Elizabeth's birthday sweater

Back when I made the Shalom sweater for myself, Elizabeth tried it on and declared that she'd like one for herself. She hasn't been much into sweaters lately, so I am happy to accommodate any request of knits from her.

I ordered the Biggo yarn from Knit Pick in Calypso Heather, which is a color that she currently loves and chooses to wear quite often. I kind of wish I'd just gone with a heavy worsted or aran weight though. My sweater was knit with Madeleine Tosh Chunky, which isn't an overly thick yarn. The bulkier yarn just made the sweater a little bigger, something thin Elizabeth doesn't really need. I guess it gives her room to grow though.

Last January when I took Elizabeth to NYC for her 12th birthday, she picked this beautiful glass button out at Tender Buttons. It was easily the most expensive button I've ever purchased at a whopping $10 for the lone button. We decided back then that it needed a special project. It's been sitting in my button box for the last year, and I decided without telling her that this birthday sweater would be that special project.

With a week left to go before Elizabeth's actual birthday, I ran out of yarn on the bottom trim of the sweater and had to order another skein. (I blame the thickness of the yarn that it ran out too quickly! I bought the recommended amount!) The final skein came just the afternoon before her birthday which caused a frantic knitting session after she went to bed that evening.

Fortunately, it was completed and wrapped with her other gifts for her birthday celebration. And I now have three-quarters of a skein remaining for something else, if she chooses. Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out, and the fact that she's actually wearing it. Success!

celebrating Elizabeth

The sweet, fiercely-independent baby girl that made me a mama is 13 today. I truly can't believe it. We'll have our family dinner and celebration this evening, but over this past weekend, we got a jump start on the celebrating. 

My parents came on Thursday evening to take Elizabeth to a local milkshake joint and give her the gift that my mother has labored on for many months. (They had to fly back to the Philippines, where they live, early this morning which is why they celebrated with her early.) As expected, Elizabeth loved her scrapbook enormously. She's the most sentimental about photos, birthdays, and the passage of time of all of our children. This truly was the perfect gift for her 13th birthday, the birthday where she moves from being a child toward her adulthood.

And on Saturday, we threw her a bigger-than-usual birthday party at the local bowling alley. She enjoys bowling, and even more than that she enjoys spending time with her large circle of friends, many of whom she's known since kindergarten.

I don't think they even made it through an entire bowling game. But they sure had fun together.

Thirteen can be such a hard yet joyful age. I feel fortunate that she has such a tight-knit group of friends, whose parents are my friends, to move with her through these adolescent years.

seven!

I'm woefully behind in blogging, and I hope you'll indulge me for a few days while I catch up. 

Finn's Christmas birthday this year was a rather low-key affair. His siblings spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with their other parents, but we kept his birthday celebration at the same time, first thing on Christmas morning. I think the consistency of celebrating his birthday first thing in the day helps mitigate the loss that inevitably accompanies a Christmas birthday.

I can't believe my big boy is 7!

We celebrated with apple cider doughnuts in the shape of candy canes. A larger brunch happened with my family later in the morning so we just had a small breakfast to tide us over until brunch.

Finn looks forward to his birthday more than any of the other kids, I think. And he relishes every moment of his special day.

He received several nice birthday presents, including a guitar from my parents.

He also received a much larger Snap Circuits set than the one he's been working with, one that used to be Paulie's when he was Finn's age.

And of course, there were Legos. He spent most of his birthday morning building and playing with Legos. Perfectly fitting for a 7 year old, I think.

celebrating Philip!

This weekend brought another round of celebrations at our house. Philip turned 11 this weekend! He and Paul had a special weekend for his actual birthday: Paul whisked him off to Atlanta on Friday afternoon for a weekend of one-on-one time and a trip to Legoland Discovery Center.

Their special trip meant that Philip had to wait until yesterday, the day following his birthday, for our family birthday celebrations and the remainder of his gifts.

Following his birthday meal, we ate an autumnal birthday treat of Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies.

We sang; he blew out candles; and then it was gifting time.

His main gift this year was the trip to Atlanta with his dad, but we had a few small tokens for him to open at the celebration. Elizabeth spent her own money to buy him a Lego plush minifigure.

He also received a few books and, of course, the Star Wars pillow that I made for him.

In all, I think he had a special celebration, and really the whole weekend was celebration! Welcome to 11, Philip!

celebrating Paulie!

On Friday we celebrated Paulie's 14th trip around the sun. (How is that possible?!) He retains much of his sunny disposition, despite his foray deeper into teenagerhood, and we are thankful for another year to spend with him and watch him grow into a fabulous young person. He often has the hardest time making decisions about what he wants for his birthday meal, or even his birthday presents. I sometimes just end up making those decisions myself. Since he had friends joining us for his birthday dinner (Friday birthdays can be handy for that.), I opted to make a variety of pizzas to help us celebrate.

We keep our birthday celebrations relatively low-key. A birthday ring with seasonal decorations and a couple special ornaments, celebratory food, and a few presents.

And of course, a special dessert. Paulie couldn't decide on which special dessert he wanted this year. I opted to make him some homemade vanilla ice cream and homemade oreos to accompany. His oreo was a triple decker!

After the singing, candle blowing, and dessert eating, he moved on to his gifts. He always has the best expressions when opening presents. This expression looks like he won a million dollars; actually, it's the latest book in a series he enjoys.

He was suitably thrilled about his Totoro pillow, although I couldn't quite tell if he was a mite embarrassed to be receiving it in front of friends. ;)

His big gift this year was a new 7-speed bike. He refused to ride his old 20-inch kids bike this summer claiming he was too big for it. He had an inaugural run around local lake trail yesterday, with Finn and Philip in tow. He was still smiling 7 miles later. The bike must be a winner!

Happiest of birthdays, Paulie! We can't wait to see what 14 brings.

thirty-six

Yesterday, I turned thirty-six. We spent the day relaxing, taking a hike, working in the garden, picking blackberries, canning blackberry jam, then out to dinner and a movie with Paul.  It was pleasantly normal and exceptionally special, all at the same time, if that makes sense.  However, a few days earlier, on the last night that we were all together as a family before the boys headed off to their mom's house for a couple of weeks, we partied it up right.

The kids, particularly Elizabeth, spent most of the morning in the library decorating, then forbidding me from entering.

Elizabeth spent about a month planning the things she wanted to do for my birthday, buying a present with her own money, decorating the library, and making the cake herself.

After the kids surprised me with the decorations and gifts, we headed outside to the firepit for a grilled veggie dog dinner. The skies were threatening all day, but we had just enough time to grill our veggie dogs before the rain started.

Homemade ketchup and mustard on the red picnic table makes me smile.

Before we had a chance to eat the delicious angel food cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream that Elizabeth made, the rain started in earnest and we had to retire back to the kitchen for dessert. She cut everyone generous slices, of course, and we stuffed ourselves with a little taste of summer.

Paul outdid himself, as usual, and bought me a juicer that I'd been eyeing.  We've thoroughly enjoyed fresh juice multiple times a day ever since.  He also bought me a 5 qt cast iron stock pot for camping, along with a tripod for hanging it over the fire.  The kids were so excited about our new "witch's cauldron" and can't wait to see what "witch's brew" we concoct on our next trip.

I also received a handsome stack of lovely books, a knitting book from Elizabeth, an ice cream recipe book from all of the kids, and a lovely cookbook, Home Made Summer, that Paul knew would be a hit just from the lovely photos inside. I also received a little book that I saw on Ginny's blog. A Line A Day sounds like manageable journaling and I can't wait to look back over the years to see the previous year's entry as I'm writing.