nothing says middle-aged mommy like paper pennants, homemade lotion, and flaming dr. pepper

Friday was Ray's birthday, so the kids and I whipped up a birthday pennant.

Technically, we should have done this with fabric, but we were short on time so we cut up a few pieces of scrapbook paper with pinking shears, then sewed the triangles onto bias tape.   The pennant turned out cute, now I really want to make one out of fabric. 

We made chocolate cake balls dipped in white chocolate. 

I found this card in Carter's backpack.  I love the fact that he was thinking about his dad's birthday while he was at school. 

Ray was happy when he came home to our little celebration. 

Saturday, I whipped up something new.  I'd found this lotion recipe on Pinterest, and thought it might be the cure for my winter-dry hands.   

The recipe involves dumping Vaseline, vitamin e lotion, and baby lotion into your mixer then whipping them together until the mixture looks like fluffy icing. 

The result is the smoothest softest lotion ever.  Your hands stay soft even after you've washed them a few times.  Good stuff. 

I kept one container for myself and gave the others away. 

Saturday night we went downtown with Lisa, Eric, Ellen, and Tony for dinner, drinks, and laughs at Esther's Follies. 

So, I'm feeling pretty good, wearing my homemade lotion, walking down 6th street with my good friends and my just-turned-forty-three husband when we pass two musicians on the street.  One is playing his guitar, the other is asking for money as people pass by.  Our group passes by and he asks how much we think the song is worth.  We smile, say nothing and keep walking.  As Ray and I pass the guy asking for money yells out, "Come on Mom and Dad, give me some money!!"

Mom and Dad?  Moments later, Ellen and I are in the ladies room at The Iron Cactus.  Ellen walks over to the sink and a woman standing there looks at her and says, "Isn't it nice to be out without the kids?"

Um hello?  Do we have the word parent tattooed on our foreheads?  How do these people know we're not a bunch of happening UT grad students : )

After the food, but before the follies, we stopped by Touche' for their house specialty: The Flaming Dr. Pepper.  Standing in the presence of a fire breathing bartender has to be enough to make anyone feel young again.  I captured the awesomeness in the video above.   

The Flaming Dr. Pepper is beer with a shot glass of some sort of liqueur inside.  After the fiery explosion, the two mix in a way that makes the entire drink taste exactly like Dr. Pepper.  Everyone enjoyed their DP, and Esther's Follies made us laugh so hard that today my cheeks are sore. 

At least I hope my cheeks are sore from laughing and it's not some side effect of aging...