The big one.

I had a birthday.  A big one!  I always said I would love turning forty.  It turns out I didn't love it as much as I thought I would but there are a few great things about being my age: 

*I no longer have to feel peer pressure to do scary things.  No jumping off cliffs or house boats.  

*My kids are a lot of fun and much more pleasant than the labor intensive and completely exhausting younger days.  I always said I wouldn't have anyone in diapers when I was forty but I didn't know I would get cute little Jackson.  He wasn't quite potty trained for my birthday.  

But I don't mind a bit!

*Rustin just keeps getting better and better.  We know and love each other more as time passes.  Seriously.  

*I'm smarter.  I am!  I hate thinking about all that time I spent worrying about things that weren't really important.  I'm sure I'll say the same thing when I'm sixty! 

We went out to dinner with the whole family and Rustin picked out a delicious ice cream cake.  Which I ate.

I gave myself the best present.  

 I have lost 50 pounds!!

 Woo Hoo!  

Well probably more like 48 after the above incident...

What birthday present made me cry?

My dear friend Anna went on-line and found a bottle of my favorite discontinued hair gel.  I am seriously in a hair crises.  It took me until college to figure out how to make my hair behave.  Like any true curly girl, I have tried a million products and I always come back to one thing.  L'oreal melting gel and Pantene hydrating curls conditioner.  

So I just went on to Amazon and ordered a case or so of this gel before it's gone.  But then what am I going to do? My hair takes on the texture of felted wool without this gel.  I'm not kidding.  

For now I'm going to pretend like I don't' know that this gel is disappearing.  

And I am going to enjoy my forties!

Night Life.

The only thing worse than writhing in pain with the stomach flu at midnight is cleaning up after a little third grader with the stomach flu at 1 am.  At least he got 90% of it off the bed---10% even made it into the toilet! That boy is growing up!  

Landon is also sick today and Dallin missed last Friday with the pukes.  Now I feel bad I wasn't nicer to Dallin when he said he was sick.  

Only time will tell if we are going to make this a truly uniting family event.  Of course Rustin leaves tomorrow for a big snowmobile trip at Yellowstone (thanks to VisionSource--their buying group at work).  I hope he escapes the bugs.  

(Post-note--Rustin did NOT escape the pukes.  He spent almost two entire days in the hotel room alone in agony.  He didn't even get to go snowmobiling! Darn. )

In the mean time my kids have discovered iPhoto photo booth.  

The laughing and entertainment seem to be never-ending.  They all sit around on the counters (on top of the counters) in the kitchen and at the desk while I make dinner.  

Good think I have such attractive children.