Monday, November 18, 2013

The birthdays I missed (because I want some credit for these when they are all grown up!)

Journal post alert! I have to get these blanks filled in.  (If I can even remember what happened...)

May 23--Jane turns 10
Jane turned double digits, which always seems old.  She's such an easy, fun kid.  It wasn't her birthday party year (we do every other year because I'm not that nice of a mom) so we basically made it up to her with food.  Breakfast was omelettes and cinnamon puffs, lunch was a subway lunch delivered to the school (she told me she didn't want to go out to lunch with me...she wanted to eat with her friends.  Boo.) and homemade mac and cheese for dinner.  She'd been wanting Nike tennis shoes forever and I am too cheap to buy them but decided it would be a great birthday gift so we headed out after dinner and picked out some that she loves. 

This birthday is so boring, I can't believe I'm even taking the time to record it. For the record, I was in the worst part of my morning sickness and I STILL made all of this food.  (I want to take credit but feel like I should acknowledge that I noticed during this pregnancy that I had little miracles of feeling good whenever I had something like a birthday or a church event or something I HAD to do.  Tender Mercies.)  And now for a few pictures:




July 15-  My birthday

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  one of the perks of getting older is that you realized that it's up to you to voice how you want your birthday to go and then you don't have any unmet expectations.  Not a perk:  you really can't stomach meal after meal of good-but-bad-for-you food so you have a spinach smoothie for your birthday breakfast instead of cinnamon rolls and bacon.  Too bad.

I asked for:  Birthday meal and celebration on Sunday (the day before my birthday) and a long lunch at the lake with a borrowed jet ski (on my birthday). Ryan (big surprise) totally came through.  He put together a fun family party with traditional birthday (kid) games like pin the tail on the donkey and we laughed and laughed.  I made my dream dessert (Fudgy toffee cookie bars.  Link here.) and enjoyed every bite.  On my birthday, we borrowed a friends jet ski and took turns as a family enjoying the perfect weather and beautiful lake.  

Then, in kind of a last minute decision, I loaded all of the kids in the car and drove to Canada.  We'd never been, some of my besties were all meeting up, and even though Ryan couldn't come, I couldn't resist.  Honestly, driving to a new place, through TRULY some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen, with an audio book in my ears and big kids in the back--my kind of birthday present.

Pictures:






August 25--Gabe turned 13
Also a milestone...how am I a mom of two teenagers??  Gabe is such a good boy...pretty circumspect with his feelings, but such a goal-setter and always trying to improve.  He has a real desire to do what's right.  

His birthday fell on a Sunday, which around these parts means no restaurants or paid-for activities, but we managed to make it fun.  Gabe is my total foodie--takes food seriously, like everything but is VERY particular about how it's prepared.  He thinks about his birthday food for a long time.  And now I can't even remember what it was (from the pictures I can only see asparagus and jello.  Dang it!)   Oh wait,I remember he asked for appetizers for lunch... that was fun...  The best part of the whole day, I think, was that Tate (his best friend who'd been gone the whole summer) got home that day and surprised him by showing up for cheesecake and toppings.  



August 28--Seth turns 8
Look at all of these major birthdays we had.  That cute Seth is 8 (how??) and we had a fun birthday.  Friend party was a jungle theme (after switching about 14 times) and we had a cool snake cake and  jungle themed games (pin the tail on the lion, find the elephant's peanuts, jungle charades).  He has lots of friends that are girls so we always do co-ed when we do something social for Seth.  For his baptism birthday, we got scriptures, and church clothes and journals and other church related stuff, but he was so excited about it anyway.  Sweet baptism day to be chronicled later.








I should do Faith's next but I haven't uploaded her pictures and that step is just too much for me right now.  Soon.  

2 comments:

Jeanelle said...

Okay sure this is good for you to have but I see two big pluses in today's post. One, I've never tried the Fudgy Toffee bars but I will now and two, Faith's quick quote! HYSTERICAL! Faith is my polar opposite, obviously. Um, food smells? Sick and wrong. And yes, Faith...that includes syrup.

Lauren in GA said...

I love your, "Journal" posts.

I have a lot of comments...so many in fact that it my seem that it is finally time to take out that restraining order. ;)

First of all, I simply cannot believe that Jane is double digits. I think I started blogging with you in 2007 (?) and I often think of the darling things that Jane has said over the years...like when she said that her peas were not, "wespecting" her because they kept rolling away when she tried to get them on her spoon...or when she used to tell people, "I am a quitter of gymnastics"...and how she called Capri Suns, "Skippy Suns"...oh, I could go on but I won't because I think you have stopped reading to go and file that restraining order...

Happy belated birthday to you. You look fantastic, you darling pregnant lady you...and I noticed you must have won one of the birthday games because you have a medal around your neck on a red, white and blue, ribbon. ;)

Gabe looks so grown up and is so handsome! I think of things he has said over the years...like not wanting a wife that gives him too much back talk (not the exact quote, I don't think)...and how he earned every Webelo award known to man...and how he read the entire Book of Mormon at such a young age.

and Seth...oh, my starry eyed surprise. He looks so grown up. Especially in the picture with his scriptures, etc. on the steps and also in his birthday pic with his beheaded snake on his plate. (for some reason that cracks me up) I will always remember how your family used to ask little Seth where you are going so he would say, "a swim?" (not a direct quote) because it was so cute. He is always so happy and delightful and I know why that young lady wants him as her life coach. He's fantastic...and so handsome.

Okay, when I hear a knock at the door, I know I am being issued my restraining order.