A Year In Review

I think 2020 is over... which would make a year-in-review appropriate, although I'm not 100% sure we're not just stuck in the vestibule of Hell from the Inferno.

 

At any rate, here is a summary of what we did last year (assuming it was actually a year ago).  Surprisingly I have remarkably few pictures.  I guess we weren't very busy for some weird reason.

January

The year began as usual, with the disembowling of the gingerbread monstrosity house.

this would be Day 2.

Birthday Week 2019!

It's All Birthday, All the Time!!

Exhibit A:  Miriam's 17th on Tuesday (and Wednesday)

No, we can't believe she's 17 either.  It's just too weird.

Miriam had to go to class and work and choir practice on her actual birthday (welcome to the adult world!) so we celebrated as a family the next day.  She went skating with friends.  Mr. Pickles grilled.  Chocolate lava cakes were consumed.  She'll celebrate with some more friends later this weekend -- she and Katie are planning a Phantom of the Opera-themed party.  (It's awesome seeing Miriam get into all the musicals I loved when I was the same age!)

Exhibit B:  Jojo's 11th on Thursday

Jojo chose all his favorite foods for meals, got to play Wii (during Lent!!), and didn't have to do school.  So all in all a good day for him.  He'll have a birthday party with his friends, also this weekend.  (The fun just never stops!)

Exhibit C:  Mr. Pickles' something something-th on Friday (and Saturday)

Happy Birthday to meeeeee...

I won't post the embarrassingly silly picture of him blowing out his candles, in order to preserve the illusion of the dignity and widsom attendant upon his advanced years.




Aw, who am I kidding.

he was winding up for a huge sneeze, and then when I took this picture -- my camera is not a quiet one -- everyone broke down laughing

Since Mr. Pickles' birthday fell on a Friday in Lent, we extended his celebration to the next day as well so we could feast with a clear conscience.  Although for his birthday dinner he made grilled salmon, which really doesn't seem all that penitential. :)  He did take his birthday off work, which was celebratory in itself.  His birthday cake was the most amazingest thing -- it was gluten- and dairy-free chocolate cake made with coconut sugar and it was sooooo good.  The kids all pitched in to get him Mario Kart 8 and another set of Switch controllers, so it was really a gift for everyone.

Mr. Pickles took most of the week off work, which was nice for him and for us.  Also on Monday, the kids asked me how much school we were going to do that week, and I said "It's Birthday Week!  No school!"   And behold, the sound of a great multitude rejoicing.

Birthday Week/Quarter/Year

Five birthdays in one!

So, backtracking by about half a year -- Birthday Week was in March, immediately after Miriam, Andy & I returned from the blessed trip to California of blessedness.  As I mentioned in my CA trip post, Birthday Week was necessarily quiet since we had an ear infection and a case of bronchitis to manage.  Plus it was cold.  So we whooped it up, Pickles-style, with lots of sugar and chocolate to compromise over-taxed immune systems further.

First celebration: Miriam Elizabeth.  Good night, I can't believe she's 12.  Because unless the globe suddenly stops spinning, she's going to be 13 next year.  That's right, folks, t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n.  I'm not old enough for this.

Birthday Week 2013!

Okay, so I started this post, like, over a week ago, and it's taken me forever to finish it.  Sheesh, it's not like I have 6 other people interrupting me constantly or anything.  (really?  six others?  how did we get to be that many people??)

N-E-way, we recently celebrated Birthday Week here in Die Gurkehaus (which is feeling more and more like a small jar each day...).   This year it started with a shebang, as we were joined by our cousins who hold the current record on March birthdays! (their 4 to our 3!)  One of theirs was missing, but we still sang to 6 people!

"Happy Birthday dear everyone..."

I have a video of the singing which I hope to post, as soon as I figure out how to change the file type.

Sweet Sasha, who was celebrating her first birthday!  yay!

the present-opening frenzy

Andrew loves his fancy schmancy cup!

This next picture has nothing to do with birthdays, except for the fact that the cousins were with us for St. Patrick's Day and Mr. Pickles made his Amazing Coffee Cake of Wonder(tm) for brunch.  Oh, and it WAS Aunt Katie's birthday that day, so there you go!

On Monday we went to the Museum of Natural History with the cousins.  We walked through the ocean exhibit, saw the Hope Diamond, visited the dinosaur bones, viewed the mummies (I didn't know there were mummies there!), and wandered through the insect exhibit.  We had a great time, despite my taking 45 minutes to find a parking place, two emergency bathroom runs, and trying awkwardly to nurse the baby in the wrap carrier while walking -- but everyone got to see what he and/or she wanted so we were all happy. 

