Is it STILL my Birthday?

Molly's birthday is at the tail-end of birthday season

...after Cole's

 ...after Megan's

...after Kate's

...after Mommy's

...and after Daddy's birthday.

Finally...finally...it was time for Molly's big day.

 But...

When Molly woke up, she joined My Man and I in our bed and as she does each morning wiggled her way in between us and said, "I'm reawwy hungee." We realized then that Molly had forgotten that it was her 3rd birthday. 

Eventually, Kate joined us in the bedroom, and began to wish Molly a happy birthday but was interrupted by a sleepy woman who wished to enjoy her covers a bit longer. Kate, bless her heart, understood and climbed into our bed with Molly, as is her morning habit.

My Man, thus crowded out, as is his morning habit, exited the bed and got the ice cream cake out of the freezer so that it would be ready to cut when Molly finally remembered. 

Molly's memory wasn't nearly as active as her hunger pangs, which eventually drove her from bed and down the hallway where she met Meg who said, "Happy Birthday big girl!"

"Ith's today????" she squealed and turned to take in the kitchen and its decor. 

Oh what joy! 

(Can't you just see the weight of the moment on her face?)

Then...finally...the moment she had been waiting for since way back in March when we first sang to Kate, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday to Molly..."

She literally basked in the glow of that singular candle as we sang on...

"Happy Birth-day to youuuuuuuuuu."

She loved it so much we sang again...

After which she asked, "Mom did you get a picture of me bwowing out my candle?"

"Yes Molly." 

Then she opened her gifts and cards. She loved them all but was especially fond of a card that sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and later declared it her favorite thing of the whole day!

 (Thank you Mrs. Barbara!)

Once the cake had been eaten and the gifts had been opened, it was time to get ready for church. Happily, there was a dress in Molly's closet that seemed to be waiting for this little girl to turn three on a Sunday...of all days!

When we pulled into the driveway after church, Molly asked, "Is it still my birthday?"

After being assured that indeed it was, she was off to ride her new scooter under the watchful eye of her "brudder Cole"...

After lunch and more cake and a nap, Molly awoke asking, "Is it still my birthday?"

"Why yes, yes it is," we told her and we took her to McDonald's for a swanky birthday supper. 

Molly ended her evening in a new birthday nightgown as she showed Grandma, Poppy, and Granny some of her birthday treasures via internet camera. She even serenaded her audience with a rousing rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" accompanied by her birthday card.

The next morning when she woke up, she checked to make sure that the decorations were still on display in the kitchen and requested ice cream cake for breakfast. My Man was the one who had to break the news to her,

"Molly, yesterday was your birthday. It isn't your birthday today." To which she replied pointing to the streamers that were still flying, "Well, it is still my birthday in the kitchen."

Then by all means...bring on the ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday

Molly Joy!

White-Knuckling It

I remember my Mom saying that she wasn't going to like being 39. She said that when asked her age and then answering "39," people would automatically assume she was lying and that she was really older than that. She informed me (I was 16 at the time) that 39 was the age most folks claimed to be for as long as they could feasibly get away with it.

I am now undeniably, unalterably, unavoidably, truthfully 39 years old and I'm not much happier about it than my mother was, though for different reasons.

I'm not terribly concerned that my friends and acquaintances will think I'm fibbing about being 39. Really, I'm married to "The Pastor" and even if I'm suspected of fudging my age, surely nobody would accuse "The Pastor's Wife" of lying on such a trivial matter...right?? Honestly, if I was going to tell a lie, I hope I'd choose something a bit jazzier than my age...like my weight...or my IQ...or my ability to speak 3 foreign languages and crochet.

I was the grateful recipient of a birthday cake this weekend that proudly sported a "?" candle instead of the expected "39" candle. I loved it! I was not yet ready to see a "39" lit in all of its flaming glory. I find nothing glorious about it.

My Grandma, who is 50 years my senior, would level a serious look at me and say to my lamentations on aging, "Consider the alternative." She's right, but I'm still a bit bothered by the whole matter.

My biggest problem with turning 39 is that I'm beginning to feel like I'm 39. Until about 3 years ago, I still felt like I was 25 or so-- I didn't look it, of course, but on the inside, I felt super!  These days I'm a bit creaky and jiggly and I groan a little when getting off of the couch.

With this older feeling has come the heavy realization that I have missed, by a smidge, becoming the fairytale princess of my eight-year-old dreams. Oh, I'm living a lovely life, no doubt. I'm well-loved, respected, needed, healthy, and all around spoiled rotten, but I've very few occasions these days to don a ball gown and crystal slippers and tiara. I don't dance around the palace sweetly singing with the birds and the bunnies everyday. I don't lay my gorgeous blonde tresses on seventeen pillows under a canopied bed every night. My Prince Charming (and so he IS) doesn't arrive home at the end of each day on a white stallion singing to me in a deep baritone that he too is living his dream.

At 39 I'm accepting the reality that I'm simply getting older on the inside and on the outside. It is at this point in my life where I realize that I much more resemble the Seven Dwarfs than I do Snow White...

