Celebration

As I mentioned in my previous post, May tends to be a good month for me, as we celebrate both my birthday and Mother’s Day.  And my wonderful husband made both quite lovely this year.

Saturday, May 1, was my 37th birthday.  I am officially in that murky land of pushing 40.  It’s kind of sobering, as I remember when 40 seemed…well…old.  Now it’s looking younger every day.  I’ll just say that I never expected to by in my late 30’s with a newborn, but it’s just one more adventure.  I’m grateful to still be healthy and whole and having adventures.

Anyway…

We spent the morning at Elijah’s soccer game and a good chunk of the afternoon at a tae kwon do black belt test.  The latter was not exactly my idea of a good time, but the kids begged to go.  As Jeff had to run our van title up to the car dealership in Bloomington, the three kids and I hung out at the test for three hours.

I must admit that it was pretty amazing.  By the time people test for a black belt in any martial art, they have acquired some pretty awesome skills.  One guy, who is about 15 and testing for his second-degree black belt, sparred with a fourth-degree black belt, who axe-kicked him in the head about three times.  Elijah was over the moon.

We also saw some pretty amazing breaks, including one guy who broke two concrete blocks with his hand.  At one point in the test, Elijah looked at me, inclined his head toward the actions, and stated with perfect confidence, “That’s me in a few years.”

I love that kid.

Before the test, we ate lunch, and I opened my gifts.  I received two board games, Apples to Apples and Last Word, from Charlotte and Elijah…

 

… the latest Karen Kingsbury book from Jeremy, who, as you can tell, is very much into celebrating my birthday…

…and three NeedToBreathe CD downloads, which Jeff burned to disks for me, for maximum listening flexibility!

We also ate some birthday brownies.

 

That evening, however, was the special part of my birthday.  Jeff made reservations for all of us at a Peoria restaurant called 2 Chez.  It’s an Americanized French restaurant, with great atmosphere and delicious food.  It is not exactly a kid-friendly place, but Charlotte and Elijah remembered well from France how to behave, and we had a lovely evening. 

We did have a bit of a rough start with Jeremy, as he screamed as soon as we sat down.  He didn’t know that he was supposed to be quiet and well-behaved.  Jeff hustled him out of the restaurant under the baleful glares of people who hadn’t had babies in a very long time, got him back to sleep, and we didn’t hear a peep from him the rest of the supper.

2 Chez had no kids’ menu, but our kids have tried enough different foods over the past several years that they managed to find things to eat.  To our waiter’s credit, he hardly batted an eye when our kids ordered and snarfed down fried calamari (squid) for an appetizer, declaring it better than that they had tried in Egypt, and Elijah ate mussels in the shell for his entree!  Charlotte split a chicken and pasta dish with Jeff, and I enjoyed scallops.

Good times.

I forgot to mention that yesterday was Baby/Child Dedication at church.  There were 22 children dedicated between the two services, and Jeremy was the youngest one participating.  We have now dedicated three different children at three different churches:  North Boulevard Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson, and Richwoods Christian Church here in Peoria!  It was neat.

Have a good one!