And, NATURALLY, I didn't bring the camera!  Sigh.

You know, we live SO close to DC, and we never go to all these awesome things except when people visit us!

Anyway, the next day, Tuesday, was Miriam's 11th birthday.  It was a packed day!  To celebrate, we went ice skating at Kettler Ice Plex (home of the Capitals!) with some of her close friends. 

not bad for a lousy camera phone -- because, of course, I forgot the camera

 For dessert she chose chocolate lava cakes.  Good woman.

the candle had to be stuck off-center because the middle was all gooey and lava-y!

One of our neighborhood friends was being confirmed that evening, so after Miriam's birthday dinner the girls and I (and Andy of course) went to the Mass.  It was very special, and the bishop gave a great homily.  Most memorable was the lesson that the sacred chrism -- the oil that smells so good, and which is used at Baptisms and Confirmations -- is meant to remind us that we are to be a sweet fragrance in the world.  That lovely image really struck me, especially as our new pope seems to be one who will lead us in this by his example.

Miriam is really looking forward to her own Confirmation now.

Even though we didn't have any birthdays the next day, our neighbor two doors down had her baby that day, so the trend continues!

Thursday was Joseph's 5th birthday.  Our homeschool coop was that morning, so we brought brownies to share.  (Even though it's Lent, in our ecclesia domestica we celebrate family holidays with abandon.)

For his birthday, Joseph requested a strawberry hockey cake.  Since box mix is out of the question now, all our cakes have to be made from scratch.  I also wanted to make sure Mr. Pickles could share in the festivities, so I followed the Joy of Cooking's recipe for white cake, but used a gluten-free flour mix, and added mashed strawberries, reducing the liquid by a little bit.  So simple, and amazingly delicious!

not nearly as elaborate as this cake, since the tubes of colored icing are now verboten, and I'm fresh out of cake decorating bags at the moment

Joseph decorated it himself with a long, skinny candle made into a hockey stick and a chocolate mint for a puck.  He also insisted that the 5 candle was THE fifth candle and so putting another stripey candle on was totally superfluous.

I'm five!  I'm five!  I'm a big boy now, I'm five!

Finally came the big day for The Man Himself!

Mr. Pickles took the day off -- because who wants to be in an office on your birthday? -- and did pretty much whatever he felt like doing, a recipe for a good birthday!  Since it was a Friday in Lent, we couldn't go too crazy on the meals, but it was still what we call "a good food day."  We started off with french toast with mashed strawberries and whipped cream (I know, SO penitential), followed by quesadillas filled with tuna and hummus for lunch (which, I know, sounds weird, but with Trader Joe's 3 layer chipotle-red-pepper hummus, it is DA BOMB), and then for dinner, grilled salmon and asparagus with basmati rice. (yay for grilling in March!)  Are you drooling yet?

To mix things up and add even more variety to the week, he chose to have custard for his birthday dessert.  The first experiment early in the day came out... weird.  I don't think arrowroot is a good thickener for custard -- it came out... slimey.  The next batch was a success, although the kids thought it was too eggy.  No problem -- all the more for us!

On Saturday we held Joseph's birthday party.  When I reminded him of that in the morning, his eyes got really wide and he exclaimed, "Is it my birthday AGAIN?  Am I SIX??"  Even though we repeatedly explained, no, it's not your birthday, we're just having the party on a different day, he still refers to Saturday as his second birthday.

We invited some of his little buddies and basically turned them loose downstairs.  I am not a firm believer in organizing party games for children.  I figure as long as you minimize the amount of bloodshed, they are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves.  As it turns out, Katie has a natural flair for coming up with imaginative ideas for entertaining guests.  See the two princes above?  They were playing "kings and princes" complete with crowns, robes and thrones.

And of course, I didn't get any pictures of it.

the best part -- opening presents!

At every party, I've noticed there is one toy that everyone flocks around -- this time it was a truck that breaks ON PURPOSE when you crash it into stuff!

some party-goers were more interested in the resident rodent

 Joseph loved all of his gifts -- they were all perfect for him!  He had a great time, and I had a lovely visit with the moms who stayed.  I love hosting -- I really should do it more often.  Yay!  A reason to party!

Thus ended Birthday Week.  We didn't get a lick of schoolwork done, and are now 4 weeks behind, sigh.  But I've finally realized that Birthday Week needs to be our Spring Break -- who has time for school when there's so much partying to be done?

File Under: "WHAT was I THINKING?"

