Birthday Balloons I (finally)

I'm so behind in so many things.

I was so proud of the fact that we managed to write birthday balloon messages for everyone in our family before Rachel went out to Utah. Last year we didn't write birthday balloons until August! But at least I posted about them immediately after. It's been weeks since we finished writing our birthday balloons for the first half of our birthdays and they've just been curling on the wall.

Phoebe asked if I wouldn't mind taking them down so we could start "fresh" on her birthday. I guess she didn't want stale birthday decorations. 

So I took them down. Finally.

We meant to take a picture of Zoë, Benjamin, me, and Rachel in front of the tree with our birthday balloons. But we forgot to, so I don't have one. 

Here's what people said though:

Zoë! I'm so excited that you are 10! You are such a charming young woman! I'm so proud of how helpful and thoughtful and funny you're becoming! Keep being awesome this year! Love, Dad

Zeal
Optimistic
Ebullient (archaic term)

Watching you grow over this past year has been [groovy?] I love you so much! —Ben

Zoë! How are you already in the double digits? you've grown so much, it's crazy. It has been a joy to watch you grow more passionate about music, especially organ. You are so good at cleaning, and are very quick-witted and funny. I love you so much!!! Love, Miriam

(It should be noted that this was written before they started sharing a room; opinions on cleanliness have changed since then)

Rachel's 18!

Last month the ward choir sang on my birthday and this month we sang on Rachel's birthday. That means that (1) we get to sing, which is always fun and (2) we don't have afternoon practice, and it's kind of nice to get to have the rest of the day at home after church.

Rachel, Miriam, and Benjamin had a youth meeting after church, though, so they ended up coming home separately from the rest of us, anyway. And they brought Andie over to play games. 

Soon after Andie left, Grandpa and Darla arrived for dinner. Andrew and Benjamin had spent the entire afternoon making orange chicken (which was a whole lot of work, but which was also delicious). After dinner we opened presents, played Swoop (a game Grandpa and Darla played a lot on their cruise/bike trip through Europe this summer), and then had cake.

It was a very low-key birthday. Rachel also planned a few game nights around but not on her birthday so that she could hang out with friends but not have them do anything embarrassing like sing to her.

Here she is opening her gifts, which were all things for living on her own—a dough whisk...

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday was on Sunday. 

I turned 40, which seems impossible and also just about right.

Our ward choir performed, which meant we had to be to church early to practice. Phoebe had been a bit of a...stinker...in the night and did not want to wake up in the morning. Here she is stubbornly asleep at 7:45 (we needed to leave at 8:00):

Benjamin's 13!

Benjamin celebrated his birthday at camp this year—along with two other boys. Their camp leaders threw a little party for the three of them, complete with cake and candles. The highlight of Benjamin's time at camp was canoeing on the lake. He's also proud of the fact that they put four kids in a ten-man tent and stuffed ten kids on a two-man canoe—getting all into the stats side of thing. 

He was a little bummed that he missed the last swim meet (especially since Zoë did so well and he didn't get any ribbons at Fun Friday...because...well...he didn't swim), but he's excited that he gets to try swimming an IM at this coming meet (that's and "individual medley," where he'll swim butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle).

We opened presents after Fun Friday (so Benjamin is in his swimming suit). Phoebe wanted to have the best seat in the house right beside the birthday boy. And is she still in her pyjamas? Why, yes, she is! 

Zoë's 10!

Zoë woke up early on Friday morning and convinced Grandpa and Darla to take her and Alexander to play pickle ball. So by the time I saw her she already felt like the luckiest girl in the world. 

After breakfast we headed down to the beach, where we found so many creatures. Brown comb jellies, sand fleas, clams, fish, crabs...animals were everywhere.

Here's Zoë pretending to pop a clam into her mouth:

I know her!

Phoebe was in a bit of a wild mood before bed this evening. She was drawing with Rachel when I stumbled upon her/them and she said, "I'm making all the grown ups draw with me! Here's your paper, Mom!"

So I sat down to colour with her and Rachel. 

"What am I to you—a kid or a grown up?" Rachel asked.

"Ummmm...you are...Zoë!" Phoebe said. 

"What?! I'm not Zoë."

"You could be."

"How?"

"You could be Zoë for Halloween!!"

This kid is a trickster, a jokester, an imp.

A few minutes later she leaned toward Rachel and said, "I'm going to kiss you!"

