It's funny how some people get nicknames that really stick. Like Twinkie, someone called her that one night at redneck karaoke and it just stuck.

A few years ago Starla started calling my youngest son Noodle. Every time she did it, he would puff up and say don't call me that. But over time it became a game between the two of them and deep down he liked that she had a special name for him.

I am not sure why, but the other day I remembered how she called him Noodle and for the first time in a long while it felt like a good memory.

So Noodle turned seven on Monday. It was his first birthday away from all our family back in the 'ville. A few days before the big day he looked at me and asked "How will my family get all the birthday presents here?"

I had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. How could I tell him that it's out of sight out of mind? For the firs time in his life there would not be a party that included sisters, brothers, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It would be just me and H3.

When I asked Noodle what he wanted to do he told me he wanted to go to the Build a Bear Factory. Noodle loves animals and his favorite is the cat. He tells everyone he meets how he is a cat person. So Noodle picked out his cat, stuffed it, gave it a heart and a meow sound, picked out a pair of cowboy boots and cowboy hat and finally named his stuffed cat Whiskers.

From there we headed to Toy R Us to look for Star Wars toys. I'm not sure why but Star Wars figures were nowhere to be found. But he did pick up another game for Xbox while we were there. I also picked out a "Nightmare Before Christmas" game for Xbox as a surprise gift from his sister and a Scooby Doo movie as a gift from his brothers.

From there we went to Chuck E Cheese. After a couple of hours of pizza and games we headed back toward home for cake and presents. When I was tucking noodle into bed that night he looked at me and said "This was the best day I have ever had."

I was one of the best days I've had too.