We just survived our annual "April Birthday Bonanza" around these parts. Katie's birthday comes first on April 13th and this year her party was on the 17th, then my Pop's is the 16th and it all winds up with mine on the 24th.
We held a Princess Party for Katie here at the house and it turned out wonderfully. It was only family and 5 of the friends that she spends the most time with since big parties are not her thing. Of course, even though our idea was to keep it small we ended up with a bigger party than we planned for. That is always easy for us to do since we obviously are really good about partying around here. My sister came in from out of town for the soiree and when you throw in the children's parents, our relatives, and the godparents you have about 30 people gathered. Everyone had a wonderful time. Marc designed and carried out a Royal Treasure Hunt that led each child, along with their parents on a quest for their own hidden treasure around and outside our home, using clues to get from place to place. When that was done I had each child take a picture with the birthday Princess (all of the friends came dressed as princesses too and Ethan was our token Prince). We then had each child decorate their own frame to put their picture into. Those came out really pretty. We had dinner and after dinner came a Preschool Princess Pinata (The kind where you pull the strings to break it open) and the kids dove for their loot. Finally, was the cake, or should I say cakes as we had one for my dad's 75th birthday as well, which brings me to his birthday tale....
My Dad, by far, had the best birthday of the three of us. It was made that way by my sister Jane, who works as a Senior Director of strategic Initiatives for the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. This foundation serves youth in America just as every organization Jane has worked for. That is her passion. Thankfully, her passion seems to fit very nicely with my Pop's passion for baseball; Ripken being synonymous with baseball. As many of my readers know, my Pop is probably the number one NY Yankee fan in the world. I know that sounds a little overblown but I feel it to be true. He has followed there every move as long as he can remember and can cite every fact, useless or not, about his team. He has written some of his memories on this blog and this one was another huge memory to be written about in the very near future. I will give you the reader's digest version.
My sister worked for months to score two tickets to the opening game of the New Yankee Stadium, which coincidentally fell on my Pop's birthday this year (hmmm, could it have been fate?) Her boss came up with the tix and GAVE these coveted and hard to find seats to her as a gift. The plan was set for them to meet in NYC on his birthday morning, see the game and then travel back to Florida the next day for Katie's birthday party. Let's just say the plan went off without a hitch and there were surprises in store for my dad that he would never have imagined in his wildest dreams. I will not spill the beans...that will be his job when he blogs about it but suffice it to say that he summed it up all by exclaiming that it was the best birthday he ever had. That is bigger than you will ever know as it takes a lot to phase my dad and phased he was. Jane basically screwed it for the rest of us for future birthdays....(SMIRK) His blog post will appear in the next couple of days.
My birthday was the final of our great "April Birthday Bonanza"...much quieter than the other two but wonderful nonetheless. The highlights included breakfast with three dear girlfriends, lunch alone with my sonny boy, Justin and dinner with my family and my folks. I received a Kindle from Marc, which made me very happy and two Amazon certificates to fill it with reading material from Justin and Judy as well as Jane. The wonderful moments of the day included the true realization of what birthday giving is all about by the DD, who were so happy to shower me with my gift, my cake and their love. Katie Starr even woke up and the first thing she said to me was "Give me a hug my birthday girl!" Could you just die from this sweet girl?!? I know I could...she is an old soul for sure.
So, now we are wrapping up another busy April around here and just when you think the excitement is dying down you realize it's almost...Mother's Day!!
We held a Princess Party for Katie here at the house and it turned out wonderfully. It was only family and 5 of the friends that she spends the most time with since big parties are not her thing. Of course, even though our idea was to keep it small we ended up with a bigger party than we planned for. That is always easy for us to do since we obviously are really good about partying around here. My sister came in from out of town for the soiree and when you throw in the children's parents, our relatives, and the godparents you have about 30 people gathered. Everyone had a wonderful time. Marc designed and carried out a Royal Treasure Hunt that led each child, along with their parents on a quest for their own hidden treasure around and outside our home, using clues to get from place to place. When that was done I had each child take a picture with the birthday Princess (all of the friends came dressed as princesses too and Ethan was our token Prince). We then had each child decorate their own frame to put their picture into. Those came out really pretty. We had dinner and after dinner came a Preschool Princess Pinata (The kind where you pull the strings to break it open) and the kids dove for their loot. Finally, was the cake, or should I say cakes as we had one for my dad's 75th birthday as well, which brings me to his birthday tale....
