Happy Birthday to Papa!

Papa is 43 today!  I remember his 20s!  Where did the time go?

Since his birthday is on a busy Monday, we celebrated in our family tradition on Sunday, starting the day with cake (in his case, Geburtstagbrezel) and presents.
Papa is a tough guy to buy for because he really doesn't want stuff.  Papa likes experiences, so Mama planned a unique one!  I organized a sitter for the afternoon, so we could have a "Date Night" at a local glassblowing studio.  We each made a paperweight, an ornament and a drinking glass.













Each project built up skills needed for the next one.  It turns out blowing glass was hard work!





It was also great fun, and after the glass has time to cool properly, I can go pick up our projects.  They were still so hot when we left that we couldn't see the colours.  We can't wait to see how they came out!

Happy Birthday, Markus!

Maybe today is my birthday...

My actual birthday was Monday, but today, both girls were on the mend, someone else cleaned my house AND I received a package in the mail! Today was awesome!

Not that I get to keep the gifts my mom sent. Stephanie decided the gifts were hers (naturally, since the birthday was to be shared).

My mom knit a beautiful scarf, which I love for multiple reasons (she made it just for me, the colours remind me of her, it still smells like her...).

Stephanie loved it too...

Aren't those buns hilarious and adorable? That hairdo was one of many requests today that let me know my wee girl is finally on the mend (another being her telling me her teacher called her and told her she needed to come to school today because she is better).

Thank you, Mimi! You have made two girls very happy!

Happy Birthday to Mama!

With round 2 of illness in the house and much lack of sleep on my and Stephanie's part, this birthday didn't feel quite so "birthday" as I might have intended...but it was pretty darn good nonetheless. We, of course, started the day with a treat (birthday brezel) and Markus sang to me while our girls miraculously slept in until the late morning time of 6:30am (whoa!).

Stephanie was home (sick) with me today, and she was insistent that we have balloons. We each needed our own colors on our own chairs. I was allowed to choose mine and Markus's, and they were supposed to be our favorites. I cheated and chose green for my chair because I liked the color combo. She accepted this.

Still reeling from Ellie's birthday extravaganza, Stephanie insisted today was really both of our birthdays, together. We sang to both of us and she helped me blow out the candles.

And there had to be "smash cake" (a chocolate dome like Ellie had), and Stephanie had to help me smash that too.

(and for the record, yes, Ellie was okay with all of this. she wanted to eat the chocolate smash cake so she was over not smashing it herself and she accepted our reasons for the double birthday song with Stephanie)

The girls were tired early, so Markus and I waited our dinner until after they were in bed. We enjoyed a nice date night at home with a very fancy bottle of French wine we cannot read and some gorgeous homemade risotto with peas and prosciutto. Perfect on a cold evening!

And will you just look at this very grown-up birthday cake?

I spent the morning perusing Perfect Cakes and ultimately settled on this, the Chocolate Pecan Caramel Cake. It is really more of a mousse (no flour! 8 eggs! 12 oz of chocolate!), but my oh my...dreamy! We thought it would be rich and dense and perhaps just too much. It is rich but light and heavenly, with a lovely lingering caramel aftertaste. Please come on over and enjoy a slice! Stephanie and I are happy to share our birthday with you!

Ellie's art party

Last Saturday, Ellie celebrated her birthday by hosting an art party for her friends along with her co-party girl Danielle. The party was set from 9:30am to 11:30am, and we asked the parents to drop the girls off and pick them up later. There were seven girlies from their class at school plus two sisters and two birthday girls, Danielle's mom (Kaye) and grandma, Markus and myself. Whew! Luckily, all those adults on hand and all those girls who were friends meant everything was smooth and fun from start to finish!

As the girls came in, we helped them make melted bead bowls, which they would later use to hold sweets (if you're curious, I detailed the how-to on my public blog here). They really enjoyed making them, and everyone was happy with the result.

We mostly let the girls run amok and play together as we waited for all guests to arrive.

First up was singing the Happy Birthday song to Ellie and Danielle, and then all the guests decorated their own cupcakes and snacked on fruit, popcorn and fairy bread (white bread smeared with butter and sprinkled generously with 100s and 1000s).

I feel particularly proud of the rainbow cupcakes.

More running amok and playing ensued until all girls were done eating, and then we set them up painting acrylics on canvas boards outside. Some girls rushed through it (Ellie included), while others took their time and were quite detailed.

The other activity we planned was hair clip decorating. Kaye manned the glue gun and helped the girls glue precut felt onto their hairclips. The girls used regular craft glue to attach sequins and pompoms to the felt. There was mixed success with this technique, but they all had fun doing it so that's what counts.