So, siblings, remember when we were kids and planning our birthday parties, and we were allowed to invite as many friends as the age we were turning?  It always seemed perfectly reasonable to me, and cool in a closet-nerd kind of way. 

Well.

Miriam turned 10 this year.  10 is a big number.  It requires BOTH hands to count it.  And with double the digits, one ought to have double the fun, right?

Right?

So.

Miriam wanted to invite everyone in the whole world that she knew to her birthday tea and knitting party.

And, like a fool, I LET her, thinking, "Oh, surely, SOME won't be able to make it, it NEVER happens that EVERYONE comes..."

(FOREBODINGGG....)

And THAT is why we had 19 girls packed into our living room this past Sunday.

Someone please shoot me before I ever agree to do something like that ever again.

More details forthcoming, once I've recovered.

(P.S. Everyone had a fabulous time, and Miriam felt properly celebrated, so it all worked out, glory be to God.)

Birthday Week 2011!

Hello all, and welcome to this year's Birthday Week Extravaganza!!!

Birthdays are feast days in our domestic church, so we consider them days outside of Lent, i.e., meat and sugar allowed!  We kicked off the partying by throwing Miriam her first slumber party to celebrate her 10-1 birthday.  (Why even bother with the 9?  Since all 9-year-olds can think about is that they'll be 10 next year...)

Miriam also had the good fortune to be born on an actual solemnity (St. Joseph, Husband of Mary), so we can celebrate her birthday in style without a twinge of conscience. :)

strawberry cake with blue buttercream frosting for sky, chocolate buttercream frosting for the ground, and copious amounts of green sprinkles for grass.  and the requisite sunshine, fluffy clouds, and flowers.  this cake is so girly, I love it!

Joseph helped decorate.

he can actually blow up the balloon.  this explains why his shrieks are so loud.

The party itself was oodles of fun.  She invited a couple friends over for dinner and cake on Friday, and they spent the night.  They're all still young enough that they're actually tired at a decent hour.  After lights out at 10 pm, I only heard whispering for another 10 mins. or so.  Of course, they were up extremely early the next morning, but they were very quiet.  Mr. Pickles made chocolate chip pancakes with mashed strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  Then they ran around outside to get some of the sugar out, and we drove them home.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day -- didn't even need jackets!  Miriam spent most of the rest of the day getting sunburnt riding her new razor scooter and hula hooping (Katie bought the hula hoop for her with her own allowance money!).

is it just me, or is she growing up way too fast?

Joseph's birthday was next.  He's camera shy lately -- mostly I think because he doesn't want to do anything he's asked to do, the little contrarian -- so most of my pictures are of him trying to hide.

or else they're deer-in-the-headlights candids.  (honestly, this was the best one)

Joseph is now 3!  It's hard to believe.  But he is rapidly turning into a Big Boy.

...a big boy who likes hockey!!

We didn't have a party for Joseph this year -- it's sad, but I realized that he doesn't really have many little buddies.  Most of the playdates we have are for the girls' sake.  Of course, 2-year-olds don't really socialize -- their playdates consist rather of parents constantly reminding them to share and take turns.  But now that he's older and is actually learning to play cooperatively with someone, I'll try to make an effort to help him develop his own friendships, too.

So we just had a simple family party, but he was happy -- he's old enough to understand about cake and presents and candles and singing!  Joseph also received a scooter for his birthday:

Lightning McQueen -- a much more masculine piece of equipment than the pink and purple butterly-covered hand-me-down he has been using. :)

He was very excited about it.  I put it together that evening, despite the best efforts of two of my children to scatter the pieces all over the house, so he got to ride it a bit before bed.  He also received a hockey shirt, a super hero cape, and a green (his favorite color) bouncy ball (from Katie).


The next day was Mr. Pickles' THIRTY-FIFTH birthday.  He still had to go to work, but I fixed a dinner which included a big slab of meat and a checkerboard mousse cake, so it wasn't all bad. :) 

Proof that numbers mean nothing: you're only as old as you feel (or act). :)
(No, it's not your glasses, or your screen -- the camera lens was all smeary from Some Little Person's Fingers, which I didn't realize until viewing this video right now.)

For his birthday we gave Mr. Pickles a collage of family pictures for his office, a foam football (which Katie picked out -- she is so fun to shop with!), and Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii.  Miriam has also been working for weeks on a Secret Project, which she will be able to finish once I figure out how to unravel an enormous knot in her ball of yarn....

So now all the parties are over, the various cakes have finally been consumed, and most of the balloons have popped. 

