Birthdays

 

          January and February are big birthday months for the Bleakley family.  Two birthdays in January, and two in February.  There was a stretch of many years where I just gritted my teeth and tried to get through four birthdays within a 30 day period - presents, parties, cakes, balloons, birthday dinners, birthday breakfasts, blah blah.  Not ever seeing the need to spend more money than is absolutely necessary on a party, we always do the 'do-it-yourself' kind: at the house, homemade cake, with old fashioned party games.  It might be boring but I always justify this no-frills approach by telling myself that kids these days are way too stimulated and it is good for them to be bored. 

     But these boring parties are still really stressful to execute, because you have a large group of screaming, hyper children who you have to organize and entertain and discipline and, well, babysit frankly.  This situation has been known to bring both Tim and I to our knees.  The most famous story is when Imogen had her fourth birthday party.  Tim spent 90 minutes trying to do party games with a bunch of four year olds while I escaped to the kitchen to do the food.  It was an excruciating exercise in herding either unwilling or uncomprehending cats, while at the same time keeping up the pretense of being Mr. Happy and Mr. Fun and Mr. Resourceful all rolled into one.  Anyway, it nearly killed him.  The whole experience brought on a terrible migraine, and he had to come home early from work the next day because he was still suffering mightily in body and spirit from it all.

     Anyway, so this is how I still face children's birthdays:  it's gonna be bad, it's gonna be exhausting.  But the kids are getting older, and things really aren't as stressful as they used to be.  This year, Verity only had two friends over for her party.  It was really just a glorified play date, with a spaghetti dinner at the end.

     Verity's birthday was special this year in that she was 6 years old on February 6th. That will never happen again so best make note of it while we can.

 

Verity on the morning of her birthday. 

Verity at her birthday party with her friends, Sophie and Anatasia

         In between Verity's birthday on the 6th, and Abigail's birthday on the 22nd, lies Valentine's Day.  I always make each child a homemade Valentine's card, and a personalized heart-shaped sugar cookie, along with a bag of special Valentine chocolates and treats.  Tim usually gets some kind of special meal as well.  This year it was breakfast in bed, and it was pretty fancy:  goat's cheese omelette with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh herbs; smoked trout gratin; orange, grapefruit, and lemon salad on a bed of watercress with a lime dressing; homemade orange and apple marmalade; sourdough baguette slices; and last but not least, Neufchatel cheese imported from France, in the shape of a heart.  Yea!!

Tim's Valentine breakfast in bed

Abigail on her 17th birthday, with the famous apple dumplings

      Then it was Abigail's birthday.  17 years old. Very, very hard to believe.  It was rather low-key, but with several different celebrations:  one was a trip to the mall with friends, which included a disturbing foray into Victoria's Secret; another was a miniature golfing expedition with another set of friends; and finally, a day at home with the family, complete with a roasted dinner of pork, applesauce, roasted potatoes, roasted butternut squash, red cabbage, and apple dumplings for dessert.  Food is very important to us, and Abigail has inherited the 'food means celebration/special occasion/relaxation/love' gene.
     A month later, on March 27th, it was Georgiana's 10th birthday.  I can just about handle Georgie's birthday because it is a whole month after Abigail's, and 5 months away from the next birthday, which is Imogen's.  But it turned out that I didn't need to worry. Georgie is developing into a very mature, very creative, and very organized girl.  It turned out that she did the guest list, the invitations, and the party activities all by herself.  And, I had extra help this year.  On March 24th, Emilia, our 14-year-old exchange student, arrived from Germany.  She was a great help in entertaining Georgie's friends.  All I really had to do was make the dinner, and the birthday cake.

Georgie and her friends at her birthday dinner, with Emilia.

Georgie's famous birthday cake.  She was born on Easter Sunday, so her birthday cake is always an Easter-themed carrot cake. 

Georgie's birthday present:  a Slyvanian families Country Mansion.  Let the fun begin.
 

Eleanor's baptism

 

     Much has happened since my last entry.  At the end of January, Eleanor turned 8.  This is an important milestone for Mormons, as this is when our children get baptized into the Church.  So it was a very special occasion for us.   Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton came down from Idaho for the event; they drove, no less.  That shows real dedication - 13 hours, and 13 hours back again, is nothing to be sniffed at!

 

Eleanor with Dad and Mom on her baptism day.  Daddy baptized her, which is why he is dressed in white.
 

     She was baptized on her birthday, January 24.  It was a Saturday, so we could make it a really special day.  The program was lovely.  Grandpa Hamilton spoke first on the importance of baptism and Grandma Hamilton spoke on the Holy Ghost.  Imogen, Samuel and Grandpa played a few primary songs in their little chamber group of Imogen on the violin, Grandpa on the viola, and Samuel on the cello.  Tim baptized her and confirmed her, with Grandpa assisting in the confirmation, which made me very happy. 

     The Holy Spirit was strong and we were surrounded by loving family and friends, witnessing our daughter commit herself to Jesus Christ.  It was a wonderful day.

     Then we had the celebrations after the baptism.  Me being me, the post-event celebrations have to be good.  Very, very good.  No, they have to be fabulous.  And not to be shallow, but a fabulous event needs fabulous food.  And fabulous people.  The people part is easy to take care of, but the food bit takes a bit of planning and work.  But its always worth it .....

 

 

The celebratory feast

     Due to the fact that this was nearly four months ago, unfortunately I don't remember everything about the menu.  Dad and Mom helped me wrap about a million baked potatoes, and we had a big ham.  William Kilmer kept asking how he could help, so I gave him a bowl of avocadoes and limes and asked him to make guacamole.  He was in his element!

William Kilmer talks to my dad while making his awesome guacamole

      I made my specialty dishes of lemon tart - a must in the California mid-winter, when the lemons are at their peak - and chocolate raspberry trifle.  We also did a strawberry, apple and tortellini salad, which was interesting.  Everyone who came brought something, which is always a success.  I love potlucks!

Lots of kids at the festivities:  Matt Woolley, Maddy and Noah Miles, Josh and Elizabeth Kilmer, Kingston children, Bleakley children, etc. 



Tim talks with Cathy Woolley, Laura Worthen and Elizabeth Kingston
 

     Eleanor was baptized on her 8th birthday, which made the day especially nice.  So during the evening we brought out her birthday cake - Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Truffle Cake, which ends up being the birthday cake for most of my children each year.



Eleanor with her birthday cake during the 'Happy Birthday' song

     The next day, Sunday, happened to be a big day for us as well.  Samuel, too, had an important rite of passage at church.  Samuel had turned 12 two days before, and 12 is the age at which boys receive the Priesthood in our religion.  So he was ordained to the office of a deacon at church.  My dad was there, and was able to assist in the ordination, which was really special for me.

The Bleakley family, with Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton, after Samuel's ordination

Samuel with Grandpa and Grandma Hamilton

Grandpa and Grandma with Eleanor

Just to make a note for posterity, Samuel got the Tower of Orthank for his birthday