We had initially planned for Markus to take Stephanie out to play during the party (she's still very shy and nervous around large groups or even individuals she doesn't know well), but Danielle's sister Madison came along. They are great friends, so the attempt to take Stephanie out was a big fail. It turned out well, though.

Just before it was time to go home, we brought out the "smash cake" Ellie has been requesting for the past three months leading up to her birthday. I had purchased a copy of Australian Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Cakes for ideas long ago, and Ellie immediately fell in love with the inspiration within. She did extra chores for a week to earn her own copy, and she keeps it in her bedroom for frequent reference. Since day one, her most favorite has been the piñata cake, which is a chocolate dome covered in Smarties (M&Ms) and filled with sugary treats.

This is it, mid-decoration. I had to melt extra chocolate to glue on the Smarties and mini-M&Ms. I've been nervous about making it almost as long as she's wanted it, wondering how hard it would be to make and hoping to Heaven I wouldn't mess it up and disappoint her dearest request. Luckily for me, it turned out really well without any trouble. And the fun they had whacking it apart with wooden spoons!

Her friends all gave her wonderful gifts, and Ellie did a beautiful job finishing up her thank you notes yesterday. She truly had a wonderful birthday!

Happy Birthday, Eleanor! We love you!

Three!

Our girl is three years old!

What I left out of the last post because I felt it deserved its own post was STEPHANIE TURNED THREE while we were down in Albany! The Birthday Girl spent almost the entire day in her Birthday Suit. The clothes came off while we were at the boatshed market early in the morning (it fronted a beach) and we were in the rest of the day, where she could be free as the little bird she loves to be!


We started the morning with our family's traditional birthday bretzel which I'd made at home and brought down with us. It was our first morning in Albany after an after-dark arrival, so Stephanie woke up on a farm on her birthday with kangaroos, cows, an emu and horses (her favorite!) in view. We couldn't have planned a better start to the day for our animal-loving girl!


In the afternoon, our friends joined us for cake and good times.



The water balloon toss was a HUGE hit with tons of giggling all around...until Will was twice over the victim of an exploding balloon. We changed up the order (I had been tossing to him, a rather unfair disadvantage for him) so the kids were mostly tossing to each other, and they had a blast. We kept it to three water balloons (Stephanie turned 3!), so it left them wanting more. I think we'll definitely keep it as a birthday tradition.




And of course, we appreciated the special guest, Enoch the Emu. This was our first day with him, and Alan showed us how Enoch would come when you whistle. He let the kids stroke him, and Stephanie was enthralled. She spent every day after chatting with him at the fence. But what third birthday in Australia would be complete without photos like these?





HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEPHANIE! WE LOVE YOU!

41!

Every year, Markus tells me he doesn't need to celebrate his birthday, and every year, I tell him that's just crazy talk. We keep it simple, but we definitely try to make it special! Given that Wednesday was Australia Day (a public holiday), Markus took Thursday and Friday off too, making it a five-day birthday weekend! Hooray!


The girls helped make this birthday banner before breakfast (nice alliteration!). Of course, we enjoyed Geburtstagsbrezel complete with birthday song and candle for breakfast. Start the day right is what we say!

Thanks to a cyclone somewhere off the Western Australian coast, by 8am the thermometer looked like this in the shade.


Yow. We opted for a day inside, and we headed to the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. After a quick browse around (we were just there on Monday), we enjoyed a snack in the cafe and then participated in some school holidays craft time. The girls really enjoyed it, and it kept us busy for the entire morning. Then, it was time to head home and enjoy a rare treat: lunch out! We walked over to Maretti's (Italian bistro), just close to our house. The lunch was fantastic, leaving us with that lazy, relaxed and happy feeling that a great meal can bestow. At home again, the girls danced to the ballet recital DVD as Mama knit and Papa snoozed on the couch. (I'm so out of the habit of blogging that I didn't think to take any photos; sorry)

Once the DVD was over, Markus decided to have craft time with the girls. Grandmary sent him a really cool ship-in-a-bottle kit that he and Ellie couldn't wait to try, so they worked on that while Stephanie glued tissue paper to cardstock in artful ways. By the time they were done, Ellie was trashed and very whiny (unfortunately rather common these days). During the course of a particularly fussy spree, she accidentally dropped the newly completed ship-in-a-bottle on the tile floor, where it promptly shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Much wailing and screaming and carrying on followed (all Ellie, in case you were curious). Father of the Year soothed her expertly while an exasperated Mama crawled around on hands and knees with a broom.


When the wailing finally ceased, Papa took all the kids to the beach, where they are playing away in the surf.


Happy Birthday, Papa! We love you!