Three Birthdays in One

She may have broken her arm on her 9th birthday but up until that point, it was a pretty great day.

She woke up to a birthday greeting from her favorite animal ever.

She asked (begged) that we invite company for her birthday celebration.  Apparently, because Adele's birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, everyone just gives her gifts at Thanksgiving and no one comes OVER.  And coming OVER is pretty special, so I am told.

Apparently she is the ooonnnllllyyyyy one who hasn't David and CC (neighbor cousins) over to share cake and that is just plain tragic.  So we made it happen this year.

Her birthday meal request was elegant... Iceberg wedges with drizzled dressing.  Lasagna.  Garlic knots.

Boy, howdy.  I've got an elegant one.

And she didn't want cake.  She wanted a donut tree.  (She's pulled that before.  Oh look at that teeny little girl!  )

And I didn't complain.  

(Especially since I had a Dunkin Donuts giftcard hanging out from last Christmas! This one took 100 donut holes.  wow.)

Her favorite part was the little friend tucked inside the donut gate.  

We had a camera malfunction for a blowing candles picture- so you just get a delighted girl instead.

Her favorite gift, and the one I was most excited to give her, was a resurrected chicken purse.

You may remember she was given one once before.  And a few weeks later, she left it at church and it was lost for good.  She's lamented that fact ever since.  

Chicken purse version 2.0 has a few upgrades...a nicer strap for one

AND....

it's LINED.  

Whooooo boy.

And since we are talking birthdays... guess who never got their time in the birthday-blogpost-spotlight?  

Yep, these two:

Corynn turned 14 and Judah 7 making this a once-in-a-lifetime event when Judah would be exactly half of Corynn's age.  

Corynn didn't ask for cake this year either.  She asked for macarons.  

(By, these girls just elevate the place.)

I had never made macarons before.  And they are notoriously finnicky.  So what does one do, knowing these two facts?

Why, she offers to make THREE different batches, of course!

Pink Lemonade~

Smores~

and Pistachio~

And I really botched most of them.  Many were cracked on top.  A few got too brown.  The smores' filling was so slippery the tops slid right off some!

BUT- I have a generously sweet girl who was thrilled with them just the same.

(I will say though, despite their looks, they were pretty darn good.  Or so I am told.  I was so mad at them I refused to eat a single one.)

And Judah requested a backhoe cake.

I wonder when he will outgrow equipment cakes?  That will be a sad day indeed.  Although- it is getting harder and harder to come up with fresh and different ideas for equipment cakes...

He said it was exactly what he wanted.

It was several months ago so I don't remember the presents- except that book gifts put a quick halt on gift-giving for a bit.

I always forget that until it is too late.

It is amazing to me that God has given me these children to rear and love and it is becoming more and more obvious that this is a temporary gift.  As they grow into these capable, big, wonderful people, I see the day coming closer and closer in which they leave me.

I can't cling, white-knuckled, to these~ my sweet fledglings.  (Even though I fight that urge daily.)  But I can remind myself every day to etch them into my soul.  And I can thank God for these, my greatest gifts.  

They were inside of me once.  In a different way, they are still.  And always will be.