Cool Tub, Lovely Gifts and Red Velvet Heaven

Tonight we went to my parent's house to celebrate my birthday. We cooled off in the hot tub...made cool for summer. Christian has been struggling with a fear of the water so I was encouraging him...again...to get into the tub with me. He came over and sat near me while I was in the tub. I was telling him how I would not let him fall in if he sat with his feet in the water. I could tell he was seriously considering it. Finally I said, "I will give you one dollar if you sit with your feet in the water." He lit up like Christmas morning and said, "I do it! For a dollar." He was nervous but I helped him to the side and he put his feet in! Next I coerced him with $1.50 to let me carry him around in the water and stand on the seat. He agreed! I was on a roll so I then said if we went to the YMCA I would give him a five dollar bill to get in the pool and let me walk around with him in the water. He said, "Five dollars! I do it! I being brave!" Wow. This child is highly motivated by money. We will be making a trip to the Y as soon as possible! Gotta get him in that pool while he is still money hungry.
Here is Christian with his whopping $1.50. Grandma agreed to match it so he made $3.00. What a little scoundrel.

Here is Maizie showering me with birthday kisses. Maizie and Christian love petting Rudy. As you can see he does not mind it either.

I really got some great gifts for my birthday. Maizie bought me a pretty gold mirrored key chain. Joe bought me some new Estee Lauder nail polish that came with the free gift. Yes! I am a makeup addict. What a rush! My Aunt Julie gave me two pairs of cozy pajamas. My Mom and Dad found me a beautiful dragon fly bowl. They also brought me a beautiful chandelier for our living room. One of my mom's clients wanted to give it to me. My mom had been sharing my struggle with endo and my upcoming surgery with her. Apparently her client went through a very similar experience. My mom has been designing their new interior. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me. There is also one coming for our dining room. It is very beautiful and has an old quality that will look great in our 1800's house. Marie had given me a Target card that was promptly spent. Last night Sean and Carol gave me a gift card for a spa treatment at Spiece. Praise the Lord! I must be loved this year!
My sweet pet Melissa got me these overly large sweats. At first I was like, "Damn! I am not that big!" Then my mom explained that they are for after my surgery when I will look bloated and swollen. Wahoo! So, these are my 'hysterectomy pants'. Awesome! Thank you sweet pet. I do love them!

Joe and dad helped the kids play with the remote control boats on the pond. Maizie and Christian crashed one of the boats across the pond. Dad had to walk all the way around it and crawl through some bushes to get it out. Then they got it stuck again and Joe had to wade out into the water to get it. He was soaked. Therefore his wallet was soaked and Maizie's medications were soaked. They melted into a disgusting pile of goo in the pill box. This required some medication tweaking for her bedtime meds. Hopefully we will not be paying a price for that in the morning. This 'price' could show itself in the form of seizures since the seizure medication was the only one I did not have a sample of for just this sort of situation. Bummer. I think she should be okay. After Joe came in from out of the pond he worried his toes were ruined from all of the mud. I appreciated his concern since I spent forever fixing them all up. At his concern Maizie promptly replied,"My mom only likes my dad if he's not dirty." I about died laughing.

The nasty melted pills are shown above. Daniel is being his typically silly self below. That suction cup smiley toy/pen was sent to Joe from his company. It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Apparently kids find endless uses for it.

Cutie pie Christian had on the Cisco Networking shirt that Joe had bought Maizie when she was his age. He looked so cute in it.

When I was out with Mindy today Joe made me a beautiful red velvet cake. I requested this cake for my birthday. I love the flavor of it. I wish the photo below did justice to how well it was frosted. I swear I have probably gained five pounds in just the last couple of days. Time to get walking!

Now my birthday is coming to a close after two days of celebrations. Now I am left to make the most of this next year. I can't believe I will be 35 next. Yup...I really do know how to count sometimes.