Happy Birthday, baby girl!

 

Who would not enjoy a week of birthday celebrations? As our family embarked on Riley’s birthday week, I realize celebrating for week might be the best way to go. First, we hosted Riley’s birthday party on Easter Sunday, since the entire family would be together.  The food, which Dean and I worked very hard to prepare, was appreciated by Riley; however, she had more important things on her mind. The purple princess cake was a priority. It was fancy enough for our little princess, as well as very tasty. Of course, in Riley fashion, she ate the frosting and left the cake on her plate. Who doesn’t love a little birthday frosting?

Finally, the presents… She was so excited for the presents. How do you teach a five year old to realize that birthday celebrations don’t always have to involve presents? Whenever someone spoke of her birthday, she rattled on about her birthday present list.

“I have a birthday list. Do you want to see it?” Riley would inquire, in a very matter-of-fact voice.

Of course, Dean and I would follow up Riley’s inquiry with, “Just because it is your birthday, does not require people give you a present.”

“I know, but I do have a birthday list.” Riley would innocently respond.

Yes, Riley’s logic is sound, but our original statement remains true. Just because it is your birthday, does not mean people are required to give you a present. Could you imagine Dean and I, as adults, sharing our personal birthday lists with friends and family? The unsolicited presentation of a birthday list would be weird, as well rude. Back to the original question, how do you teach a five year old to realize that birthday celebrations don’t always have to involve presents? Well, at five years old, her behavior comes across as very cute to everyone, so we have time to work on helping Riley understand the concept that birthdays don’t always require presents. Now, if she is 30 years old and presenting her birthday list to friends and family, I will be a bit concerned. Riley did appreciate the presents she received from friends and family, and has been playing with the toys all week, as well as dressing up in all her new clothes.

Of course, a birthday would not be complete without an opportunity to share treats at school. Riley helped bake birthday cupcakes for her classmates in 4K. In actuality, she dumped the ingredients into the mixer and moved the mixer knob; mixing all the ingredients together. I took on the responsibility of filling the cupcake pan with batter, as well as frosting all the cupcakes. The best part was presenting her classmates with the cupcakes and wearing a birthday crown at school.

The birthday week continued with a trip to Build-a-Bear with Riley’s Godmother, Emily. Riley returned home with a bunny, dressed in fancy girl clothes. Furthermore, she named her bunny, Frosting in Spring. Not Frosting, not Frosting Leisgang, but Frosting in Spring. Go figure, Riley has a mind of her own. She has spent the days following the Build-a-Bear experience dressing and re-dressing her bunny.

Finally, April 5^th, her actual birthday was very quiet. Everyone spent the evening at home. Noah was sleeping on the couch, trying to sleep away an unexpected illness. Riley continued to dress and re-dress her build-a-bunny. Finally, Dean and Riley wrapped up the evening to visit Riley’s birthday twin, Aunt Eileen.

Celebrate your birthday for a day or week, which is better? I am not sure. However, if you ask Riley, she would respond that her birthday week was extremely special.

 

 

Egg-stravaganza

 

While Riley’s hands steadily turn her egg into a piece of art, Noah runs off and states, “I’m done.”

Noah and Riley have such opposite personalities. Noah is competitive. For instance, he had his hands on the hard boiled eggs before I had the colored dye ready. Then, he plopped one into the Easter egg dye before I even knew what was happening. Riley sensed my frustration because I couldn’t move as fast as Noah, and waited patiently for me to give her the go ahead.

Geez, I sound like my mother. I remember my mother, in her later years, commented on how I could zoom around the kitchen and prepare food so quickly. Typically, she made the choice to stay out of my way. Am I my mother, commenting on how quickly my children, namely Noah, move through activities?      

If I am like my mother, that is perfectly fine with me. She was the kindest, most compassionate individual. I digress…

Back to eggs, green finger tips and a tradition we have been sharing with Cousin Emily for seven years. The first time we gathered to color eggs was when Noah was ten months old. He sat on the table, in a onesie. Emily, Uncle Ray and I did most of the work, while Aunt Bonnie took pictures. Our little group evolved over the years and Riley joined the elite egg group. We went from using small paint brushes to color eggs, to independently plopping the eggs into the dye. Today, we had a chance to celebrate our last hurrah as elite eggers. Emily is off to college in the fall. Domi, an exchange student from Italy, colored eggs for the first time. We will continue our egg coloring tradition; however, it will look different next year. In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

This one time, on the train ...

“The sun never sets here. I can’t sleep.”

“It is too hot here. Do you have air conditioning?”

In the middle of nowhere, “Why won’t my cell phone work?”

“Where is Mt. McKinley? Where are the animals?”

So many life lessons, I learned while working on the train. Well, not really, but I did work hard and learn a lot. I learned if people are grumps in their daily life, they are going to be grumpy on vacation. There were many times I walked up to chat with passengers on the train, only to walk away with an earful of complaints.

"My tour guide told me I would see a lot of animals. Where are the animals?" a passenger inquired.

"Keep looking out the window. They are out there. Unfortunately, a massive train doesn't sneak up on animals very easily. If you see something, let me know." I responded, while slowly making my way towards a more jovial passenger.

I learned to be polite and respectful, while reminding myself not to take their grumpiness personally. I can't change their outlook on life. It took awhile to figure out the nature of people. What I learned during the summer of 1998 and 1999, still applies today.

“Some people are like thorns. But you have to let them be thorns, because thorns can't turn into petals. The trick is not letting them prick you; never let a thorn prick you!”  -C. JoyBell C.