Time to get back to our regularly scheduled fasting and penitence.

The 2010 Birthday Week Extravaganza!!!

Pant pant pant... wheeze... wheeze... Phew, okay, we made it. Everyone successfully turned one year older, and had fun doing it. My job is done for another year. (phew)

Seriously though, this is my latest excuse for not blogging -- preparations for, celebrating of, and recovery from what we call around here "Birthday Week." As all you faithful reader (hi, Mom!) know, we've got 3 immediately family members who celebrate birthdays within 4 days of each other, let alone various nieces, nephews, (whose presents are coming! I promise!) and in-laws. It's a challenge for the Chief Party Planner (ahem) to prepare for each celebration separately and make sure each one gets its own focus, gifts, requisite sugarfest, and theme. This year was an especial challenge as I was smack-dab in the middle of my turn teaching for the homeschool co-op, in addition to prepping for a monthly Little Flowers meeting. Oh, and I'm pregnant, so everything's a little hazy these days anyway. (short term memory? what's that again?) And we all know how well I prepare for things (like friends-and-relations' birthdays) in advance. ("Oh, it was your birthday yesterday? That's right -- I had it on the calendar... hope it was happy!")

But we muddled through, and (I hope) everyone enjoyed his respective day of celebration.

First came our big girl! Miriam turned 8 on March 19. We keep telling her how smart she was to be born on the Solemnity of St. Joseph. She will never have to fast on her birthday. This year, her birthday being on a Friday, she really lived it up by requesting for her birthday dinner... tomato soup... with grilled... cheese.... Talk about wasted opportunity!! If Mr. Pickles had his birthday on this day, he would have requested steak fried with bacon served on ham.


Earlier that day we hosted a Little Flowers meeting at our house, so Miriam got to have a bunch of girls over even though technically it was still a school day (although we would have taken it off). We served them strawberry cupcakes with chocolate icing for snack, and sent everybody home all full of sugar just before lunch. :) In the afternoon Miriam really wanted to go swimming, but her boring, tired, pregnant, slow Mommy balked at that idea, and suggested she go outside and enjoy the lovely, beautiful, warm, sunny day and for PITY's sake please stop requiring me to entertain you!! (okay, maybe not that last part) So she went out and picked wildflowers growing in neighbors' lawns (aka weeds -- so I didn't think they would mind), and skipped and frolicked. At one point as she was skipping down the sidewalk I heard her singing to herself, "This is the best birthday ever!!" Considering she says that every year, it's good to know I'm 8 for 8. :)

In honor of the spring weather, we opened the season by sitting on the front steps and painting our toes. (So it's officially spring now.) After 2 o'clock her neighborhood friends came home from school, and they had fun outside. Miriam wanted to paint. Sure! Let's keep the mess outside!

Joseph awoke from his nap by this point, and he wanted to join in on the action. By the time they were all done, I think everyone's picture was brown, the sidewalk was purple, and Joseph had blue and green feet. (The paintings that were decorated with grass found their way into the trashcan quickly, I'm afraid to say. I'm not much of a one for modern art.)

For our gift to Miriam we gave her her own set of dishes, since the last set I'd bought for her when she grew out of baby dishes had all been destroyed in various ways. I wish I'd taken a picture of her new ones -- they're very pretty. She also got tons of books which are sitting in a stack in her room and through which she is rapidly progressing; some Littlest Pet Shop toys; princess Polly Pockets; cash monies; and sundry other items, all of which she was delighted to receive. Thank you notes are forthcoming... right after we finish the 1st Communion invitations (which are also forthcoming)...

Anyway, a week after her birthday the Ringling Bros. circus opened near us, and opening night is half price, so OF COURSE she wanted to go and bring two of her friends!

Because I'm insane, I took all 4 girls by myself. (Joseph is really too young, so Mr. Pickles stayed home with him.) They did really well -- I laid down the law on the way about The Buddy System, Staying Together, and Listening to Directions. We all had a great time, the animals were wonderful, the acrobats were amazing, the magic tricks were spectacular (I'm still trying to figure one out!), and the cotton candy was outrageously expensive. (but it came with a magician hat!) The only hitch was that I backed into a county-owned truck driven by a police detective as we were trying to leave the parking lot. Doh. Fortunately the damage on the truck's bumper was so invisible that the driver said he didn't think his supervisor would make a big deal of it. Our bumper however... well, now we know what we're going to be spending this year's tax return on. AND we missed the magic window of leaving the parking lot earlier than the mob, so we had to sit for another 20 mins. waiting for everyone else to file out first. But that just gave the big girls more time together telling silly jokes and teaching each other silly songs in the back seat. (Katie fell asleep almost as soon as I had her buckled in.)

