Teenager in the house

Happy Birthday, Aaron! I crawled out of bed while everyone else was still sleeping soundly to start clearing dishes and getting yummy stuff chopped up for Aaron's omelette which he had requested for his birthday breakfast. No matter how tight money is, food seems to take a certain level of priority in our household. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I'm probably sending some wrong message that food is love and my kids will one day hate me for it as they struggle with weight issues as adults. I hope they just remember that I love them (period). And that food is good (period). And that they shouldn't get it twisted! I grated colby-jack cheese and chopped mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, onion, tomato and a few slices of leftover bacon. I even cut up red potatoes and onions to cook "on the side" with a touch or salt, pepper and thyme. That was the difficult part. The omelette part was simple: you just have to keep the heat low and not be in a hurry for it to cook. I made-to-order individual omelettes, so everyone was happy. Alisa even had toast instead of the potatoes.
After breakfast, Mike took off for the dealership with my van to see about getting the a/c repaired--Thank goodness he's off on Mondays! Tia picked up Aaron to take him birthday clothes shopping and dropped Sasha with me and Alisa. Alisa was a real trooper and made every effort to keep Miss P-pasha entertained while I washed dishes & laundry and tried to make heads & tails of my office. It hasn't quite recovered from the "get worse before it gets better" phase much to my chagrin. This goes back to my "everything takes time" blog, but it's getting a little frustrating.
Aaron returned from his shopping spree with a pair of jeans and two polo style shirts that looked big enough for the both of us to fit into. He also had new "ear buds" for his MP3 player, thanks to Tia. Sasha wasn't ready to go home with Tia who was now rushing back to her house to exchange Aaron for Leyla. Derrick was taking the boys to see G.I. Joe. Alisa wanted desperately to go with Tia to "babysit" Leyla. As smart as Sasha is, she realized she wouldn't stand a chance of keeping Alisa's attention with Leyla on the scene, so Alisa and Sasha ended up staying here at our home when Tia and Aaron left. We ran to the store for a few items; then, I resumed my cleaning and baked Aaron's birthday cake -chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream frosting (as if we didn't have cake leftover along with a sampling of the other desserts from the night before in the fridge!)
Just as I was taking the cakes from the oven, Derrick & the boys and Renee showed up at the same time. They helped eat some of the leftover birthday cake, which I greatly appreciated seeing as how we would have another whole cake to tackle later that evening, then everyone left (except those of us who live here, that is).
Eventually, Mike made his way back home from the dealership and dozed in his blue chair while the kids went for a dip in the pool. They didn't seem to be having much fun and didn't stay out there long, but it was long enough for me to defrost hamburger meat and make homemade hamburgers on the George Foreman with tater tots for dinner. I felt bad that Aaron's birthday wasn't what he'd hoped for, but hopefully we can do something with his friends before school starts in two weeks.
We stayed up way too late! After burgers & tots at 9 p.m. I made Aaron's "cool whip" frosting, but the kitchen was so hot I didn't dare try to frost the cake. I put the frosting in the fridge and the cake in the freezer so it’d be good and cold when I frosted it. I washed up a few dishes (never can manage to get them all done) and the kids & I played monopoly. Aaron won by the skin of his teeth. Alisa had taken a Benadryl earlier because she had taken a bite of the Almond-something granola bar then read that it contained peanut flour. She was almost asleep sitting at the table. By the time we sang Happy Birthday to Aaron it was officially no longer his birthday (as in after midnight). I tried to stay up and blog some, but just couldn't keep my eyes open. It dawned on me I hadn't had a good nap in a couple of days. Good night. Until next time...