It was my birthday today, and I told everyone I was 29.
I’m not very good a math so you can understand if I was off by, oh, say six years or so, right?
Yeah, I’m really 35.
Actually I’m not embarrassed to admit my age.
My weight? Wild horses couldn’t drag that out of me. And if you want to see my new driver’s license picture I had taken yesterday, you’ll have to graduate from police academy, then pull me over.
But my age?
So what?
I. Am. 35. I earned every single one of those years.
Age happens. I might as well embrace it.
I don’t feel old. I don’t think I look old.
It might be time to add some eye cream to my daily regimen. A little more Oil of Olay can’t hurt. That should hold off the wrinkles and age spots for a few more years.
Oprah says 40 is the new 30, so that makes 35 the new 25.
Tomorrow we officially begin celebrating our unofficial family holiday Festival Dé Stouts.
What is that you ask?
Well, my birthday is tomorrow, Wade’s birthday falls on the 10th and we wrap things up with Dave’s birthday on the 14th. Mother’s Day also happens to fall in there. So it’s 10 days of partying in May.
You just really can’t do that much celebrating without giving it a name.
Hey, if George Costanza can have Festivus, we can have Festival Dé Stouts.
Oh, when you say it you have to pronounce it fest-E-văl and with a French accent.
Not that we’re French or anything.
It’s just funny.
Well, I think it’s funny.
And it’s my made up holiday. So I can say it however I want.
Now I’m gonna go enjoy being 34 for 75 more minutes, and watch something on cable.
Because tomorrow I join a completely new demographic.
I move from the 18-34 year olds group to the 35-50 year olds category.
I think I can only watch network TV after that.
How long until I start getting AARP membership ads in the mail?
Everyone keeps asking me when I’m going to post about David’s birthday.
My mom even called today to make sure I was alright, because I hadn’t blogged in a couple days.
Yeesh!
Give me a break here people.
I have been known to put the computer down, and spend time with my kids and do housework once in awhile.
Anyway, you can all stop asking, because here it is. I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Yes, David did indeed turn five on Sunday.
He came in and woke me up at 6 a.m. to ask if he was five yet. David has wanted to be five ever since he turned four. For some reason five is a magic number for him.
We gave David a new pair of roller skates and a few other little things. He outgrew his other pair this fall, and has wanted a bigger pair for months. He loves his new roller skates, and wears them around the house all day. Poor kid. There’s too much snow outside to try them out on the driveway.
We just had a small party with the four of us and David’s grandparents. Of course the grandparents all brought more loot for David.
We did a train theme so I gave David a special train engineer hat to wear. But he had to put on a party hat too. Baby brother Wade seemed to enjoy the party also.
I was so happy I’d agreed to do it when I went to the site, and found instructions for making a train cake.
David is obsessed with trains. Half his toys are trains. He even watches videos on YouTube of real trains going down the track just for fun.
I really am not very good at decorating cakes. But the train cake on Betty Crocker’s website looked doable. I watched the video, and the instructions and diagram were really helpful.
I actually pulled it off!
Here’s my creation.
David was thrilled with it.
If I can do this, anybody can. I’m not kidding when I say decorating cakes is not my forte. I really have to thank Betty Crocker, because honestly, without them asking, I never would have tried this. It was more personal to make David’s cake than just order it from the bakery. It made me feel a little like a Super Mom.
You can see my photos and story about making the cake on Whrrl.
Using a Betty Crocker cake mix, and pre-made Betty Crocker frosting was a big time saver. I just tinted the vanilla frosting with food coloring to get the colors I needed.
It did take me all day to make the cake. It was definitely a labor of love. And when I added up the cost of the supplies to make the cake, mostly because of all the candy, it about equaled the price of a small decorated bakery cake.
We just had a small party so we didn’t play games or send out invitations. But Betty Crocker has ideas for those, and even suggestions for dishes to serve at the party on their site. There are several party themes to choose from including a Magical Princess Party and a Robots Rule party. David would love the robot cake too.
So David had a great day.
Betty Crocker and My Blog Spark sent me a Flip Ultra video camera to record the day’s festivities. Here’s a video I put together.
And now for the giveaway.
My Blog Spark and Betty Crocker are giving away a prize pack that includes VIP coupons and all the baking tools you need to recreate the cake I made. To enter visit Betty Crocker, and look over their birthday party planning ideas. Come back here, and leave a comment about which cake you would like to try.
The contest will end at 11:59 p.m. on January 22nd. Open to residents of the US only. Winner will be randomly drawn and notified by email.
Disclosure: My Blog Spark and Betty Crocker provided me with coupons for free cake mix and frosting. They also gave me a gift card to purchase other party supplies with, and the Flip Ultra video camera to record the party.
My 34th birthday was today. I spent most of it resting on the couch and napping, trying to get over a cold.
David was with my mother-in-law. She let him stay over last night and kept him most of today since I was sick. My husband wasn’t able to be home tonight, so when I went to pick David up this evening and she took us out for dinner.
