December Birthdays

When it comes to birthdays, around here we like to focus more on the birth than on the date. So that means sometimes we celebrate on a day other than the real thing. Mostly this happens for our December birthdays just so they can have a day all to themselves and not open presents too close to Christmas. This was our year for family parties so Emily and Nate got to choose their favorite foods, not do any jobs and pick what we did during the day.

For Nate we chose a Saturday in December and started the celebration after his early morning basketball game. I love that these pictures are in his Lightning uniform. He loves playing ball and it seems only appropriate that he opened a new basketball right after his game. He chose to play Wii all day and eat ribs, canned green beans and french fries. And I chose to make a #10 cake to commemorate his entrance into the double digits.






The next Saturday was Emily's day. She wanted crepes for breakfast, pizza for dinner and a rainbow cake with sprinkles. I love a girl who knows what she wants. We went as a family to Build a Bear Workshop and it goes down as a favorite on my list of memories. The boys were so cute about helping her choose and encouraging her opinion and making her feel like she was the most important five year old on the planet. We opened presents and ate pizza and cake with our good friend JoAnn. It was a great day! She named her pink bear in the pink, sparkly dress, Pearl.

At Emily's school she plays with a little raccoon puppet named Ricky.
She gave one to her friend, Abby on her birthday and was surprised when
Ben gave her one of her very own. This is right after she opened it.

On a side-note...I can honestly say I loved being pregnant and having babies at Christmastime. And it is special to celebrate these births every year at the same time we remember baby Jesus. But I will say that making the cakes usually sends me over the edge. Nate's number cake was supposed to be covered in M&M's and look like Martha Stewart's. After too many failed attempts, it ended up sitting on M&M's instead. But when I cut into that rainbow cake and it actually turned out...the hassle of the mess and dishes and trips to the store disappeared into just that perfect bite. I can still taste it.