• Doc - glasses are all too necessary in my life these days...
• Dopey - vitamins, minerals, and Advil, oh my!
• Grumpy - please don't get between me and the coffee, it's just not pretty.
• Sentimental* - I've become the "little old lady" in the grocery store who advises young mothers with babies to "rock them a little longer."
• Sleepy - a good day = an early bedtime! 
• Saggy* - just where does all that skin intend to go?
• Happy - the dwarf who is always laughing. I might as well laugh at it all, it really is the best medicine. With age has come the ability to take myself a bit less seriously, I hope that will continue!

* I know that Sentimental and Saggy were not a part of the original cast of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is a little known fact, however, that as Snow White approached 40, she kicked Sneezy and Bashful out of the cottage because all of the sneezing got on her nerves and her decreasing lack of coordination caused her to constantly stumble over Bashful who was forever hiding behind her apron!

So 39, here I am holding on tightly, white knuckling it, if you will. My last year in this fine decade of life. I'm deciding to live it to the fullest, to enjoy all of the good stuff, to bid a fitting adieu to the ball gown and the canopy and to accept the fact that these days when my father calls "Young Lady....", he is, most likely, talking to one of my daughters!! 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho!!

Eleven!

We are exactly halfway through birthday season this week with the looooooong awaited celebration of Megan's 11th birthday. Things remained very true to Wright Place traditions...

...balloons...

...breakfast on the Birthday plate...

...gifts...

... Birthday note...

...Birthday note? 

Wait a minute...that's not a normal birthday tradition!

What was that all about?

(We've She's been waiting a lifetime while for Daddy to come around to the idea of pierced ears...)

Wow! Can you believe it? She couldn't quite!

Meg was pretty surprised. Then she opened her next gift to find that...

...Granny wanted in on the action!!

Fast forward a few hours to Daddy's lunch time...

and we were off to accomplish the task...all.6.of.us.

After showing my Driver's License and signing a form 4 or 5 times and initialing it 4 or 5 more times, Meg was able to climb into the chair.

The purple dot marked the spots...

...Daddy was called in to consult on the evenness of the dots...

...and then he offered his hand for support while Kate looked on.

Meg was tough as nails, never even squeezing her Daddy's hand 

as was later reported by her Daddy who...

...decided not to watch "them inflict pain on my child".

All done!!!

Can you just hear that "Pheeewwww."

Happy Birthday Young Lady!

We love you.

(birthday collage by Grandma!)

Finally Six...The Finale!

Kate's birthday turned in to a virtual marathon of celebration. After spending a few hours at Chuck E. Cheese, the Wright Gang headed to the nearby Sonic to take advantage of their half-price slushies during  Happy Hour! 

After sluprin' our slushies, we headed to our "mother ship"...

...so that Kate could do some birthday shopping with her gift card. 

This particular Barnes & Noble has the most magnificent toy and game section.

While Miss Birthday was making her selection...

Mr. & Miss "Not My Birthday" relaxed in the sunny window seat in the children's area.

Kate soon followed and wilted a bit while listening to a pirate adventure.

After THAT...we headed to the next stop for Kate to spend her last gift card...

The monkey receiving the vigorous scrub down was soon to be named "Lauren" and quickly became the proud new owner of...

...quite a lot of pink. 

Ball gown, ear rings bows, & hair band you name it,

 if it was pink, this monkey was exposed to it!

As the hours ticked quickly b,y Kate's birthday adventure was coming to an end.  When we arrived home, however, there was one last surprise waiting for Kate on the front porch placed there by a precious friend...

 What a perfect ending to a super Birthday!

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. 

- Dr Seuss

Six Years Old...Finally

Kate has been "five-and-a-half" for about 3 years now or so it would seem. Finally, she's turned six. The day before her birthday she stopped everyone in her path at church and announced her upcoming number change.

We'd already pre-celebrated Kate's and Cole's upcoming birthdays with their Pappa whose birthday falls just ahead of Kate's, the Saturday before which only served to fan the flames of Kate's anticipation.

The night before Kate's big day, her daddy and I set the birthday scene...

...the birthday plate...

...birthday "curtain" (as per request of the Birthday Girl)...

...birthday presents...

...birthday streamers...

Then it was off to bed to await the big day and the awakening of the Birthday Girl...

Bring on the...

 ...birthday breakfast...

...birthday blow out...

...birthday bummer...

(Molly's response when we refused to sing "Happy Birthday" to her too!)

...birthday buddies.

Then it was on to lunch at McDonald's,

 lunch choice of 9 out of 10 six-year-olds across the nation.

 After lunch we drove the "birthday-mobile" to...

...good ole Chuck E. Cheese's

where a Kate can be a Kate...

...and where Kate scored a happenin' birthday crown studded with game tokens.  

After divvying up the tokens...

...Kate and her birthday buds played...

 ...and played...

...and played...

...and played...

...and played some more...

...and more...

...and lots more.

Molly and I tried to play games that netted us the most tickets...

Meg and Cole discovered that the "Deal or No Deal" game could, if played properly, provide a wealth of tickets.

After nearly two hours of playing and ticket collecting, we herded our gang to the ticket counter. Kate had big dreams about what shiny new doo-dadd she would purchase with her 54 tickets and spent no less than 15 minutes making her selection...

..."fangs" she calls them.  

Just what every fresh six-year-old needs!

Deciding that we'd eeked out every drip of fun that Chuck E. Cheese had to offer, we travelled onward to the next stop on our birthday tour so that Kate could spend the first of her birthday gift cards!

(tune in next time for the next great adventure!!!)