"They Say It's Your Birthday!!"

Yes, Cari has reached the big 3-5!! Sometimes she forgets how old she is, but luckily I'm always there to remind her. I had something big planned too. I made a reservation at Maggliano's Little Italy restaraunt for eight people. Unfortunately, two of them cancelled at the last minute. But there were six of us! Cari was very surprised. She even got a gift card to Starbucks from the Morrows and a lovely bottle of peach wine from the Barkers! And man, what a meal. They had a "Marco's Pasta For Two" which included a salad, pasta, and a dessert for $39.95! They even threw in an uncooked pasta dinner to take home and have later! We ate like kings for like three days. I got the eggplant parmesan. My goodness, it was good. Here's a funny pic of us:


Taken at just the right time.

Afterwards we went to a piano bar and had some drinks. Was a really fun night.

Emmy had to do a project for her book report on "Matilda". She had three weeks to read the book and get the project done, but of course it got put off until the last minute. The last 3 days to be exact. So we cut and pasted and drew and painted and coloured like crazy to get it done by Wednesday. But we did. Here is the finished product:


The lighting wasn't great so I re-positioned it and took a few more pics:


You start at your house and make your way to Miss Honey's house! There were game pieces, dice, and cards that you can draw to either go back spaces or move forward spaces.


"The Chokey"


Not sure what Zach's race car is doing there, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it.

Speaking of Zach, he got to take Ted home! Ted is the class Build-A-Bear and we had to take a picture of Zach with Ted for the journal:





Not sure which one I like the best. Maybe the one of him asleep?

Zach got in a bit of trouble this week. He bought some play money at Dollar Tree and snuck it into school. Then he gave some to his friends. His teacher saw it and asked him where he got it. Well, he told a lie and said that I put it in his pockets without him knowing. Then he lied about giving it to his friends. He got a pop in the butt and last night Cari and I spent about 30 minutes with him talking about how important it is to tell the truth every time, because one day, someone is going to say something about Zach that isn't true and Zach will want us to believe him. I told him we won't be able to do that if he doesn't be honest with us each and every time. I really hope it's just a boy thing and not something deeper. I used to lie all the time and it about drove my dad nuts. I just have to be patient with him and give him time to break this habit on his own and to carry a big stick when he makes mistakes. Not literally beat him with a stick, but to not spare the rod, to quote Aesop. Sometimes he can be the sweetest, funniest kid, but that's the Jekyll side of him. The Hyde side is screaming, crying, and kicking when he doesn't get his way. Lately that side has been dying down little by little thank goodness. But it still flares up from time to time. My patience level is really tested sometimes. Good thing I do what I do for a living. Patience is definitely my biggest virtue. That and my sense of humour. Wish I could make a living with that.