Bitty has a Birthday

My gal is four! Four, going on 17, of course.

We had a lovely day. The Misty gave me a great idea; to open presents first thing in the morning so the birthday girl can play with her new stuff on her birthday, all day long. (And also so I don't have to have the "when can I open my presents" conversation 20 times during the day.) I got up early and made a birthday coffee cake, set the table and put out the presents. Of course Stomper woke up long before Bitty so I did actually have the "when are the presents?" conversation many times after all, all in the space of half an hour while we waited for the birthday girl to arise. You know, it was a great idea. We had a really fun breakfast together and then the kids were busy with the stuff while I got ready for the party that evening.

Bitty had been asking for a cash register for a while, and through a miracle I was led, almost as if by a divining rod, through Toys-R-Us, directly past three different varieties. Something inside told me there had to be just one more somewhere in there, and unbelievably, I walked straight to it and it was perfect. Bitty opened it and said, "It's my cash!" Sorry, kid. I wish. She also got the much sought after "Bendaroos" which, if you have cable, you have undoubtedly seen an add for. My kids have been begging for them for months and when I walked right past those also at Toys-R-Us (I was totally guided, just so you know - I had about 30 minutes to do all of Bitty's shopping and found four fantastic things in just the allotted time!) I knew I would make her birthday. The box comes with 500 of the little waxy strings, and in the evening as I was cleaning up from the party I found one on the floor, already mashed full of dog hair and all I could think was, "One down, 499 to go," as I tossed it in the trash. Oh well. They're really very fun and have kept the kids busy for hours already. Easier to clean up than playdough or moonsand.



My good friend Ruth has a son who is one of Stomper's best buddies and who also has a birthday on the 21st. All he wanted for his birthday was to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch with Stomper. So good Ruth took them, plus her two other daughters, plus Bitty as well, the saint. I was going to go with them but ended up at a viewing (more on that later) so she went at it solo. She definitely earned another point towards her halo. The kids had a great time, apparently, because they asked me if we could move into Chuck E. Cheese's. No. But thanks for asking.

We had a joint party for the two birthday kids in our backyard in the evening. It was going to be at the park, but seeing as how the temps were hovering around 100 degrees, we changed it to a place with shade, an inside, and a pool. Hurrah once again for the $37 blow-up pool. Lovely evening spent with family and friends. Just how a summer evening should be - chips, salsa, homemade guacamole, fruit, birthday cake, and people you love lingering in the warm evening air until well after both dark and bedtime. And since the dog did most of the dish duty on all the cake lying around, clean up was a snap!

I attempted my first ever princess dress birthday cake. Not too bad, but I'm not going to show a close up!


Best jumping-off-the-edge-of-the-pool shot ever!

So happy birthday to Bitty, who lights up my days like the blinding ray of a 2000 lumen flashing beacon. Just kidding. Sort of. She certainly is a bright little star, and I am lucky to have had her come to me. I can't wait to see what she does next!