Suzanne Calling

I'm not sure where the time goes. A little boy, proud of himself for yelling out "PIZZA!" as we drive by a strip mall when he was not quite two (not sure how he knew that word, as we'd never gone there for it!). A three year old, naming the make of every car on our block as we walked around the neighborhood. A five year old, tickled to death with meeting Buzz and Woody at Walt Disney World... And now, sixteen. GameTeen, you've blown me away with the progress you've made. You inspire me to seek out better educational opportunities for other kids like you. You fascinate me with the way your mind turns over the things we talk about, the way you remember the slightest thing for conversations months before. I'm lucky to be your mom.

GameTeen has not attended many birthday parties. One in Maryland, one about five years ago-then two for classmates in the past month. Until this month, I don't think he realized that birthday parties are things that occur with any sort of regularity. So, tonight, we were at odds. He had agreed to go to a party, I RSVPed, he and I shopped for a gift the other night, but he decided he wanted to stay home and play video games, because he didn't want to take a shower or change clothes. I insisted he made a promise, he finally realized I wasn't backing down, and he showered and dressed nice. He went to the party and the birthday girl gave him a hug, ecstatic that he'd shown up (it was a surprise party). Once there, he was quite happy to stick around. When I picked him up at the end of the party, the birthday girl's parents informed me that he was so well mannered. They really do save it up for other people, don't they? I was also told that he said he was havin...

or, Steve Jobs loves the number of Apple devices in this house! Ed told me I could choose my birthday present this year. I could have whatever I wanted. I chose this: It was scheduled to arrive between the 5th and the 9th, but UPS knocked on our door around 9:30 this morning instead. Now I'm fiddling with it, getting my email set up properly and playing Lego Harry Potter(very nice) and downloading movies onto it, too. While it's for fun, I suspect that at least one of my fall classes will cover the use of iPads in education, so it may be a bonus that I'm playing with mine now. Thank you, honey!

This is the first birthday that I've been on vacation. I could get used to the idea. We relaxed near the ocean and waded in the surf, got hotdogs from a truck on the beach (breakfast!), spent another hour or so by the hotel pool. Ventured out for lunch and a skim board for Chef, then free drinks from the hotel bar and dinner at the world famous Ocean Deck. Along the way, Ed managed to get me a pound of gourmet chocolates and a HUGE drink at the Ocean Deck. It was nice, quiet and low pressure. Perfect, even. The cherry on top was the dozens of birthday wishes on Facebook. Sometimes, the quirks of FB tick me off, but today, it brought many, many smiles from friends I've had forever or just a short time, nearby and half a world away. I may not be Rockefeller or Warren Buffett, but I'm definitely rich when it comes to the people in my life and today reminded me of that.

When you have kids, it seems like time passes so fast. For instance, it was just yesterday that I was holding this little guy: To this not-so-little guy, who actually is the same height as his older brother: Happy Birthday, Chef!

Fifteen. I want to know where fifteen years went, because it wasn't all that long ago when I had this little guy: and now I have this guy: Happy Birthday, GameTeen!

The other day, I asked GameTeen where he'd like to enjoy his birthday dinner, if he'd like to go out. Without hesitation, he said " Cody's ," a restaurant we used to enjoy over in Brandon. What GameTeen did not realize is that we'd dined there for the last time three days before the company closed most of their locations. It's a shame, the place was a family favorite for good food at a reasonable price. Every Monday and Tuesday, they had kids eat free nights and so it was a frequent haunt for us when we lived over that way. Their other special that we dove on was buy one get one free fajitas every Wednesday. "Fajita Wednesdays!" was a rallying cry in our old house, guaranteed to get everyone in the car in 30 seconds flat. I felt bad when I had to explain that Cody's was no more. He's now rethinking where he'd like to dine, and said he might even prefer Mom's home cooking. On the cake front, I think we'll have an easi...

44. Not young not old, just in the middle. Two years ago, I got the idea about 88 lines for a birthday post and decided to save it for this year. Of course, I forgot about it until last night. There wasn't any preparation put into this, meaning this isn't anything like the song that inspired it. Rather, it is some ramblings about what memories I carry from the past 44 years that don't quite add up to 88 lines. The title was too good not to keep. Year one involved spitting up on Alfred Hitchcock* He probably found that scarier than those birds in his movie My siblings probably liked the fact that finally, someone had a summer birthday to spread out the cake distribution Year three was the last as the youngest Giggles arrived the following February Four was the year that I decided I was going to drive mom's convertible out of the driveway into the street For my fifth birthday, a party and a gift of a Hoppity Hop that my sister popped about an hour after the party was...

