Noah McAllister.

We are proud to announce that we have a new family member.   
His name is Noah McAllister and he is a Betta fish.

For about 6 months now, C has been telling us that he wanted a fish and we have been telling him that he could have one for his birthday.  So, yesterday afternoon, we set off for "town" to adopt our new friend.  C picked out a bowl, some pebbles, and a cheesy "rock" for Noah and we now have a fish friend who has to be moved from room to room so that he doesn't miss out on any of the action.  In fact, he's here watching me type right now.  : )

I have to say, for the record, that I'm probably more of a fish person than a dog person.  I like to watch them float.  I appreciate their laid-back nature.  I especially like that they don't bark or shed.  I hope that Noah lives a long and happy life in his happy little bowl.
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In other birthday news, C took cupcakes to school yesterday which was exciting because it was the first time that he has been able to do so.  Having a summer birthday can be a drag that way, but being in summer school provided a great opportunity for taking Star Wars cupcakes with navy blue frosting.  I was worried that the other parents would hunt me down in car line for "frosting crimes," but as I watched the children coming out of their classroom yesterday afternoon, they looked no more grungy (or covered in snack) than normal.

Anyway, C said that it was the best birthday ever because his friends sang to him and kept thanking him for the cupcakes.  He was so happy. 

And that lasted for about 10 minutes.  For the rest of the 30 minute drive to town there was much whining.  Do they ever stop whining?  Please, someone, tell me that this is a phase and not just my particular child's personality.  You can lie if you have to!!!  Nothing makes me sadder and madder than a whiny child--especially when you are on your way to do something nice for the whiner.

Okay.  So we got to town and decided to go to the nature center to walk the trail.  Um, proper shoe attire for this type of activity is recommended.  Flip flops are not proper shoe attire.  But in an effort to stop the whine, I did it.  And it was all worth it when we saw a deer taking a bath in a small pond and a turtle sunning itself on a log.  Nature provided a moment of harmony that somehow erased all of the strife that had occurred earlier.

And then we had to hike half a mile uphill to get back to our car and, you guessed it, the whining returned.
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All in all, I think that C had a good birthday.  I hope that he had a good birthday.  We are having a family party on Saturday and I have a lot to do between now and then so I had better get going.  Noah says that he's not great at loading the dishwasher or vacuuming, but has some experience with dusting.  Long live Noah McAllister!