The cake will (have to) wait

Mike worked the early shift today. When he got home, the house was surprisingly clean (his birthday gift from me) and I was nearly ready to have lunch with him. The boys were both napping, dressed in Iowa State Cyclone gear. After lunch, Mike enjoyed a relaxing bath.

Shortly after the boys woke, they were excited to show Daddy his presents:

Leinenkugal's Canoe Paddler beer sounded promising.
And a bag of the DELICIOUS dried cherries from Target.
(Daddy was sad last week when he discovered that we
had eaten them all so, we bought him some for his birthday.)

He got a little help opening his present from Nana & Papa Olson from these adorable Cyclone fans:



Nana is coming TOMORROW (Wednesday) to entertain the boys while I take Grandpa Lowell in for surgery. She is bringing a birthday cake for Mike so, we decided NOT to make one for him for today since we really don't eat that much cake and certainly don't NEED two of them. (Nana is taking a Tuesday night cake decorating class and was eager to let US be her guinea pigs.)

Hopefully, Mike doesn't mind too much that the cake will have to wait until tomorrow.

Sydney and Silas were excited to make birthday cards for Daddy. On a dry erase board, I wrote the word 'DAD' for Sydney to copy onto the front of his card. A few minutes later, he spelled out the word DAD from memory onto the envelope. (I was quite proud of him for that!) Silas was proud to make a card, too. We traced handprints onto each card - to capture the year. (For a little while, Sydney's card had turned into a card - telling Silas to STOP writing on the walls with markers and color ONLY on paper, despite having "Happy Birthday Dad" written on the front of it. I believe the back cover is his STOP sign and warning to his baby brother.) I'm sure that Mike will cherish these cards forever.

Honey, we hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We can't wait to celebrate many more years with you! We love you!

In other news, Mike made it ALMOST 42 years before ever getting a subpoena. The sherif knocked on the door late last night and handed it to me. (Looks like the dog owner is in a trial against the City.)