Happy and bittersweet birthdays

Tomorrow it's boy 3's birthday. And since what I gave him for his 3rd birthday was girl, it's also girl's birthday (don't worry, I got him other things that kids actually like too.)

This week I've been stockpiling dessicated coconut, pink sprinkles, magical edible gold dust stuff and mini-marshmallows. I even bought a piping bag for the icing, so let's not talk about how it might possibly maybe have been cheaper to buy a cake. Instead let's look at the pleasing result of a stupid amount of time used by me today.

Girl's girly coconut and raspberry cup cakes

Boy 3's chocolate cup cakes. As manly as a cup cake gets.

I sent my baby to bed tonight a two year old, and tomorrow she'll be three and I'll never have a two year old again.

Highlights of this year with her?

• A few months ago she made up her first story while we were in the supermarket. 'A man had a peach, then he dropped the peach, then he got the peach back.' Beginning, middle, resolution. It's the perfect story. WHY CAN'T I DO THIS?
• She accused her brothers of being miscreants. Gotta hand it to vocab like that.
• I can't count the number of times she's smiled at me, kissed me, snuggled up to me, wanted me over all other people, called me her best friend and smashed my heart to bits with how much I love her.
• She makes me laugh every day, and what she wants most for Christmas is butterfly wings and a pink screwdriver.

Why did I start this? Every day is a highlight!

Boy 3. Soon to be six whole years old. He writes me sweet notes to tell me he loves me and because he loves writing and because he gets self-conscious about saying it : )

He's thoughtful and sensitive and intense and fun. He's smart and beautiful.

Comedy photo-face.

 
So there you have it. Mother loves her children. Ground-breaking, right?

Kindle, I heart you a lot

I tagged this post Kindle, birthday, anniversary, cake - so you can tell it's about all kinds of lovliness before I even start :D This week it's been boy number two's 10th birthday. I didn't have a great deal of time to make the cake this year (enter lego) but said child was happy. I found candles that employ some sort of magic to make the flames different colours as well, so it was smiles all round when I produced this:

Three days later it was my birthday. As I ran through the living room in my usual I-now-have-minus-four-minutes-to-leave-the-house-and-not-be-late-for-work frenzy, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of a sleek black package tied with black ribbon. A card with my name on it sat on top. I didn't have time to open it but it lured me anway, enticing me to reach out tentative fingers and actually shake the package. I couldn't resist. It was my birthday after all, and if I was late surely the kids in my class could amuse themselves for a short while - I mean most of them are six now, right? Reason went out of the window and it became of national importance to find out what was under the thick black paper.

I may have emitted a small squeak when I pulled out a plain brown box with Kindle written on it. I may have scrabbled at the aforementioned box in desperation to get to my new toy. I may even have let out an I-just saw-my-first-firework sigh. And there I stood, holding this in my hands:

So sleek, sooooo pretty, soooooooooooo against everything I thought I believed in when it comes to books. I distinctly remember a post-grad student taking one of my seminars when I was an undergraduate (circa '97, yes, I'm that old. Moving swiftly on.) We'd been reading The Name of the Rose - an excellent and rather lengthy tome by Umberto Eco. Post-grad boy assured us that e-books were the way of the future and that there would soon be no need for my oversized backpack carrying no less than two Norton Anthologies. I was affronted. I think (read know) that I actually clutched The Name of the Rose to my chest. How dare he? The very idea of it was sacrilege and the post-grad student should possibly die for daring to utter such blasphemy.

Yet there I stood in my living room, carefully peeling the protective film off my new baby.

Don't get me wrong, I own a lot of books. I have no intention of parting with them (try and take them from me at your own peril.) This is less than a third of the collection in my house:

I love books. I mean I reeaallllyyyy love books.

But my new Kindle? The tiny device that will let me own vast quantities of literature? I marvelled at the screen - the one that looks like paper. I downloaded two books in seconds. I fiddled with facebook on it. I commented to my ever-patient husband 'Look, look, it plays music too! And I can ask it to read to me!' I browsed the huge library of free classics. I even appreciated the new Kindle smell (it really does have one, I'm not making that up.) Yes, I heart my Kindle.

Two days after my birthday (today!) it's my twelfth wedding anniversary. Cake, birthday, Kindle, anniversary.

So how's your week been? :)