I had my 396th birthday yesterday but my kids were convinced that we really didn’t have enough time for a celebration because church services interfered with birthday celebrating. My kids baked me a cake and we decided that we would take today as a school-free day to complete our birthday celebrations.

So this morning as I was contemplating what to prepare for breakfast, my kids started asking for birthday cake. It reminded me of a great sketch from Bill Cosby Himself called Chocolate Cake for Breakfast. I tried to find it on YouTube but I couldn’t. If you get a chance to listen to it, you can find it on the album Bill Cosby Himself. It is a really funny sketch of a Dad trying to serve breakfast for his kids while his wife sleeps in.

In my Youtube searching, I did find this great sketch called Natural Childbirth. If you have ever had children, you will relate. I love how Bill Cosby can make the most ordinary things in life hilarious. So here is my birthday present to you. Enjoy!
Natural Childbirth
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFMVeZyhagI&rel=1]

Just so you know, we did have chocolate cake for breakfast. But we will have eggs and bacon for lunch to make up for it!

Here are some random moments of humor that have spiced up my morning.

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Kids get a little weird around holiday time. My 6 year son has been making a “top-secret” birthday present for me (if this thought doesn’t frighten every fiber of your being then you obviously don’t have a 6 year old boy in your household). Turns out he saw a cartoon where the kids were collecting items to make a facial mask for the mother and Mr 6 decided that sounded like a good idea. He has ignored the fact that the mother on the cartoon didn’t like the facial mask and that his own mother has repeatedly informed him that she doesn’t like facial masks either. This morning I found out that he had made one for me from a mixture of odd leaves found in a friends yard, chicken and guinea feathers, glue, beads and maybe the left-overs of his mushroom and fungus hunt. Oh yeah, I am really going to put that on my face.

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Conversation with the 11 year old that occurred in my bedroom this morning before I had my coffee.

Preteena: Mom, do you have any permanent markers?
Mom (skeptically): Yes
Preteena: May I borrow one?
Mr. 6 (fake-whispering** from the doorway): Tell her no!!

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My husband has taken to making up daffy definitions for words this morning. Here are some of gems he shared via email at random points during the morning.

Agnostic: An atheist who is afraid to commit.
Shotgun Wedding: A matter of wife or death.

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Mr. 6 came running upstairs to my bedroom.

Mr. 6 (half-panting): “Mom, DO NOT go into the bathroom downstairs.”
Mom (skeptically): “Why son”?
Mr. 6: “Because Preteena has to go potty in the downstairs bathroom so you cannot go in there” (just so you know, potty visits at our home are not usually preceded with announcements)
Mom: “Okay, son”
Mr 6 (fake-whispering** down the stairs): “It’s Okay… Go ahead…. I’ll be the look-out.
Mom: (thinking to herself) “Oh no. Should I wait or dial 911 now.”
Mr. 6 (every 30 seconds for the next 5 minutes or so still fake-whispering**) “She’s still there.”

If you will excuse me now I have to go see if I still have a downstairs bathroom.

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** For those who might not know, a fake-whisper is a method of communication that involves a very breathy half-yell executed with the hands placed on either side of the mouth in order to keep the words secret from someone in the room while allowing them to be heard by another. A favorite method of communication among the Under 7 age group.

Update:
There was no apparent damage to the downstairs bathroom. I don’t know what the kids were up to but it didn’t leave its usual destruction and devastation behind. For that I am very thankful.

I received the following devotional from Thought for the Day and thought it especially meaningful today as I have been discussing this topic with my cyber friends lately.. I wanted to share it with you.

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THE POWER OF PRAYER

One of Erma Bombeck’s favorite Jewish grandmother stories involves a grandmother who took her grandson to the beach. She put a sun hat on him and then dozed off to sleep as the little boy played with his bucket and shovel in the sand. Suddenly, a large wave came in and dragged the child out to sea. The grandmother woke and was devastated. She fell to her knees and prayed, “God, if you’ll save my grandson, I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll join whatever club you want me to. I’ll volunteer at the hospital, give to the poor and do anything that makes you happy.”

