann! Ann is my sister-in-law (Clif's brother's wife). She's the only one of the three today that I'll keep her age a little secret. And I might be off by a year or two anyway.

Happy Birthday Katie! Kati is my niece. She turns 6 today. Her mom is Clif's sister. Ann and I fought over getting her here on one of our birthdays (mine was 7/27). Ann won.

Happy Birthday Millie! Millie is 80 years young today. Congratulations. She is a mom/grandma of my friends Donna and Kim. She raised 4 wild, crazy and very successful children. I hear that they had a blast planning a parade for her. Yes, a full-fledged parade with cars, animals, people dressed up and who knows what else. I can hardly wait to see pictures and hear about it. I hope you had a great day for your surprise.

Happy Birthday to Mii and Bob!

Yes, we got a Wii. It was a joint father's day and birthday gift for me. We have been having a blast and really had fun when my nephew and niece were here. Most of our family (including my 85 year old Grammy Poe) have Miis now.

For those of you who haven't gotten a Wii yet, you can create your own Mii here.

The best part is our little Austin asks to go downstairs and bowl on the Wii and he's getting pretty good at it. The neat thing is you actually get up off of your duff and put some physical action into the video game. It is quite realistic. He also likes to play baseball and tennis. It's a riot watching him. Watch for videos soon!

My Mii turns 39 today. I'm not saying that I'm 39 (ahem), but she certainly is. Just look at her. And rumor has it, she now colors her hair! Only her hair stylist knows for sure [wink...wink].

A special wish goes out to my #1 birthday buddy Bob. He's just a few years older and is my godfather. I was born on his birthday when he and my dad were teaching together in a little town in Illinois. Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Lori!

My sister Lori is celebrating her birthday today. She wouldn't be too happy with me if I put her actual age (37). So I guess I'll just tell you that she's 29-again [wink wink].

I for sure won't tell you her real age (37) because I'm 22 months older that she is. And I'd really hate to give away my age. If I really wanted to get into trouble, I'd post a picture of her. Instead, I'll just post a picture of her daughter (who is named after me) and my daughter (who is named after her).

This is Rachel Lynne and Lauren Taylor. Aren't they cute? They are terribly spoiled. Each is the only girl in their family and together they are the only girls on our side of the family. This photo was taken almost a year ago when we all got together for the 4th of July.

Happy Birthday Grammy Poe!

Today is my Grammy Poe's birthday. She is 85 and still going strong. Until this year, she still mowed her yard! She was here for a visit this winter and was a huge help when we were all sick. I think she might have the best immune system I've ever seen. All 6 of us were sick and she had a few sniffles. Amazing.

As a mother of 2 daughters, I'm sure that she never expected to see so many babies in future generations. She has spent almost half of her life as a grandmother and now a great-grandmother to 13. Five of those great-grandkids arrived within 8 months and after my grandfather passed.

She has handled being a widow with such grace and strength. I'm sure being a preacher's wife for all of those years was good training. She is so spiritually grounded, she can handle almost anything.

I hope you have a wonderful day and many more birthdays to come.

I Get Yettuce (says 3 year old using chop sticks)

Happy Birthdays go out to our favorite teen and pre-teen girls, Kaiti (13 today) and Cassie (10, 10 days ago). We went out with the girls and Frances and Steve (their mom and dad) to celebrate tonight. It was the first time that the babies had gone to a Japanese steak house and the first time Austin remembered going to one. They were all scared to death mesmerised.

Every time we go to a restaurant, the staff is amazed that we need three high chairs and a booster. Tonight people probably thought we were a little crazy bringing that many little ones to a restaurant like this. And we got to hear the confusion in Japanese to boot! The kids did really well, except for when the chef lit the fire. They freaked a little the first time. Out of the whole bunch, Tyler was the only one that didn't have that natural fear. He was amazed!

Austin had his first experience with chop sticks. He was so cute. He even used them for his salad. "I get yettuce," he exclaimed to everyone. He was his usual sweet, polite self. We are so lucky. Before we left for the restaurant, he wasn't so sweet and polite. A nap would have done him a world of good today, but he didn't take one. He typically needs one a couple of times per week these days. Today was one of those days. In the middle of an all out fit, he did a 180 when I told him that it was Kaiti's birthday and if he was good, we'd go out to dinner with her. "Oh, yes!!! It's Kaiti's birthday! Where are my shoes?"

The restaurant we went to is owned by an older gentleman pictured above. He enjoys doing magic for the kids and singing Happy Birthday to the celebrating patrons. Once Austin warmed up to him, he really enjoyed the attention and the magic. His rendition of Happy Birthday on the accordion left a little to be desired, but all in good fun.

We followed up with cake at our house afterwords and a rousing round of Happy Birthday. Believe it or not Tyler and John are trying to sing. We have video to prove it (at least of Tyler). I don't think I've ever encountered an 18 month old that tried to sing happy birthday. I'm sure they're out there, I just haven't seen it.

Here's the video, but first the story.

Last Saturday we were getting the crew ready to get out of the house. Spring has sprung here and we needed to escape for a while. I was cooking breakfast, the triplets were in their seats, Austin was at the table and Clif was somewhere in between. A triplet mom's brain is, well, like spaghetti sometimes. This was one of those times. As I stirred scrambled eggs, my scrambled brain heard a soft, almost unintelligible version of Happy Birthday.

Now my scrambled brain was trying to process this and here's how it went in my head....

That sounds like Tyler. NO.... It has to be Austin...Why is he singing Happy Birthday?....He can sing it better than that....But it really sounds like Tyler....NO...It has to be Austin. About the time this whole thing looped again in my head Clif said, "Hey, Tyler is singing Happy Birthday!" (Venus vs. Mars)

Frances brought Kaiti over to join us on our outing, so we had to get out the video camera. The video is Frances getting Tyler to do an encore. It's really neat to see our little guy get so strong. He was weakest of our three, weighed only 2lb. 3oz., born at 29 weeks, and couldn't even breathe without a ventilator for the first 2 1/2 weeks of his life. You go TyTy!

Birthday Wishes

Two of my good friends, Frances and Jen, have birthdays today. I hope you both had great days!

Frances and Steve came over and left their girls here to help me (Clif doesn't get home until tonight). They took the motorcycle for a birthday ride. Austin got to go out and see Mr. Steve crank it up. "It be YOUD Mommy!"

We got to visit with Jen just before Thanksgiving. She made quick friends with Austin and we got this shot just before she left. Looking forward to you coming back this summer

Happy Birthday Austin!

My little Austin turned 3 today. It's hard to believe how much he has grown. We had a fun party today with his friends at Jump Zone! All the kids are worn out and the adults are even more worn out! Lauren and John are still sick and had to miss the party, but Tyler was able to go and he had a blast.