Toy Story 3 Outing

I have three kids with birthdays within a month of each other in June and July. I wanted to take them to see Toy Story 3 as sort of a day with Dad thing. I took half a day off from work to take them. I decided to include Henry, my four year old son, too, since I thought he could sit without making it too difficult and he would enjoy the movie. I considered taking Sophia, my two year old daughter, who absolutely loves Toy Story 2... but really had some fears about her ability to sit still through the movie or maybe having one of those two year old freak-out fits that she has sometimes and that I would have to change a diaper away from home (which I really hate) and we were seeing it in 3D and I had doubts about her ability to deal with the glasses for the whole movie and how she could generally really make the whole experience a drag if things went badly.

Now, I really thought all those things and I talked myself into not taking her. My wife said she didn't want to be the one to tell her because she would be heart-broken. I just thought we wouldn't tell her and it would be all good. But Becca, my wife, brought up the fact that the other kids would be talking about it when they got home and Sophia is no stooge, she's gonna know she missed it. So I thought just turn on Toy Story 2 for her here at home while we are at the movies and she'll be happy as can be. Becca would not even consider that because she said if she was at home with Sophia and most of us were gone she would not sit Sophia in front of the TV. She just couldn't do it. That's my wife... always thinking of the kids.

In the end... If you go back and re-read the last two paragraphs with the perspective of how selfish they really are (i.e. how selfish I am), you will see why I ended up thinking about it and realizing that it's not about me. Yes, I took her with us. She did great. She sat still and quiet and watched the movie all the way through. She did not like the 3D glasses much, but who can blame her? They were HUGE on her. I did have to change a diaper, but look... I am still alive and didn't suffer any permanent damage. Apparently the cutoff age for having to pay for a movie ticket is ONE so her ticket cost the same $8 matinée price as all the rest of us. Ouch. Yes, a matinée with me and five kids was $48 and I didn't buy a single kernel of popcorn or a bottle of water. No wonder movies make millions.

So, we had a good time... all of us. We made memories and it was actually my initiative to put the outing together which is something I am historically bad at. I worried it from my selfish perspective thinking how miserable I could be if the little ones acted badly and almost made a decision that would have come back on me later like bad tacos. I would've regretted it and would not have been able to take it back. I thank God that He softened my heart for my daughter and allowed me to give up the worry and enjoy the time. Consider that if you start to worry yourself into something like that.

Henry's Birthday

My son, Henry, turned four years old today. Last night it started to snow, again. This is a pretty strange thing for this part of Texas this time of year. We've had quite a bit of snow this year... again, for this part of Texas. I took the kids in the truck and we went on a "snow ride" so they could see it falling while we drove. Henry said, "It's like God gave me a birthday present." Amen, Henry... Amen.

Ambushed On My Birthday... Again

My birthday, 41, came upon us recently. On my 40th my family ambushed me with water balloons and completely surprised me with it. I thought I was more on my guard this year but they got me with silly string and again, completely surprised me. I can assure you, it won't happen again.

My wife always makes me an angel food cake with chocolate icing, my favorite. She even makes the icing. This year Henry, 2+, helped ice the cake. She said he really did help. It looks like he enjoyed it quite a bit. I wonder what the ratio of how much went on the cake and how much went in Henry is?

My oldest, Ben - 13, made a pinata for the festivities. Paper mache and streamers and the well place fin and eye and we have a fish pinata. He was convinced that it was too weak and we'd break it way too fast. We pounded it pretty hard and it took quite a bit to finally break it. Inside were Rolos (which you cannot roll to your friend any more because they are now tapered at the top and just roll in a circle right back to you... I was wondering if that is some sort of candy-commentary on the state of our greedy, self-centered culture), Twix (mmmm), Snickers, Tootsie-Pops, Starbursts, Jolly Ranchers, M&Ms, and those little party popper things that you pull the string and it pops and shoots a little bit of confetti out of it.



The fish theme carried through out the day as the balloons my kids blew up had fish drawn on them and the phrase, "Have a fishy bday" was written on them. There were various hand-drawn signs hanging around the house that sported the same message and same fish drawings. The cake had little candy fishy things on top, too.

We also went to Fuddruckers for hamburgers at lunch. That's my favorite burger place around here. Between the big, fat burger for lunch, the french toast at breakfast and cake and ice cream along the way... I was stuffed and ready for a nap.

All in all we had a good time and it was a good day. Maybe I'll have another one next year.