Birthday Miracles (Ineke Turns 4)

Ineke was sure that she would turn four "when the snow comes" so she has thought it was her birthday every time it snowed.

The first snow was in October.

But eventually, it actually *was* her birthday...just a few days before Christmas.

Being four is a pretty special birthday because the minute she turned four, her hair was long enough to do in braids.

(A birthday miracle?)

Her birthday was on a Sunday which means the morning was full of the hustle and bustle of  getting ready for church.  Time slowed for just long enough for everyone to gather and watch as she opened sister gifts.  Considering our Sunday mornings- that could definitely be considered a miracle.

A few weeks before her birthday, I asked Ineke what she might really, really like for her birthday.

I was expecting something girlie or pretty or mermaidy or unicorny since that seems to be how she rolls these days.  Instead, with those happy little mischevious eyes she looked at me, grinning, and said "I'd want Papa to shave his beard and mustache!"

I couldn't believe my ears.  I said something like "Well.  That is something you will have to tell PAPA about!"  She did.

On her birthday morning, I couldn't believe my EYES- the bearded man was beardless!

That would be miracle #3... and if it isn't a miracle, I wish I had as much clout as my girl!



Ineke's requested birthday meal was tuna fish sandwiches and chicken bbq dip with chips.  That sounded like a pathetic birthday meal so I splurged and bought too-expensive croissants and spent half an evening hotgluing a bunch of ribbons to toothpicks to make things fancy for her.



When Ineke was a three day old baby, Matt gave her a little hard plastic polar bear for her Christmas present.  He gave me the Mama polar bear.  I cried at the sweetness of it.  Ineke discovered, this summer, that her baby polar bear was gone.

He miraculously returned for her birthday this year though...which made her exceedingly happy.  

I included lots of meringue cookies because I learned from Adele's birthday cake (way back in November- and no, I haven't blogged it yet) that meringue cookies tops Ineke's list of favorite things to eat.  

And just wait until you see the last of the birthday miracles...

Ever since I first saw this in the Magic Cabin catalog (back when Adele' was a baby so...10 years ago give or take), I wanted to have it for my children.  AND myself.

Spending $300 on a toy is out of the question for us so I knew if the gnomes and fairies were ever to get a home in these parts, it would be by the hands of my handy husband.  But birthdays would pass, Christmases would pass, children were growing up... and I knew that if it were ever to actually happen, it would need to happen quickly.

There are no guarantees that more children will come along, after all.   And these children are growing up at lightening speed. I brought it up again this year, as I do every year, and this time out of desperation, I wondered aloud if Matt's Dad might be willing to make it for me since Matt is always so busy.

WELL.

That seemed to be the ticket!  Matt dove right in one Saturday and by the evening, it was done.  (Matt wasn't totally opposed to his Dad working on it- he helped out quite a bit too.)

When Matt brought it in, it took my breath away.  It still does, every time I look at it.    He even made some wooden furniture to go with it!  I made some furniture, a stove, some food and plenty of peg people to play with.  The total project cost under $6.00 because we had EVERYTHING on hand already except the battery operated tea light candles, some green fiber and a little metal pail. 

I am not sure how we will ever top this birthday.  She was spoiled for sure.  But we have been spoiled aplenty with this spunky and sweet creature and our gift giving pales in comparison to His gift to us... the gift of our Tiddle.

Like Father, Like Son

3 1/2 months

That's how long it took for me to need to buy Moses his first pack of diapers!

(Thanks to the kind generosity of people who wanted to welcome baby Moses to the world but didn't know what a 6th baby could possibly need.)

Christmas Handmades

We hosted our last Christmas gathering on Saturday and I took a measley four pictures the entire party.  

Aunt Mary finally gets to meet Moses.  And vice versa!

An antlered deer shines bright.  (An after Christmas clearance sale splurge so that I could delight Andrew, my deer fanatic.)

Snowflake bread that floats down from heaven.  And a caramelized onion and brie tart.  Because it is fancy.  And Christmas deserves a bit of fancy.

  
And Ineke.   Always the first to the cookie trays.

And now that all the gifts are with their rightful owners, I can post the handmade gift photos here without spoiling anything.  Not that there were many of them this year.

~ A little care package for my Texas Twinnies.  Two dresses, two books, two headbands and two dollies that needed a couple cute crochet outfits instead of ugly ones.  A teeny tiny box of happiness, I hope.

~ A little purse to hold magnetic wooden dolls.  The zippered portion held all the little clothing and accessories pieces.  

~ A fancy flannel nightgown

(with Siamese cats!)

~ And a Knight helmet with a working face shield (I used this free pattern)

It paired nicely with a wooden sword and T.H.White's The Sword in the Stone

(model not included)

~ and another hat for Moses.   

What can I say?  Boys are much harder than girls to dress cute- hats are my feeble attempt to compensate.

It isn't the hat that is worthy of four photos~ after all, it's just a simple double crocheted rectangle, folded over.

The boy inside the hat made me do it.

~~~~~~~~~~

My current project:  

Fittingly finished God Rest Ye Merry on the 10th Day of Christmas and am happily back to The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon.  *Almost* done all the pieces to Moses' penguin lovey and then assembly time!  I will finish it by the weekend for sure.

Here's an excerpt from The Supper of the Lamb (pg.85) that I read this morning:

In a general way we concede that God made the world out of joy: He didn't need it; He just thought it was a good thing.  But if you confine His activity in creation the the beginning only, you lose most of the joy in the subsequent shuggle of history.  Sure, it was good back then, you say, but since then, we;ve been eating leftovers.  How much better a world it becomes when you see Him in creating at all times and at every time: when you see that the preserving of the old in being is just as much creation as the bringing of the new out of nothing.  Each thing, at every moment, becomes the delight of His hand, the apple of His eye.  Let us pause and drink to that.

To a radically, perpetually unnecessary world; to the restoration of astonishment to the heart and mystery to the mind; to wine, because it is a gift we never expected; to mushroom and artichoke, for they are incredible legacies; to improbable acids and high alcohols, since we would hardly have thought of them ourselves; and to all being, because it is superfluous.  Cheers, men and brethren.  We are free: nothing is needful, everything is for joy.  Let the bookkeepers struggle with their balance sheets; it is the tippler who sees the untipped Hand.  God is eccentric; He has loves, not reasons.  Salute!

Happy New Year!