birthday weekend

My birthday was nearing, and I was starting to get sad.  Not because I'm another year older...I still feel like I'm 25 and I tell the kids the same.

Mostly because my mom is not around (it's been almost 13 years) and really, it's your mom who is the one who knows how to make you feel special on your birthday.

The kids were excited for my day to come.  They kept the countdown.  Juan Pablo always acts like it somehow sneaked up on him, even though I mention it WAY before Christmas.

So the night before my birthday, we were all at the gym swimming in the indoor pool.  Isabela mentioned that she'd love to get me something for my birthday, and the day before we'd seen some beautiful blank notebooks with painted birds at Barnes and Noble, and I fell in love with them.  So I planted a little seed.

I said, "Well you have to bug Daddy to go to the store and get me something.  He's not just going to say, 'Come on, let's go get mommy a gift'."

And boy did that seed sprout.

Two seconds later, she swam over to daddy and let him know they HAD to leave to get mommy a present.  And it worked!  A persistent two minutes with Isabela, and he was dripping on his way out of the pool... with all the kids, I might add.

On my way home, I couldn't help but feel guilty.  It was quite foggy out and scary thoughts started creeping into my head...what if they crashed and it was all because I wanted a present?  But I pushed them out with a little prayer and carried on.

I think I actually might have planted two seeds for my birthday.  I remember heading off to sleep one night and jokingly saying to JP, "I can't WAIT to see what you're planning for my birthday!  I know you're going to be up all night getting it ready."  He laughed doubtfully.

But really, that worked too!  I went to sleep the night before my birthday and daddy and the kids stayed up in the craft room until who knows when.  I woke up to this:


And there were presents, too!  A beautiful bird journal/planner similar to the ones we'd seen the other day, and socks...soft cushiony socks to replace my holey ones that had shared one too many birthdays with me.

Unfortunately, there would be no cake this year.  I had to cut out all sugar from my diet after a high glucose reading the week before from my midwife.  And it's amazing how much birthdays revolve around sugar...a typical birthday involves the cake, ice cream, candy at a movie, soda at a special dinner.  It's a day to indulge.  Not this time around.

But there was one more surprise!  The gift I've been asking for for years:


He even got the cute little straws and cups to go with it.  We added a squirt of cranberry juice, since I couldn't have the sugary syrup.  And later, the kids tried it with chocolate milk, which they loved, too.



After that, the day quickly got away from us with TaeKwonDo practices.  We ended up with a red box movie...Brave.  Fun to watch and practice that accent where 'fate' sounds like 'feet'.  There's only one way to change your feet.  What?

Sunday, I worked in the nursery at church while the family slept in.  By quite a coincidence, I came home thinking we should go to a park and Juan Pablo had the same idea!

I slowly ambled along the mile long trail while the others tested their muscles at each station.

Whoa, the balance beam sure is slippery today.


Look, mom!


How can I get up there?


Here's how you do it, mom.


This is an odd slide.



Happy day.


Joaquin even got to test out his new camelback he got for Christmas.  He was a little stingy with the water, but it was a great gift for him...it kept him going for the whole trail.



So the whirlwind birthday weekend is over.  My family helped me forget about who's not there to celebrate and hey, without the cake, I have no idea how old I am...so 25 it is!