My Dad, by far, had the best birthday of the three of us. It was made that way by my sister Jane, who works as a Senior Director of strategic Initiatives for the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. This foundation serves youth in America just as every organization Jane has worked for. That is her passion. Thankfully, her passion seems to fit very nicely with my Pop's passion for baseball; Ripken being synonymous with baseball. As many of my readers know, my Pop is probably the number one NY Yankee fan in the world. I know that sounds a little overblown but I feel it to be true. He has followed there every move as long as he can remember and can cite every fact, useless or not, about his team. He has written some of his memories on this blog and this one was another huge memory to be written about in the very near future. I will give you the reader's digest version.
My sister worked for months to score two tickets to the opening game of the New Yankee Stadium, which coincidentally fell on my Pop's birthday this year (hmmm, could it have been fate?) Her boss came up with the tix and GAVE these coveted and hard to find seats to her as a gift. The plan was set for them to meet in NYC on his birthday morning, see the game and then travel back to Florida the next day for Katie's birthday party. Let's just say the plan went off without a hitch and there were surprises in store for my dad that he would never have imagined in his wildest dreams. I will not spill the beans...that will be his job when he blogs about it but suffice it to say that he summed it up all by exclaiming that it was the best birthday he ever had. That is bigger than you will ever know as it takes a lot to phase my dad and phased he was. Jane basically screwed it for the rest of us for future birthdays....(SMIRK) His blog post will appear in the next couple of days.
My birthday was the final of our great "April Birthday Bonanza"...much quieter than the other two but wonderful nonetheless. The highlights included breakfast with three dear girlfriends, lunch alone with my sonny boy, Justin and dinner with my family and my folks. I received a Kindle from Marc, which made me very happy and two Amazon certificates to fill it with reading material from Justin and Judy as well as Jane. The wonderful moments of the day included the true realization of what birthday giving is all about by the DD, who were so happy to shower me with my gift, my cake and their love. Katie Starr even woke up and the first thing she said to me was "Give me a hug my birthday girl!" Could you just die from this sweet girl?!? I know I could...she is an old soul for sure.
So, now we are wrapping up another busy April around here and just when you think the excitement is dying down you realize it's almost...Mother's Day!!
All of the pics are from Katie's party. I will post the pics of my Pop's birthday fun when I post his blog on the subject and of course there were no pics taken of my birthday...the photographer was too busy being the birthday girl!
Our Birthday Princess (Aurora, Sleeping Beauty)
Ethan was none too pleased about wearing a cape..it was off two minutes after this pic was taken
My sis and the mischief man
Grandma (Marc's mom with her grand baby and her grand dog) Grandpa did not make it into the pic
Princess Yasmin with Princess Katie Starr
Princess Erin with Princess Katie Starr
Princess Rachel with Princess Katie Starr
BFF Princess Mia with Princess Katie Starr
Princess Jaci Lu with Katie Starr
Being serenaded
Blow those candles out Katie and Papa
I like this!
Tired Princess opening her presents
Hi Mom!
Aunt Jane looking at a present with Katie
Daddy reading a card to Katie
Katie's god mama Kira with her hubby Dennis
As usual Katie's Great Aunt Shirley went the extra mile to think of something special for the children on the occasion of Katie's birthday. She made these beautiful aprons for them to either cook or craft in that were personalized with their names, a little Chinese girl and boy and the Chinese Character for Love. They are beautiful. Please click on the picture to see how lovely they are. Thank you Aunt Shirley and we hope to see you very soon!!
9 comments:
You sure do have a busy April. But all for good things.
I love the aprons. They are beautiful.
Happy Birthday, Katie, Pop, and Lori!
Wow, what a busy month..sounds like my September/October. It looks like a fabulous time was had by all.Such beautiful princesses and their prince is so handsome (cape and all). Any chance I can have Aunt Shirley - I'm willing to pay!
Penny
I'm thrilled that you posted the picture of the aprons, I love doing stuff like that for my favorite duo.
Wish I could be there right now!
Aunt Shirley
April is definitely a good month! (I say this this with acknowledgement of my own April birthday.) Lots of parties, presents & fun. Who could ask for more?
Great-Aunt Shirley made some awesome aprons for the DD. I think they're perfect.
Wow!!!! You've had a fun month Lori. The birthday parties sound amazing and I LOVE how Princess Katie greeted you on your bday morning. She not only is adorable, she is such a sweetheart.
I likey those aprons too. ;)
That's a whole lotta beautiful princesses and one handsome prince.
What a special day...and cute aprons as well :0)
Quite a celebration! What a hoot!
Hoping Katie's eye is improving.
We are participating in our 4th adoption panel discussion for our agency this weekend. Our focus will be SN children.
Wishing all the best to you and your tribe.
Hi Lori, Just catching up on your blog and what a treat it is! Katie looks adorable. I really enjoyed the previous video. So much fun. I hope Katie is feeling better.
Hugs,
Judy
Happy belated birthdays to Katie, Pop and you!
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