Suddenly, another huge wave came in and tossed her grandson on the beach at her feet. She noticed there was color in his cheeks and his eyes were bright. He was alive!

As she stood up, however, she seemed to be upset. She put her hands on her hips, looked skyward, and said sharply, “He had a hat, you know.”

Though we may not always get everything we want when we pray, the Bible teaches a great deal about the power of prayer. Prayer truly makes a difference. As James said, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16).

We see it happen time and again in the scriptures. Abraham’s servant prayed and Rebekah appeared. Hannah prayed and Samuel was born. Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed, and 185,000 Assyrians were slain. After three years of drought, Elijah prayed again and rain came. The church in Jerusalem prayed and Peter was released from prison. That’s just a small sampling of answered prayer in the Bible.

We’ve seen it happen in our own lives as well. We do not receive everything we ask for (even the apostle Paul didn’t), but we have seen God’s answers time and again — for sickness to be healed, for safety through difficult times, for the wisdom to make right decisions, for needs to be provided.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (I John 5:14)

Praise be to God — our Heavenly Father — who is willing to hear us and cares enough about us to answer our prayers. Most of us have been more than willing over the years to carry our burdens to God and tell Him what we want. May I suggest that you take some time today to give God your thanks for the many times He has heard and answered.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
from Thought for the Day. Used with permission.

Well I have officially been knitting for one year now. I like to think that my skills have improved somewhat in that year. So here is a journey through the knitting of the past year.

My first foray into the world of knitting was a child’s hat for which the gauge was so wrong that it was not only too small for my daughter but also for her doll. Thankfully, there is no photographic evidence of this fiasco.

But I do have evidence of the “Christmas of the Garter Stitch Scarf”

I spent the first three months of my knitting experience knitting a scarf for everyone I knew who had a neck. Thankfully, I have graduated from the furry yarns. The fuzzy yarns do have to advantage of hiding tension wobbles in ones knitting though so they are handy for a beginner.

After all the scarves, I spent some time on dishcloths. The earlier ones were garter stitch (I don’t remember if I knitted this one or if it was my daughter’s first but there isn’t much difference.

But I eventually graduated to some fancier ones

This one began my fascination with lace which is a slippery slope indeed.

In January, my love affair with socks began.
My very first sock

This sock taught me about the value of negative ease. In other words, it was too big. Fortunately my hubby has big feet. I lost count of how many pair I have knitted but some were better than others.

I am currently working on my very first design. I was hoping to have it finished to share with you by now but unfortunately it has to make a brief stop at the Frog Pond before I finish it. The design isn’t quite right yet but getting there.

I also ventured into lace shawls. The adventure started here

and ended here

and here

I don’t have this one completed yet because I am torn between to knit it as the pattern is written or alter it so that the cat’s paw section flows into the wing portion without the eyelet row.

I have also knitted one sweater but I have the second one OTN even as we speak.

I have even knitted a skirt which I modified so much it is hardly recognizable as a design from Interweave Knits. I like my design better.

There have been knitting triumphs and a few froggy failures. All in all it has been a very good year. Wonder what I will learn next year?

We survived yesterday without visiting the grocery store. And so far so good today. We had eggs with left over rice for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch and for supper we are having chili. If you need a quick meal, my recipe for Almost Instant Clean-out-the-Fridge Vegetarian Chili can be found here

I ended up with a bag of tortilla chips that were left from after the visitation meeting we had at church Sunday that will make a good side dish for the chili. It has been a bit cool here today so the chili will be especially nice.

I have been knitting furiously trying to finish my pair of socks for October. If I miss this month’s deadline it will be the first month all year when I have not completed at least one pair of socks. Tomorrow midnight is the deadline for SAM-4. So I better stop blogging and get busy knitting!!