"This feels like a trick" Rachel said.

"No, it doesn't," Phoebe assured her.

"It might not be a trick," Rachel said. "But it feels like one."

"Shhh...it's not," Phoebe said and then she leaned in and licked Rachel instead of kissing her.

Autumn birthday balloons

We've finally pulled down our birthday balloons from our autumnal crew! 

Phoebe is THREE!

Phoebe finally got to open her presents on Saturday morning. But first we had to finish folding the clean laundry, which she was excited about because sitting in laundry baskets is one of her favourite activities:

On Wednesday Phoebe turned three

As I think I've mentioned already this semester (and probably more than once), but Tuesday—Wednesday—Thursday is a real slog for us. Tuesdays are my big day on campus. Wednesday we have co-op every other week, music lessons every week, and church activities in the evening. Thursday is Andrew's big day on campus. And...it's just a lot. 

It's even more of "a lot" when Andrew's out of town.

He went to Montreal to run a workshop this week and...it was a lot, a lot. 

In the middle of the whirlwind that was Wednesday, Phoebe quietly, and in a very self-satisfied manner, turned three. With no expectations about how the day should go, she was simply satisfied knowing that it was finally her birthday.

We didn't open any presents. We didn't have cake or ice cream. But it was her birthday, by golly!

She was so excited to go to co-op because she knew they were going to call her up to the front to sing to her. And they did. And she loved it. 

She bravely went to the preschool class for the first hour and then hung out with me the second hour while I tried to get some work accomplished. And I did—I finished reviewing a paper!

Miriam's 15!

Miriam turned 15 on Friday! 

She (and Rachel) had some friends over for a game/movie night so we had her birthday dinner and cake on Saturday, but she still opened her presents on Friday. She didn't have much on her list, but asked for some new clothes, some novelty pins, and a book. Most of what was on her list was actually marked "maybe for Christmas?" but that was probably because she only got me her list a few days before her birthday and knew those items would need more time to ship. 

For example, she wants new organ shoes. I can't find or ship those in a couple of days. 

Last time (or the last couple of times) we just got her (boys'/men's) latin dance shoes because they're cheaper than actual organ shoes but are...along the same lines. But now that she thinks her feet have stopped growing she wants real organ shoes. So we'll probably look into that for Christmas. 

Anyway, here's Miriam opening presents, with Phoebe right beside her so that Phoebe can be in charge of telling Miriam which order to open her presents in:

Alexander is 7!

Today is Alexander's birthday. 

It's also Canadian Thanksgiving. 

And Indigenous People's Day in the United States.

Sometimes I feel bad for celebrating Thanksgiving on what was Columbus Day in the States (since both Canadian Thanksgiving and that holiday land on the second Monday in October) because that might look like I'm celebrating Columbus Day (which I'm not), which losing its footing to the counter-celebration of Indigenous People's Day (with good reason). 

Though Canadian Thanksgiving has a separate history from American Thanksgiving it's truly no less colonial in nature. And the selection of the second Monday in October—though claimed to be because it's often the last nice weekend of the season—is suspect. Canadian holidays often align with American holidays even if we're completely unaware of it.

Ever heard of Family Day? It's a holiday that celebrates families—you get a day off of school and work and there are discounts at family friendly venues and it's great fun! It's the third Monday in February...which just happens to be when they're celebrating Presidents' Day south of the 49th. 

Coincidence? 

I think not. I really think it's simply convenient for Canadian institutions to have these kinds of "bank holidays" on the same schedule that the American Superpowers have their bank holidays.

But that's just my theory. 

Anyway, we had Thanksgiving dinner for Alexander's birthday dinner and Andrew went all out because we aren't hosting Thanksgiving this year (for the first time in a long time)! 

Here's our little harvest of garden carrots that we had with our meal:

Andrew is 40!

Andrew turned 40 on Thursday, which happens to be his mega-day on campus. I also have an evening class on Thursdays, so he typically ends up arriving home a few minutes before my class lets out and begins instituting bedtime. So...we didn't do much to celebrate him on Thursday. 

He did put up a birthday banner for himself on his birthday-eve though, which I told him was pretty sad when I went down to put up some 40th birthday decorations I'd gotten for him. 

Anyway, we didn't really do anything for him on his birthday proper, and then on Friday he had to teach an all-day seminar. And Zoë had a primary activity in the evening. And the other kids had a sleep-over at Grandpa's house (while Darla was off in California for a new grandbaby's blessing celebration). 

