Happy Golden Birthday, Zorg!

Zorg is 8 on 8th: it's his golden birthday!





We went to Mass and got a special birthday blessing (as well as the birthday song from the assembly).





Then we went off to Watkins Park, known around here as: the-big-enormous-playground-with-the-teeny-tiny-zoo.


And we played, and played, and played.....






Then we went to their Nature Center (had the place to ourselves!) and looked at all their animals.

They rehabilitate raptors, so there were a lot of birds, but also turtles, snakes, bugs and a lizard which Choclo identified as a dinosaur.



Then back home for lunch and to play with some of those presents!!!

We'll be having the (Bionicle themed) party later. After 3 straight years of asking for cheesecake for his birthday, this year he asked for an ice cream cake.

Specifically, he wanted a chocolate cherry ice cream cake shaped like a Lego brick.

Easy peasy! I softened cherry and chocolate ice creams in the refrigerator, then put them in a loaf pan in the freezer yesterday. I separated the layers with chocolate cherry cookie crumbs from last weeks cookies (very yummy but fragile). I'll frost with some home made (cherry flavored) whipped cream.

Great!

Until this morning, when he asked if it could be shaped like a Bionicle mask.

Ummmm.

We settled for decorating it with his birthday present from Mxyl: Toa Jaller.

I hope to post pictures tomorrow.

And happy birthday to someone else special!

Happy Birthday, Klenda!

It was Klenda's golden birthday!




 She got a ton of gold themed presents.




And we decorated with loads of gold, too!

And golden candles on her cake

We all had a wonderful time!!

And we'll do it again with extended family when we are all healthy again!

20 Wonderful Things About Our Golden  Klenda
1. She wears really cool boots.
2. She has amazing art skills!
3. She stands up for what she thinks is right.
3. She plays the piano a bit and guitar a lot.
4. She loves to read great books.
4. She has the same birthday as the Fourth Doctor.
5. She is a loving and supportive sister.
5. She loves to learn.
6. She seems to be able to teach herself pretty much anything. 7. She has a great sense of style.
7. She's a careful driver.
8. She sees more colors than I do!
9. She sees beauty everywhere.
10. She's a fun dancer.
10. She's never overslept and missed her train!
11. She's part of the BCC Crew.
12. She's an integral part of Team Valtapaz.
13. Her chocolate buttercream pie is swoon-worthy.
14.  She's a talented and creative cook.
14. She's an excellent baker.
15.  She's got a green thumb.
16. She's always up for an adventure.
16. She always does more than the minimum.
17. She's an out of the box thinker.
18. She makes great mixtapes.
19. She's always willing to lend a hand.
19. She's very good at puzzles.
20. Her critical thinking is the key to her success.
20. Her love of God shines.

Happy Birthday, Mxyl!

 Mxyl wanted a Lord of the Rings themed party for his Golden Birthday, specifically, a hobbit theme!

The cake represents Bag End, Frodo and Bilbo's house.

Chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing.

He then surprised his brothers and sisters by having a real hobbit birthday, i.e. he gave them presents!

They loved it and he loved it!

Note the painstakingly accurate window painting of Minas Titrith in the background, courtesy of the Emperor...

Happy birthday, my great hearted Mxyl, I'm so proud to be your Mom!

Which leads me to: 15 Things About Mxyl

1. He's a star scout.
2. He can arch his eyebrows.
3. He likes Adoration.
4. He's cool under pressure, what would Spock do?
5. He stands up for those that can't stand up for themselves.
6. He's a techno whiz kid: Blender, Sculptris, whatever, he can do it.
7. He's quick with a sword.
8. He's a reverent altar server.
9. He's the hero to lots of little kids.
10. He has an inimitable fashion sense.
11. He painted his room gold.
12. His humor is subtle but deadly.
13. He does an excellent Link and a hilarious British accent at odd times
14. .He is taller than I am!  My giant little boy!
15. He knows where they are taking the hobbits.

