HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I was sitting here wondering what is so special about late September that would cause a population explosion in late June then I realized that the nights were probably getting a lot colder and there was obviously more than just snuggling up in a blanket going on.

Today some of my favourite people celebrate the day of their birth.

Happy Birthday Breanne, the girl who thought Scotland was in Nova Scotia.  True story.  This girl was Brittany's first friend when we moved north and they have remained close ever since.  We consider her part of our family.  She may not be blonde like us but she acts like it, that's why we love her so much.

Happy Birthday Heidi a.k.a Pocahontas who used to come and visit Brittany but we all knew you were here to see the brothers.  Admit it.  Daniel once pulled her hair in church and they've been great friends ever since. We hoped for some sort of merger with her and one of our boys but it was not meant to be. (probably a good thing)  We still consider her family.

Happy Birthday Claudia, our German exchange student.  We could not have asked for a better match for our family.  I cannot say enough good things about this girl.  She lived with us for a period of six weeks over ten years ago and has remained a part of our lives since.  We still receive postcards from her when she travels.  I bet she doesn't realize how much she is thought about and reminisced about in our family. We love her.

Happy Birthday Nathan, the baby of our family.   His sweet demeanor blesses our family.  I can't wait to see him as a dad (that's a hint by the way) because he is awesome with his nieces and nephews.  They all love him.  Everybody loves Nathan, there's just something special about him.  I wanted to share some funny stories about him (like the time he ate poop out of  the toilet) but since it's his birthday, I'll refrain.

How can you not love this face?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL

This picture was drawn by Daniel when he was about six years old.  I saved it and framed it not because I thought he would one day become a great artist (that is clearly not his talent), it was the text that struck me, "I never feel little.  I always feel big."  (spelling corrected)

I have never known a child to be so self assured at such a young age.  He exuded confidence from the time he was very little.   I remember going to a school fair shortly after he had first started school and as we walked around the school participating in activities,  kids from kindergarten to grade eight would call out to him to say hello.  I was astounded.  How did he know that many kids already?

Since he has been in New Zealand I have missed...

• his pacing the floor while intense sporting events played out on the TV. Watching sports is just not the same without him.
• his yelling at the refs or players in said sporting events.  Seriously, he would wake me out of a sound sleep sometimes.
• his brutal honesty.  If I asked his opinion on something he would give it to me straight up even if it might hurt my feelings. 
• his ever present smile.
• his goodnatured joking.
• his high pitched, girly, laugh (he adopted that in Fiji and it hasn't left).
• his generosity.  If I didn't have an opinion on something he was always willing to give me his.

Happy Birthday Daniel!   I love you.

AKA (almost known as) SHAGGY DOG

Proof that Nathan was a dream child.  He let me dress him in this without complaint.

We thought we'd let our 4 kids have a hand in naming the latest addition to our family.  They decided if the baby was a boy he should be called Shaggy Dog.  We nixed that idea but the boys got their revenge and called him Nate Dog as a teenager. 

He was a dream child from day one.

• one hour total labour. That's right, one hour only.  Every mom should be that lucky.
• slept through the night at six weeks. Pure heaven when you have four other kids to deal with all day.
• rarely cried. Not even when his brothers inflicted pain that would have made even their eyes water.
• was always singing or whistling.  I was a bit worried when all he would sing was Backstreet Boys songs but he outgrew it. Phew!
• kind hearted.  He once offered his sister his ice cream cone when hers fell on the ground without any hesitation.
• happy disposition.  Not much gets that boy down.
• made friends easily. When he enrolled in a new school he told me he wouldn't talk to anyone for three days, he had a new best friend by lunch time.

That little dream child could also be a bit of a nightmare just so you don't think he was totally perfect.

 

He

• ate poop out of the toilet thanks to an older brother who didn't bother to flush or put the lid down. 
• stole cheese from the fridge all the time.  I was forever finding little bite marks on the cheese block.
• flushed toys and toothbrushes down the toilet. I can now remove a toilet seat and reassemble it in no time now, a skill that has proven handy.
• had a party at the house once when we were out. The only one of our kids to ever do this and get caught.  Don't think I am fooled you guys, I know there were other parties... Brittany....

I can't believe my baby is twenty three today.  Where did the time go?  That sweet, sweet boy is now a man I'm still wrapping my head around that one all married and grown up.  It won't be too long until he's a parent himself this is not an announcement although I wish it was.  When the time does come, he will be a great dad.  His nieces and nephews adore him and it's no wonder to me. 

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Don't worry Emily, those teeth have been brushed thousands of times since the "poop" incident.

BIRTHDAY BOY

My biggest fear for Matthew when he was young was that he would grow up to bilk little old ladies out of their life savings.  That boy had charm and knew how to use it, he could sell sand to a nomad.   His powers of persuasion have gotten me into a trouble on more than one occasion.   I remember him telling me to watch as he convinced a lady to break her own rule of not making any changes to a billeting list at a youth conference so that he could stay at the same place as his friends.  I had already seen a number of youth  try the same ploy to no avail. It took Matthew all of five minutes to accomplish his mission.  At high school he often talked teachers into giving  him a higher mark than was originally granted him.  The boy had some serious skills.  