At this time, I had just given birth to a 9 pound, 11 ounce baby boy. He has enjoyed celebrating his birthday today by picking out his own birthday presents, had one of his favorite meals for lunch (General Tsao's chicken) and a Carvel cake. It's amazing how quickly time flies, because it seems like only yesterday he was this little guy: and now he's this guy! Happy Birthday, Game Teen!

Chef Jr turned ten today. He's probably enjoying an extended birthday this week, since his brother isn't here to nag him. Today, he got a few action figures, dinner at a favorite Sushi buffet and then a viewing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Oh, and the owner of the restaurant gave him a ball cap with the restaurant's name on it. Cool! Tomorrow, he gets the requested crab cakes and Coffee cake. No, not coffee cake as you know it-coffee flavored cake. With butter cream frosting. He asked for both items, then said he'd prefer to go out tonight. I like how this picture shows off our blue-hazel eyes. Our eyes change color depending on what we're wearing, but we have the exact same color eyes. Mine look green in this and his look blue... I've got an early appointment tomorrow, but once I get home, we'll be making those items together.

Yep, I'm the mother of a teenager. It appears to have traumatized my friends more than me. I just can't believe how fast time flies. Thanks to Disney, we celebrated Game Teen's Birthday by going to the park of his choosing yesterday: Yes, he got a free ticket and chose dear old Mom to be the one to take him to the park for the day. We just had to show his birth certificate and we were set. I got the usual paper one day ticket, but Game Teen got this nice momento of his birthday, along with a birthday pin: The destination I had in mind, but Game Teen wanted to steer clear: Meanwhile, he was all about getting a Simba Paw. They don't sell those anymore, so he now has a new favorite: Road tripping in Dinoland. I think I need to teach the child that he can't drive while standing up! My turn at the wheel: On our way over to Festival of the Lion King, there was a LONG line for Lilo and Stitch. Meanwhile, Terk was off next to Pizzafari with NO ONE waiting to meet her....

When did this and this become THIS? It was just yesterday that I was holding my 9 pound, 11 oz Sweets in my arms (too big for the newborn clothes, mind you) and I blink and he's a TEENAGER!!!! As such, he's getting a new name here-he is now known as Game Teen. Happy Birthday, Munchkin-you're not a little guy anymore!

I thought the family forgot my birthday. Mainly because not a word was spoken of it until I arrived home tonight! I found a lovely homemade card from Chef Jr, in which he summed up the comments he makes each day when I get home: The aforementioned "Yay, Cake!"* Carvel, even. I think the plus of two birthdays in one week is that there's a good bet that one of us will be sharing a Carvel Cake with the rest of the family. We even got the jackpot on this one: crunchy heaven. Woohoo! The planned post today was nagging me, because I felt it would work better in two years. You now have to wait until 2010 for "88 Lines about 44 Birthdays", LOL. *"Yay, Cake!" is the response heard from Gameboy for a few years as soon as anyone finished singing "Happy Birthday"! It was extremely cute, and we still do it sometimes...

Chef got the day he wanted yesterday. It's nice when we can actually do what is requested! First up, he got the breakfast of choice, sausage gravy and biscuits. You can definitely tell these boys are raised in the south! Afterwards, dad brought out his new bike. Smart child that he is, he ran to hug Daddy. His other requests were dinner at Red Lobster and a visit to Sea World. A quick call to Sea World found that tonight was the last night they would be open until 11pm-so we didn't have to rush over and deal with the heat (and tons of Brazilian tour groups, either-just some of them). One of my coworkers asked me to stop by the store because she had a little something for the Crustacean Kid. It ends up that Kristen had a $25 gift card to Red Lobster. Awesome! Chef could now choose whatever he wanted on the menu. Of course, he went for the biggest, baddest crustacean meal around. First, a salad. If the dressing has cheese or garlic, sign him up. Next, he worked on the p...