Someone else at the restaurant was having a birthday too, and the staff came out and sang to them. Well, it didn’t take much for David to put two and two together. He informed our waitress that it was my birthday also, and insisted that someone had to sing to his Mommie. Before I knew it, I was being serenaded.
Being sung to in a restaurant full of people really isn’t my thing, but David loved it.
I had a birthday cake and candles at home that my mother-in-law brought over the day before. So when David and I got back after dinner he told me we had to have cake. He put all the candles on the cake. There weren’t 34, but there were a lot. I lit them, and he sang Happy Birthday to me. Then he blew out the candles.
My little boy singing Happy Birthday to me all by himself was pretty sweet. What a great memory.
We celebrated David’s 4th birthday today. A very, very snowy day. We have at least a half a foot of snow on the ground. We just planned a small party with his grandparents, and the snow storm made the party even smaller since it prevented his grandma and grandpa who live in Indiana from coming today.
David woke up about around 6:30 this morning, and came in snuggled into to bed with me. He told me, “I want to wait for my birthday to come with you. I don’t want to wait in my bed anymore.” As soon as I told him he didn’t have to wait anymore, it was already here, he said, “Then get up!”
So Daddy and Mommy, still half asleep, watched him open presents before 7 o’ clock.
After he opened everything he asked where the rest of the presents were. Fortunately Grandma and Grandpa arrived later with some more gifts and the pizza for our party. Pizza is one of David’s favorite things to eat. Grandma also brought some party hats. David made all of us put the hats on then wouldn’t wear his.
I did finally get him to put it on so I could take a photo.
Finally, it was time for the cake. In a moment of delirium I decided to make the cake this year. David loves trains, and I had these train candle holders my mom found. I tried to make a train track with some licorice. And that is the extent of my cake decorating skills, and all I had patience for. Look, I never claimed to be Martha. It did taste really good. Just not so pretty. Next year I’m ordering the cake.
David blew out the candles before we even finished singing Happy Birthday.
I think David had a good birthday, and he gets to celebrate again next weekend when when his other grandparents come. If we don’t have another snow storm.
I think we wore him out, because he fell asleep at 5:30 tonight.
Ahh, a few extra hours of piece and quiet for Mom and Dad.
Happy 31st birthday Dear! Ahead of the times, I married a younger man before Ashton and Demi made it fashionable. Two years and nine days isn’t that much younger though, so don’t rub it in too much.
I am so happy to celebrate another birthday with you. I hope we are both still around to celebrate your 91st birthday together. By then we’ll probably be toasting Ensure shakes, reclining on our twin Craftmatic adjustable beds in the old folks’ home, instead of feting with brownies. I still can not understand after all these years why you don’t like cake, but if you want brownies instead, brownies you shall have. You always do go against the mainstream. One of the things I love about you. You are not a joiner. You follow your own convictions down a path that is uniquely yours.
I’ve been privileged to be along for the ride down that path. Sometimes I balk and want to turn back or take a different route. But you lead steadfastly on, taking us through this great adventure of life, and getting us safely and securely to our destination each time.
Three years ago another traveler joined the journey when our son was born. You are such a wonderful father. So gentle, so loving, so patient. You have patience that seem to go on forever when it comes to caring for our son. Long after I’ve reached the end of my rope, you are still calm and collected. And how I love to watch the two of you play together. The laughter, the joy, the smiles are priceless. Those moments are stored in my heart forever.
Come to think of it, the same qualities that make you a good father make you a good husband too. I know that sometimes I require a great deal of patience, because I have very little myself. Often I fire before I aim, but somehow you manage to doge the bullets and help me hit the target in the end.
Actually, you balance me out very well. You are also far more optimistic than I. When my glass is empty with a leak in the bottom, your glass is half full with a pitcher of refreshing ice water sitting next to it.
And you make me laugh. The jokes, the teasing, the humor that we share. It makes life so fun. No matter how difficult times have been, I can not remember a day that we didn’t share a laugh over something together. Laughter is a healing balm for even the most difficult trials of this world.
Finally, I am so thankful to have a husband who knows Jesus and seeks to follow God’s will.
It is a cliche, said many times before, but you are my best friend. There is no one else I’d rather share all the times of my life with, good and bad, than you.
I don’t say these things to you nearly often enough. You are appreciated for all things you do for me and our family.
Happy Birthday.
I love you!
Babe
Have you told your husband how much he means to you recently? Let him know.
Thank you to my wonderful husband who generously bought me a new laptop for my birthday – and Mother’s Day – and, well, this might quite possibly cover next Christmas too. (We never spend that kind of money on gifts.) I love it! It replaces my old one which was ancient in computer years. It was so slow. Then my son spilled water on the keyboard, frying it and forcing me to use an auxiliary keyboard. That sort of made my laptop into an immobile desktop. I’m now free to roam about the house and the backyard, and it’s so much faster, I feel like I’m flying through cyber-space!