My fears of him bilking old ladies were unfounded (as they usually are, must be a mother thing) and he has turned into an amazing young man who honours his wife, adores his children, and is quick to help others.  He has an amazing sense of humour and even though he no longer tries to get me to laugh at inappropriate times (I miss that) he still likes to make me laugh.   I couldn't be prouder of him.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

SUGAR AND SPICE

I was afraid that growing up in the midst of four boys, my little girl would be a tomboy.  That was a waste of time. I couldn't have asked for a more girly girl.  In fact, our neighbor used to call her his 'little pink lady'.  One day upon seeing her in a little dress that wasn't pink he commented to her that he was surprised that she didn't have any pink on.  She promptly lifted her dress to proudly show off her pink knickers.

She may not have been a tomboy but having four brothers taught her to stand up for herself.  In grade four she wrote a letter of apology to her teacher after having been caught sharing a note with a friend that included some unkind language about another girl.  She explained in the letter to the teacher that she had not learned the language at home but from the teacher herself, and in grade two after hearing that her older brother was being bullied by a rather large kid she approached the boy in the school yard and told him him "Stay away from my brother you fat b@$*#!" I didn't find it funny at the time but I laugh about it now.  That girl had moxie.

She has a really soft and tender side too, quick to give a hug when needed and always ready with a listening ear. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, and family, especially her brothers and now her husband and daughter.  She values her role as a mother and is attentive and gentle with her daughter.

She has a brilliant sense of humour and we have shared more laughs together than any mother and daughter should (that's a hint that it's often inappropriate).  

She is a smart and confident young woman and I'm proud to call her my daughter.

Happy Birthday Brittany!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES

So I celebrated a pretty significant birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I told Ian that I didn't want a big fuss made and that I preferred to mark the occasion by having dinner with the family which is basically what happened.  Some of the evening I am not allowed to blog about or post pictures of, which is a real shame but I will honour the request even though it is practically killing me not to share.

The table all decorated.

Brittany and I spent the day in town while two of my lovely daughters-in-law decorated the dining room, made dinner and prepared a special surprise. I came home to find my sweet little grandchildren all dressed for a special dinner, the dining room decorated with flowers and a digital photo frame all set up with family pictures.  The paper flowers on the wall contained words to describe me with the names of the submitters included.   Some of the words written weren't all that surprising because after all,  I am pretty "amazing" and "wonderful"  that was why I was shocked when I found the word "humble" written on one... and why would a nice mormon girl like me find the word "cheater" on one and "thief" on another?  Probably because I have "cheated" death a few times and I "stole" my husband's heart.  Yeah, that must be it.   Actually, there are good stories behind those titles.  I have been known to cheat a few times at games but that  happened so rarely and only ever when I was losing (that is why it happened so rarely).  The thief title came after I took a poster from the toilet stall at the House of Blues advertising a band that was playing the next night.  I took it out of it's frame but my accomplice was the one that walked right out of the restaurant with it and her husband had the nerve to say I was a bad influence on her. sheesh!

Flowers sent from Daniel & Olivia

Anyway... it was a great day and I felt very loved by all those who took the time to write a few words describing me.  Thank you Olivia for doing all that.   The only thing that would have made the day more perfect would have been if Daniel, Olivia, and Adam could have been home for it.

I really would have loved to tell you all about my visit from Jack Sparrow but I have promised not to blog about it (I am probably breaking the rules by even mentioning it but I am bad like that)  and none of you would have believed it anyway.

So thank you to all who participated and helped make my birthday so very special.

IT'S A LOVE STORY OR COULD BE ANYWAY

When you make a new friend and she's married the conversation will eventually lead to how she and her husband met. It's a natural question to ask as you get know your new friend better.  Most often the answer to that question is rather mundane and not very romantic.  Rarer still are the stories of love at first sight, and falling head over heels in love.  Our son Nathan and his wife have a pretty cool beginning to their destiny together and being the glory hog that I am, I am not content with just one of those kinds of stories in our family.

So single ladies out there, how cool would it be to tell your friends that you and your future husband met because his mother (me) wrote a blog about her son (Adam) and you plucked up enough courage to write to him to wish him a happy birthday (today) and he wrote back(not very likely because he barely writes me) and it snowballed from there? That would be pretty romantic (or at the very least interesting) right?
So go for it, take the plunge, shoot for the sky, you never know, you just might be the one and what a story you get to tell if you are.

So here's his email address.  Have fun!   jenneradam@hotmail.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM : )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

I have been having a difficult time trying to upload photos onto my blog from my computer. Apparently, blogger does not care for macs.  It has been terribly annoying and has put me off posting anything.  It just doesn't seem right to blog without an accompanying picture, call me weird.   Anyway... I have figured out a way around the problem and will hopefully be more diligent at posting regularly.

Today we celebrated our son-in-law's birthday.  He's goofy and kind of goofy looking too but we love him (despite what he and Kere say) and we love that he is a part of our family.   Happy Birthday Ben!

And now you understand why pictures are so important!