Well, it's been quite the weekend! Not only here on the blog (I'll have more reaction to the question of "Was Jesus a socialist or not?" later), but on the homefront as well.
First, we had Caleb's birthday celebration, which is still ongoing and evolving right into Jean's birthday celebration. So, we spent Friday night bowling with Caleb (who got a spare on his first frame and was beating me through the first two frames, thanks to the bumpers :).
Saturday, I pulled the Crane Bros. Moving Co. together to help Jean's Mom and Dad move out of there apartment. (Thanks Dad, Doug and Stephen for your labors.) Then it was off to the theater to celebrate Jean's birthday. We went downtown in Indianapolis to see "Looking Over the President's Shoulder", a one-man production which tells the story of a little-known Hoosier, Alonzo Fields, who served in the White House as the Chief Butler for 5 presidents over 21 years. Very well done and a must-see for any American history buffs out there.
Sunday was the usual mad scramble with various pastoral responsibilities. And then there was this morning.
Even though we started Jean's birthday celebration earlier in the weekend, her official Big Day is today. So, it was the usual attempt to try to start the day off in a special way with breakfast in bed. My first little helper, Caleb, came into our room bright and early to sneak into bed with me and remind that me had big plans for the morning. So, I had him go wake up the Second-in-Charge, Andrew, in order to commence the breakfast responsibilities.
I set the two of them to work making a birthday "poster", which Andrew immediately delegated to Caleb. His rationale being that Caleb could do the drawing while Andrew stood guard with the new Nerf-style rocket launcher in order to "Protect Mommy from the bad guys".
Meanwhile, Mark woke up, so Caleb went and pulled him out of bed, and somehow Mark found his way into our room with Mommy. She was already up and working out on the Eliptical machine during our chaos in the kitchen. So, once we finally got everything set and ready to go, Caleb went back into our room to make sure Mommy was in bed, in order to recreate the ambiance of "breakfast in bed."
We all came marching in to the room with the poster, the cards/presents, and the breakfast (topped off with Crystal Light and flowers). Sweet fun was had by all, but unfortunately, it was short-lived. We were up against the clock, and Caleb and I had to hustle to get out the door and off to preschool.
Aaahhh, life as a parent. The joys and chaos of raising children gives these kinds of celebrations there own unique experience. We don't always get the glow of the moment that is captured in the movies, but the love is the real and the memories are priceless.
I love you, honey! Thanks for being such a beautiful, wonderful wife and an amazingly-versatile, incredible mother to our boys (and maybe our new girl?). Happy Birthday from your Crane men (both big and little). 
UPDATE: I almost forgot to mention one aspect of the Jean's birthday celebration. After we brought in the flowers (a blossoming branch from a Dogwood tree), Andrew thought it would be helpful to spray some of Jean's "Wild Honeysuckle" body splash on it to make it smell even better. Ten minutes later it turned brown and died. :) Happy Birthday, Mommy!
Happy Birthday, Jean!!
Posted by: Mandy Leech | April 28, 2008 at 07:56 PM