We couldn't really celebrate the day beforehand because Wednesday is mutual night and Tuesday is my mega-day on campus...and...yeah...

Birthday Balloons I

We are hopelessly behind in celebratory events this year. I really didn't think the summer would end up being as hard as it was...but then pneumonia happened...and it ended up being as hard as it was.

That said, for FHE we finally finished up writing our birthday balloons for everyone.

Yes, it took us May, June, July, and August to finally write birthday balloons for Zoë, Benjamin, me, and Rachel. We figured we should finish them up before the next wave of birthdays hits us in a month.

Here's for Zoë:

From Benjamin:

You're nine! That's 3² and so old. You are a good swimmer and sister and just an amazing person altogether. 

amaZing

Origami cadet

Elated to be 9

I love you!

Rachel is 17!

Somehow—almost impossibly—Rachel turned 17 today. 

She (and Miriam) had a game night with friends last night (so it was like a birthday party but without her having to be the very center of attention, which she doesn't particularly enjoy) and Rachel woke up to a flurry of texts from her FSY friends. 

Later in the morning she and I solidified her schedule for next school year. She'll be doing a full course load at BYU-Idaho and is particularly excited for a sewing class we found—Apparel Construction 1. 

Grandpa brought the kids home around noon. We opened presents soon after they arrived. Phoebe has actually been pretty okay with birthdays this year. I mean, the first few were upsetting, but she's realized that her turn is coming and rather than being upset by the ongoing anticipation she's chosen to be increasingly excited for when it's her day.

When she wandered into my room at midnight—soon after I'd finished wrapping Rachel's presents—she said, "Oooh! Are these presents for me?!"

"No," I said. "They're for Rachel."

"Oh," she said, slumping. "Okay."

She perched right beside Rachel the whole time:

Benjamin is 12!

Five years ago we moved to Georgia and then Rachel turned 12, and Miriam was still only 9, and Benjamin was barely 7, and Zoë was newly 4.

Edisto Island, Day 5: Doughnut Day and Beach Birthdays

While I was at the optometrist, Daddy took the kids to Wal-Mart and a couple boxes of doughnuts fell into the shopping cart, so we started Wednesday morning with a doughnut breakfast (before Daddy and Grandpa drove off to the mechanic) and then Darla pulled out some big doughnut floats that she likes to bring to the beach and declared that it was Doughnut Day.

Zoë is 9!! And our very first swim meet!

It's the beginning of birthday season at our house. In the next six months we will celebrate all eight of our birthdays, a statistical improbability. 

Zoë opened her presents right around noon—soon after the kids got home from their swim practice. 

Phoebe's birthday balloons

Alexander and Zoë got to work making birthday balloons early, so there are several from them. Zoë even made a balloon to look like Daniel Tiger!

Here's an acrostic from Alexander:

Persenoll sister!
Hallurs sister!
Omega love!
Exoqsnen love!
Being fun!
Extrodenery love!

My best guess about what this says:

Personal sister
Hilarious sister
Omega love
Exhaustion love
Being fun
Extraordinary love

Why it says all those things, I can't say...except that they do spell out Phoebe's name from top to bottom.

Phoebe is TWO!

 

Phoebe has been not-so-patiently waiting for her turn to have a birthday. It was quite the long wait for her, too, since her birthday is the very last one in the calendar year. I'm not sure what knowledge she remembered about birthdays prior to this year (though somehow she already knows a troubling amount of information about Santa—mostly that there is a man named Santa, who is very recognizable in his suit of red, who is supposed to bring her exciting presents. Why does she know this? I can't say. But she does), but she was reintroduced to the idea of birthdays on Zoë's birthday in May and she instantly fell in love with the idea. 

Presents? Cake? Everybody singing to you in an adoring fashion?

These were traditions she could get behind!

October Birthday Balloons

A few of us (Zoë, Benjamin, me, and maybe even Phoebe) wrote birthday balloons for Alexander on time for his birthday, but the rest of us...didn't. Rachel and Miriam were coming home for dinner but otherwise were more or less living at Grandpa's house, life was generally pretty hectic through mid-October, and we didn't formally get around to writing birthday balloons until Miriam's birthday.

So below are both sets of October birthday balloons. First we have Alexander's...

From Zoë:

Amazing
Loving
Especially kind
Xerox

Happy birthday to you! Love ya, Alex!