How Many Birthdays can You Pack into One Week?

Last week was a busy one at our house. Somehow I managed over the years to give birth to three children during the same week. Yikes. So, on Monday we celebrated one daughter's birthday and then celebrated a son's (and step-daughter's) birthday on Friday and then on Sunday celebrated their youngest sister's birthday.
We actually spent three days celebrating her birthday. We had to have a party on Friday with all of her friends and then some of her girlfriends spent the night. All told there were about 20 kids in attendance, so we had a full house.
She decided to use a murder mystery theme for her party each person's invitation was on a "WANTED" poster. Making the invitations was a lot of fun, since each person's invitation was customer made and included a picture and description of them, along with a detailed explanation of why they were wanted. She turned our home into a giant CLUE game board and each room became one of the rooms in the game. My bedroom became the Conservatory, the kitchen remained the Kitchen, the upstairs living room became the Library, etc. Her friends helped put together all the clues and then they divided up into teams and all went on their merry way to begin solving the Whodunit game. There were some clueless kids on ocassion, because some of the clues hadn't been put together or weren't really clear, but overall the game was a hit and they all had a good time.
After most of the guests went home, the girls stayed up and talked until all hours of the morning. However, the guest of honor made her way to my bedroom and proceeded to curl up on the bed and sleep because it was too noisy with her friends.
The next morning we had a mother/daughter date planned for the day. Our date took us to an art exhibit at Brigham Young University. They have an exhibit of the works of Carl Heinrich Bloch, a master painter from Denmark. His works included several altar pieces of the life of Christ and many other smaller pieces. The art was truly breathtaking and so beautiful. She and I both were impressed by the works of this man. His gift truly was magnificent. The museum also had another exhibit by the French painter James Tissot. Several of his watercolors of the Life of Christ were on display and I was so impressed by the detail and effort he imparted to each picture. Both exhibits are well worth seeing and are free, but you would have to hurry to see the latter one as it will be gone after January 9th and you have to make reservations for the Bloch exhibit. We had a great time going through the museum and then we bought tickets to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owl of Ga'hoole. We got to see it in 3D. I am amazed every time I see a 3D movie. The details are so cool. Each owl was very lifelike and you could almost feel the wind as they were in flight. It was a fun flick. We went window shopping and ate lunch before the movie started, and took photos in a booth at the mall. Of course, I didn't figure out where to look at the camera until it had taken all three picture. DUH! Oh well, they turned out nicely anyway. We did some shopping for the holidays and then headed home.
All told, it was a great day and it was wonderful to spend some time with my daughter and make memories. I realized that I should be doing more of this with the rest of her siblings too.
On Sunday, it was her actual birthday and I had promised her older sister that I would make her a birthday cake and we would celebrate her birthday on Sunday too, so we made two birthday cakes and both girls blew out candles and we gave the youngest the rest of her gifts and took the traditional in front of the door pictures of the birthday person with their parents.
While we didn't get to have cake with our son, I did call him and wished him a "Happy Birthday". He's in the middle of moving from one state to another and will be here soon to visit.
Having children is a blessing and spending time with them is one of the greatest gifts a mom can give. I look forward to doing this again with the rest of my children. I may have just started another tradition.

Milestones

In every life there are milestones. You know the kind; like when you get married, have a baby, the baby takes its first step, etc. Well, in my case, I got married and then had 11 babies and they all took their first step and said their first word and then time flew by. Today is one of those days when I get to reflect on milestones. It happens to also be my son's 16th birthday and therefore it is another one of those huge milestones.
For him it means a driver's license, for me it means getting behind the wheel with a newbie and hoping he knows how to steer, use the gas pedal and the brake pedal and does not have a lead foot. This is the 9th time I've been through this and I still hold my breath and hope for the best when they get behind the wheel.
Thankfully, I only have two more kids to go through this with and then I am home free, except...
Then they graduate from high school, get married and then there are grandkids and somehow, in all of this, mother never stops worrying about them all. Even if there is nothing I can possibly do to help them, I still worry. Not that worrying helps. It never does. I think it is a Mommy thing.
At one point in the last 4 or 5 years I had three of my sons and a step son in the military and three of them were in Iraq and one in the UAE. Now that was a time for intense worry and every report that came over the airwaves made me wonder if my boys were involved. To my great relief they all came home safe and sound. Now two of them are out of the service, one just got back to the states from a second tour and is with his family, and another son will be heading somewhere overseas soon.
So today as we celebrate the birth and life of one of my children, I must say that I am grateful for this time when I can stop and reflect, even if only for a brief moment, on the blessings I have been given. We've had a high school graduation this year and a marriage in our family, the youngest earned his Webelos rank in Cub Scouts, and the list goes on and on. These are all milestones, events in our everyday lives that make us stop and think and once again give thanks that we are here and life is precious.
Now, where is the seat belt and the car keys and the duct tape to put on my mouth, so I don't scream...