Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

and other things...

Today, boys and girls, my middle darling daughter turned sixteen. I'm not sure how this happened, as the photographic evidence below will show you that she was a mere baby just yesterday.

Tomorrow, you can read the story of how she came into the world in this week's Flashback Friday!

In the meantime, I've included some of my favorite pics of her over the years. While she looks far more like her father than me (I've long since forgiven her for this), she (at least as a child) had my curly hair, shares my love for cooking, is tender-hearted, geeky to a fault, and has a very quirky sense of humor. Also, it's nearly impossible to avoid adoring her.

I'll let you in on a secret, Highlander and I got her a Russian tortoise (with the appropriate set-up) for her gift (it's actually a big part of her Christmas gift, too). We gave it to her last night and she was soooooo excited. She's been wanting one for a long time.

I whipped her up a white chocolate cheesecake for a birthday cake. Unconventional, I know. But, hey, we're talking about my daughter here. Could she BE anything else?

And we started off today with one of the local radio dj's passing along a birthday greeting ("My daughter turns 16 tomorrow (December 7th) and I'd love for her to know how thrilled I am to have had the priviledge of sharing sixteen years with her.") that I'd emailed the radio station.

Later tonight, she'll be serenaded, as we are attending [Kid 1]'s winter concert. All in all, it should be a pretty good day.

Anyway, here's what my girl looked like, a very short time ago.







Woo Hoo! Bring on the Presents!!














Of COURSE I'm always this adorable!

















See, I told you!


















Mike Tyson ain't so tough!















Lynndie England TOTALLY stole MY hand jive and used it for evil! She must be destroyed!












My biker 'handle' is Godiva. And, no, I will NOT show you my tattoo.









As a child, they called me 'The Sniper'. I'd hide in trees and pick off the neighborhood kids as they rode their bikes past my house.

Heh. Those were the days.









When admonished by her grandma that she "might be eating too much candy from the birthday pinata", [Kid 2] (channeling Linda Blair in THE EXORCIST) responded with a growling "Leave me alone."

(True story. No embellishment needed.)







Pull what cat's tail? I didn't do it. I swear.















You should see how they dress me when there's more than a dusting of snow out here. It's humiliating.







I gave my love a cher-ry, that had no stone. I gave my love a chic-ken that had no bone.

Wait a minute! Is that John Belushi? And is he wearing a bedsheet??








This looked alot less messy in LADY AND THE TRAMP. Maybe having a partner makes more of a difference than I thought.













Pull what cat's tail? I didn't do it. I swear.















I don't get it. You jump. That's it?

And you paid 'how much' for this thing, again?










I'm riding out to check on the hands, Ma.

If you don't keep a damn close eye on 'em, they'll go all 'Brokeback Mountain' on ya.








Ay yi yi yi, I am the Frito Bandito...















For this yoga move, you bring your foot aaallllll the way to your mouth. Like this. C'mon, ladies, you can do it.







[Kid 2] are those chipmunks in your cheeks, or are you doing your Dizzy Gillespie impression again?








Pull what cat's tail? I didn't do it. I swear.




Cool!! This whole house is one big, oddly-shaped Van de Graaff generator!!











Don't be hatin' on my Donald Duck slippers. I'm working the whole ensemble and you know it.














Yes, someday, all of this will be mine. Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!















Then, after giving this really great speech, Howard Dean did this.










Yes, I'm completely, blindly in love with my kids. (That's not an apology.) However, it should be noted that [Kid 2]'s approval was obtained on photo choices and captions prior to the publication of this blog post.