Dancing on the Edge

My Birthday

My day started out bright and early when a little boy stuck his face near my sleeping one and said "Wake up, Mom! It's your birthday!" Is there a better way to wake up? Kelton excitedly pulled me into the livingroom to show off the decorations - snowman stuff, just what I had hoped for. (Snowmen are a nice theme when your house is already decorated for Christmas. Less competing going on than if you were to select, oh I don't know....My Little Pony or SpiderMan.) Kelton was already begging to dive into the presents and rip into them, I mean gently open them.

We tried convincing him to wait for Kaylen to wake up but nothing doing so we agreed to open one. Of course, I didn't get to do any of the opening that was left to Kelton. Much to his dismay, it was not a toy for him to play with. Instead, it was a DVD that Dakota had created using photos of our family taken during the year. I LOVE IT!!! Last year she made me a similar gift and it's still one of my favorite things to watch. I just love watching videos and slideshows of my family. We watched it but before it was over, Kelton was begging for more present opening. *sigh*

We woke Kaylen up so she could be part of it and we opened a few more things. Dakota bought me a great "family" necklace that I had been wanting. I really like it. I have one that has two parents and one child from my first Christmas as a mom and I was really wanting one with two kids. It's great! Dakota also gave me a Starbucks coffee card - which is always a huge hit. Starbucks is a guilty pleasure that I rarely am able to justify. Being able to swing by yesterday, order a drink and hand them my card was a thrill...and I have enough on it for a couple more visits. :) She also gave me return address labels which I know doesn't sound like all that great of a gift but they are the ones that you can put cartoon-type faces for all the family members. I am such a sucker for all things personalized. I love them!

Next the kids and Dakota went into the kitchen to make blueberry muffins. YUM! After breakfast we all got dressed and then split up to get some stuff done. I went over to a friends house to pick up the Little Tikes Teddy Bear Nursery that her daughter has outgrown (it will be part of Kaylen's Santa gift. We bought a doll and some doll "stuff" to go with it.) and then I ran it over to Dakota's mom's house to store it until the big day. Dakota took the kids and went to the grocery store to pick up a few things, including my birthday cake.




We reconvened at the house a short time later and I got Kaylen settled down for her nap. Once she was down, we called Dakota's mom who came over to stay with the kids while we went to a movie. We saw The Santa Clause 3 which we both really, really enjoyed. As we came around the corner from the theater, we looked across the parking lot and...............it was SNOWING!!!! Snowing! On my birthday. WOW!!! I was in heaven! Sure, it wasn't going to stay but it was beautiful and exciting. Dakota thought we should call home and let her mom know to open the back door and let the kids run wild. I told her I was sure Kelton would have already noticed and was probably out playing in it. (I was wrong. Grandma thought the kids should be bundled up with heavy coats and boots and wasn't keen on the idea of Kelton running out coatless so she told him he could go out when we got home. The now had stopped by then though. Heck - for as often as this happens around here, I would have let him go out naked - at least for a few minutes. He would have gotten cold soon enough and besides, just running out is part of the fun of an unexpected snow fall.)


Waiting out arrival home was a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent by a friend of ours. (The above picture is the exact bouquet - isn't it gorgeous?) She is such a sweetie and the flowers are really amazing. (Thank you, S!!)

OH! I forgot to mention that the night before my birthday I got a surprise in the mail from Brenda. Another Starbucks card and believe me when I say this - there is no such thing as too many Starbucks gift cards for me. :) They make me very happy! :)

Dinner time came and Dakota's mom and step-dad came over for pizza, cake and ice cream. It was really nice. They gave me a years subscription to both Parenting and Parents magazine as well as a gift certificate to the movies. Very thoughtful!! I love those magazine but find it hard to justify the cost. The movie gift is really great, too, and now I am assured of seeing a theater movie before another year or more goes by.

Dakota also gave me another gift. A night in a hotel in downtown Seattle on our way up to see my family for our Christmas celebration there. A chance to see the city all dressed up for the holidays, to take the kids to The Seattle Children's Museum and...for the best part of all......an evening out with my dear friend, Delly, whom I rarely get to see these days. She and I worked together for many years but since moving from Seattle, we rarely get together. The trips we take up there are also packed full and rushed and there doesn't seem to be time to squeeze in a visit. We last each other when Kaylen was less than 3 months old. I'm really looking forward to it! A night away from the kids - Dakota will be tending to them in the hotel room (she is hoping at least one will be fast asleep before I leave but I have my doubts on that. Either way, I trust no one more Dakota when it comes to our kids and I know I won't worry.....at least, not too much.). It is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!! Delly, if you are reading this I am really looking forward to this! Thank you for being part of a really amazing and special surprise. :)




So that pretty much sums up my birthday. It was a fun day that went by much too quickly. Thanks, Dakota, for all the effort you put into making my day special. You know what my best gift was? You....and the beautiful kids we created.

And now....I'm older. I keep trying to convince Dakota that I am only 22 and not *gulp* 42. (32 was a bad, bad year. It's the year I broke my back and not a year I'd like to think about reliving.....22 seems safer. *grin*)