Happy birthday to me!

Just about every day, the kids pull out crayons, scissors, and tape and create things: baskets, birds, balloons, balls, confetti, cards, airplanes...but yesterday was my birthday, so I got a birthday card from Zari!

Eric bought me 2 tickets to a ballet at the opera house. Because babysitting would have been tricky to arrange, I decided to take Dio with me instead of Eric.

Remember when I took Zari to a ballet 4+ years ago? Yesterday she surprised me with an out-of-the-blue memory of the ballet--one she's never told to me before.

Look at that little girl...I hardly remember her being that age!

On paper the performance supposed to last 1 1/2 hours, but with two 30-minute intermissions, it was almost 3 hours long. It started after Dio's normal bedtime, so the poor kid was exhausted. He fell asleep on my lap 10 minutes before it ended!

We were on the very front row, so we could peek into the orchestra pit. He enjoyed looking at the fancy interior and was especially impressed with the enormous chandelier ("bigger than our car!") and high balconies.

Sorry for the blurry photos--the lighting was very dim. I have paint all over my hands and arms. Earlier in the afternoon, I was caulking and priming up in the attic. I lead such a glamorous life.

I was going to make my own birthday cake, because I am pragmatic like that, but Eric would have none of that. He bought a scrumptious cake from Lac Chocolatier.