Life requires good navigational skills. Stay away from the thorns and seek out the beauty of the petals.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” - Socrates

The Birds & The Bees

“Molly is having a baby?” Questioned Noah.

“Yep!” I responded.

“How did the baby get inside Molly’s belly? “ Noah innocently inquired.

Oh boy…second grade and I am about to begin tackling the birds and bees conversation. How much do I share? How much do I hold back? Why now? It is eight-o-clock and time for bed. Can’t we read some stories and call it a day?

“Well, how babies get inside a mommy’s belly is complicated.” So far, so good…this conversation won’t be as difficult as I thought.

“I mean, does Molly just say she wants a baby in her belly and suddenly she has a baby in her belly?”

“Ummm, no.” Think, think, think. How am I going to explain this? When do they teach growth and development in school? Fifth grade? Fourth grade? Oh my, they teach growth and development in fourth grade. Noah is in second grade. How much do I tell him?

Gathering my scattered thoughts quickly, I respond with what I hope and pray is an appropriate response to Noah’s inquiry. “When a mommy and daddy are married and love each other, they talk about having a family. When they are ready to have a family, they say a prayer to God asking for help to have a baby. If they are healthy and lucky, they will be blessed with a baby.”

Fingers crossed, toes crossed, that my explanation is sufficient.

“Oh…. Is Molly going to have a boy or girl? What is she going to name her baby? Maybe she can name the baby Lucas or Jayson, if it is a boy?”

Like the snap of a finger, Noah moved on to the next question. Life as a seven year old is so sweet, so easy and so innocent. 

In an attempt to put a stop to Noah and Riley arguing, I invited them to help me make sugar cookies. Success! They stopped arguing over trivial things and were completely, 100% engaged in the cookie making process. Fortunately, they did not want the same cookie cutter, because that would have been problematic. Noah was the gingerbread cut-out and Riley was the star.

“Mommy’s job is to flatten the dough. Once I flatten the dough, you can cut your cookie with the cookie cutter.”  I only wish I didn’t have to flatten the dough with the palm of my hand and a glass cup. My mother probably has three rolling pins, and I have zilch when it comes to rolling pins. Oh well, nobody here seems to care that the cookie making process is more laborious than it needs to be.

“Now, Mom?” questioned Riley.

“Not yet,” I respond.

“Now?”

“Go for it, the dough is ready.”

Clean little hands went to work cutting cookies in the shape of stars and gingerbread. The assembly-line process worked pretty well. They cut the cookies and I was in charge of placing each cut-out on the cookie tray.

“Oh man, my gingerbread doesn't have an arm.” Commented Noah. When the cookies started to lose limbs, it was my turn to flatten more dough.

“That’s it. Now it is my turn to deal with the dough again.” I began the laborious dough flattening process all over again and the kids hovered. They were watching and waiting for the moment they could use their cookie cutters again.

“Now, Mom?” they both asked.

“Go for it. Now it is your turn.” I said. The cookie cutting process went on like this all night. We made a mess in the kitchen. The kids laughed and giggled with each other. Dean was mesmerized by the kids and how good they were at making cut-out cookies. The only thing I would change is to use a rolling pin next time to flatten the dough. Maybe I can sneak one of my mom’s rolling pins in my suitcase next time I visit.

Decorating the tree is a family tradition. Without the effort of our Leisgang team, the tree decorating would be a disaster.

Dean hauls the plastic tubs of Christmas decorations upstairs, from the depths of the basement. He also drags the “fake” Christmas trees upstairs; however it is my job to put them together. Our pre-lit tree is a puzzle because the strands of lights on the tree have to be plugged together, properly; allowing the tree to light up. The puzzle is the connection of the plugs. The company that made the tree labeled the plugs A, B and C. So, one would think A plugs into A, B plugs into B, and C plugs into C. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I thought I was smart a few years back and labeled the plugs, with silver Sharpie ink. In my perfect world, the silver Sharpie plug number 1 connects with the other number 1 plug. Then, plug 2 connects with plug 2, and so on. Sadly, my world is not perfect. This year I could not figure out how to make the tree light up, period. Alas, I broke down and weaved a green extension cord up the trunk of the tree. All the A’s, B’s, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s are plugged into the green extension cord. Magically, the tree lit up.

Moving on to the decorating portion of our family tradition involves tons of help from Noah and Riley. Noah and Riley are in charge of decorating the tree. They even had stools placed in front of the tree this year so that could place ornaments closer to the top of the tree. Noah had a plan to place all the theme ornaments near each other. So, if you wander over to our house and notice all the jingle bell ornaments clumped together, you will know why. Riley worked hard to fill in the empty spaces on the Christmas tree. My job is to un-clump the ornaments, so they are spread throughout the entire tree. But, I must be very sneaky when relocating ornaments, otherwise the kids will get upset with me for moving their carefully  placed ornament. Dean is in charge of unpacking ornaments from boxes, placing hooks on them for hanging and reminiscing about the history of each ornament. He has a great memory for who we received ornaments from, why we received them and the sentimental value attached to each ornament.

Last but not least, Dean, Noah and Riley place the singing stuffed animals on the fireplace each year. Many years ago I declared a holiday theme of snowman, so we have singing snowman coming out our ears. The kids like to place them on the fireplace and make the snowman sing, AT THE SAME TIME. It is hilarious the first time this happens. It is funny the second this happens. It is even funny the third time this happens. However, singing snowman, singing different songs, all at the same time does get tiresome.  But, I wouldn’t change any of these moments. I look forward to our decorating tradition, and so do Dean and the kids.