So, one down, two to go!

Next was Joseph, who also got to live it up, his birthday falling on Sunday this year. We had a small brunch-time party for him, with donuts in lieu of cake. Whenever someone says "birthday," he will think for a moment, then come out with "Birday, donut, candow!" I guess he was amused by the fact that his birthday cake was a donut. ("shlockit" of course)

For him we also got his own set of dishes. (seems to be becoming a theme for our family) We also got him one of those playroom rugs with roads on it, which is good because for other presents he totally made out in the trucks department, and he couldn't be more delighted! At one point I commented on this fact, just as he was opening a present which was a book -- about trucks! One truck in particular we called his Wife, because he wouldn't be parted from it. He refused to go to bed without it, and fell asleep with his arm curled around it.

His party was well attended by princess fairies and Little Red Riding Hood. (and some other boys to bring up the testosterone levels a bit)

The next day was Mr. Pickles' birthday, the Big XXXIV!

Kind of sadly kind of not, he wasn't feeling that great. So he took the day off work, took it easy, got a nap, played video games -- so, all in all, not too bad a birthday! For dinner he requested lobster-stuffed ravioli (it's seafood, so it's penitential, right?) with tiramisu for dessert, yummity yum. I got him a grilling cookbook to have fun with this summer.

There aren't as many pictures of his birthday -- well, that's not true, there are a couple choice ones, but let's give the man a chance to keep his dignity intact, in his old age. :)

So there we have it, birthday week 2010! Now whenever Joseph sees a candle (especially at church), he gasps and shouts out, "Birday! Birday!" Poor little Katie was feeling a bit neglected among all the attention everyone else was getting, so I'm thinking of throwing her a half-birthday party next month. (which will basically be a playdate with cupcakes -- just my planning energy level) :) As challenging as all this was, I'm so glad I get to be the one who plans the parties! It's fun thinking about all the little ways to make each beloved family member feel treasured. And it's so satisfying when I see that they are pleased. Just one of the privileges of being Queen Mother -- getting to dedicate holidays and commission feasts. Can there be anything more fun than that?

Celebrating 7

For Miriam's birthday party this year, she chose:

bowling!!!

A friend had a bowling party for her birthday last year, and Miriam had so much fun she wanted to do it for hers as well. We also went bowling New Year's Eve, so in her short life, Miriam has gone bowling more times than I have in my 29-some years. ;)

Here's Miriam showing her style.

Joseph got to bowl, too (with help).

(gratuitous cute baby shot) Yay! I like bowling!

I like Katie's style here.

The great thing about bowling is that everyone is excited for everyone else.



And for little kids, it's like, "Yay, I knocked a pin down!"


(Good thing we put the bumpers up.)

We went back and forth on party themes -- at first Miriam wanted a Sleeping Beauty Princess party (who wouldn't?). But when we were shopping for supplies they didn't have any Princess Fruit Snacks for the goody bags at the grocery store, so we switched themes last minute to My Little Pony. More cake decorating possibilities opened themselves up immediately. This was fun (and yummy!).


Miriam and her friends all had a great time. I think turning 7 this year has been a success so far. :)

It's the Big One!

Joseph turned one today! Yay! He survived! It's a good thing he's so cute.

Trouble indeed.

Ahhhh, full belly. Life is good.

Mm, first birthday cake! With chocolate icing, of course.

Oh, the carnage!

Since his birthday happily fell on a Saturday this year, we invited some friends over to celebrate his big day.

The Brat Pack. :) Joseph is blessed to have several boys born within a year of him, both older and younger. In a couple years, they will be A Force To Be Reckoned With! I need to start nailing things down.

Aw, but how could anyone with this adorable face EVER get in trouble?

I can't believe he's one already. My little man is growing up!

A friend once told me that mothers have different relationships with their sons than with their daughters. Another mom told me she feels differently towards her baby boy, because she knows one day he'll grow up and away from her. I haven't really felt either of these things -- intellectually I know them, but the reality hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe I'm in denial that my precious little baby will ever grow away from me. What does wake me up at night in a cold sweat is the idea that I'm responsible for raising a man. There are a lot of forces in the world conspiring against him, and it's up to me and his father to strengthen him against them. It's thoughts like this that make me realize there's no way I can do it on my own power -- we need Divine assistance to help him grow to be the person he was created to be. But for now, I'm just loving him as much as I can while I have him.