Feliz Cumpleaños a Mama

A big Happy Birthday to Amy today!

Owen and Gus were so excited for their mom's birthday -- much more excited than we parents get at the thought of notching another year on our belts. Tess was groggily watching her brothers bounce off the walls this morning, but she quickly picked up on the excitement.

The kids had made pictures for Amy -- including an apple tree under a sky of raining hot dogs and hamburgers (Owen & Tess), a sea of fish with a flying airplane truck overhead (Gus & Tess), and a fiery volcano (Owen & Gus) -- and then hid them under the TV table in their playroom.

Then, this morning when Amy got back from her run the boys played "hot" and "cold" to guide her to the hidden birthday treasures. When Amy didn't find it in about 3 seconds, Gus said, "No Mom, upstairs! Upstairs! Under the TV!"

When Amy sat in the floor the boys couldn't pull out their gifts fast enough, including a small package wrapped in birthday paper.

"Here Mom, here are your jelly bellies! Open them! Open them!"

We need to work on playing up the surprise a little bit. But hey, we'll take the botched surprises in exchange for the boundless energy the kids bring to birthdays any day.

Happy Birthday Amy B!