Happy Golden Birthday, Zorg! (II)

Happy birthday to Zorg from Toa Jaller!

A boy and his Bionicle...

Plus the laser sword does a great job cutting ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday, Leena!

Queen of the Squirrels, Queen of the Snow, Queen of the Flowers, Leader of the Mermaids and Dolphins, happy golden birthday Leena!

Cool Dudes

Sorry about the light posting - we've been having a crazy busy week!

The new playground in our neighborhood opened, we made another fossil excursion to the bay, Biology rolls along, and preparations are underway for Oob's golden birthday and the parade we will be in on Saturday...

Also Rose is having finals this week!

I am hoping to post more about it soon, but, in the mean time, please pray for me, I should be getting the results back on some blood tests tomorrow on how the baby is doing.

Happy Birthday Grammys!!

Happy birthday to my beloved long time blog reader, Grammy Ann!

I wish I were with you to give you a big hug and bake you a fancy cake!!

And happy birthday to my dear MIL, whom we call Grammy!


I'm glad I live close enough to give you a big hug and bake you the cake!  It's not perfect, but at least it's not a creepy dinosaur!

And for you, Grammy Ann, I send you a hug, and my prayers, and this poem from John Masefield (he who wrote Sea Fever.) HT: Poet's Corner

The Seekers

FRIENDS and loves we have none, nor wealth nor blessed abode,

But the hope of the City of God at the other end of the road.

Not for us are content, and quiet, and peace of mind,

For we go seeking a city that we shall never find.

There is no solace on earth for us--for such as we--

Who search for a hidden city that we shall never see.

Only the road and the dawn, the sun, the wind, and the rain,

And the watch fire under stars, and sleep, and the road again.

We seek the City of God, and the haunt where beauty dwells,

And we find the noisy mart and the sound of burial bells.

Never the golden city, where radiant people meet,

But the dolorous town where mourners are going about the street.

We travel the dusty road till the light of the day is dim,

And sunset shows us spires away on the world's rim.

We travel from dawn to dusk, till the day is past and by,

Seeking the Holy City beyond the rim of the sky.

Friends and loves we have none, nor wealth nor blest abode,

But the hope of the City of God at the other end of the road.

John Masefield

 

 

Awesome History Round III: Awesome Modern History

 I am so far behind blogging!  We started  Awesome History two weeks ago!

We are continuing A Child's History of the World by Virgil M Hillyer, picking up where we left off last semester, and we'll finish the book this semester.

Our first class was chapters 67-69, which covered Protestants, Queen Elizabeth, and Shakespeare.

Our art activity  and our active activity were a performance of a simplified Midsummer Night's Dream with Choclo playing Bottom.

We did  fruit, bread, and home made cottage cheese for our snack.

I hadn't really thought about it, but cottage cheese is called that because it's the kind of cheese that's easy to make at home (as opposed to cheddar or brie which require specialized skills).

The next week we did chapters 70-72, covering slavery, Cromwell, and Louis XIII and XIV.

For our active activity we did ninepins, a classic game from that time and a precursor to bowling.  We used empty water bottles as pins, and a small ball (a tennis ball would work well).  We set up a little alley in the front hall which helped keep the ball from going wild and ensured that even the littlest kids knocked over pins!

 For our art activity, we made golden sun masks like King Louis XIV, the "Sun King."

We cut our masks out of regular paper plates (really young kids drew them, with adults helping to cut them out).

I then spray painted them gold (outside!).  The genius of this is that the paint absorbs into the paper, so it dries practically instantly.

Then we taped them onto straws as holders.

For our snack, we did a fancy tea with chocolate Madeleines.

I've been making Madeleines for a while now- ever since my friend Rose gave me a set of pans and a Madeleine cookbook as a birthday present- but I hadn't tried chocolate.

My conclusion is that I just like Madeleines!