This collage of B-day photos is brought to you by Nair... for those of you who are man enough to dress like a woman but don't have the legs of a 2-year old. Yes, whenever Violet and her pantheon of girls play dress-up Jack likes to get in on the action. Here we have him showcasing Erin's frilly dress from when she was a little girl. He may need a little brother soon or else I am going to have to stock up on fireman and cowboy outfits. I am fairly certain that the psychological trauma will not return to haunt him in his teens. Maybe I'll start an emergency savings account for his future therapy - as long as I don't deposit it at WaMu, or Lehman Bros.

We had a small gathering of family and friends at our house. It was very nice and Violet had a wonderful time being the center of attention - as if she isn't always anyway. She got a lot of wonderful gifts - Myrna, her own cabbage patch kid, a kick scooter, a tea set and play B-day cake, Ballet shoes, tu-tu, and dance bag, feather boas, hula-hoop, and EleFun (gotta see to believe).

One of the great things at the party was the colorful decorations. Erin filled the house with streamers and balloons from a homemade helium kit. However, that created it's own mini-chaos. The balloons came with funny and scary face stickers for decorating fun. Sounds good right?...the assortment of colors included 1, count em 1, pink balloon for three girls and myself to lay claim to. I'll admit I had a size advantage but they realllllly wanted that pink balloon. I'm not sure who the last man standing was but I'll bear the scars of the great pink balloon shortage of 2008 for years to come.

All and all a good weekend - Cubs clinch the division, Aunt Sarah surprised us by snagging a deal on a last-second flight in from Cali, and V made it to 3. We'll just have to do it all again in another 12 months.

- Ron