Missing Cake

Seb's birthday turned out good.

Looking back on my blog all the recent posts have been about birthdays.  From July to October we have a birthday every three weeks, its a very busy time of year for us.  Other half kicks it off on the 19th July then there is no rest till all six of us have celebrated our special days (or not as in my case).

I was cruel to Seb.  I didn't bake him a cake or cupcakes, I bought a cake instead but refrained from letting him know.

I waited until the Friday night and I told him that I was so sorry that I didn't have time to bake. He said that was okay and not to worry about it and that he would be just fine.  All day Saturday, which was his actual birthday I dropped in now and again that we didn't have his cake or cupcakes done. Each time Seb was really grown up and gracious about it.   He was given some chocolate from a friend so he even agreed that I would use the chocolate bar and put a candle in it to sing Happy Birthday to him.   We had a nice meal and afterwards I disappeared off to 'prepare the chocolate'.   Everyone was in on the secret.
When I walked back into the room with his cake this is what his face was like ...

You could not have faked that look for a million pounds.  He was thrilled with his cake and not one bit cross that I had tricked him.

We got him a kindle as his main gift, which he was delighted with.  He also got plenty of books, chocolate and a few other bits.

This year we didn't really plan any birthday parties.  Money was a bit tight for a while and to be fair I thought the children could have a choice of what to do now they are getting older.  Each child opted for a day out or a shopping trip.  Seb chose to go to the transport museum, despite visiting the museum on a previous birthday he still loved it.  

Another Birthday and A Sticky Patch

Here we are two days past Toni's birthday, she is now ten years old.  True to form the birthdays in our family always have a little run of bad luck.  Toni shares her birthday with the anniversary of the death of my mother. It is sometimes hard to not forget about how my mum died on my daughters 5th birthday, I try my best to put it aside for Toni's sake.

The day was boringly uneventful.  Other half had an idea inspired by the latest series of The Apprentice, so in a bid to get some inspiration we visited a neighbouring town and its market.  In the years gone by my memories of the market are a buzzing lively event, but sadly on Saturday it was dull, small and lacking in pizazz.  Anyway we had a good morning looking around, Mag bought himself a winter hoody and the kids were more than happy looking at the toys on offer.

Toni had raised the point that she didn't like the icing on shop bought birthday cakes and requested that I would make her cake for her.  Better still she later asked for big swirly cupcakes which to me are easier to make than baking and icing a birthday cake.  I have done the kids cakes before but they are usually a two day event and I am never 100% happy with their outcome.

Earlier in the week I had taken the girls shopping to Belfast and got all of the kids pretty much kitted out for the winter.  We had a great day and are planning another trip later on this week to get some shoes for the boys as that was about the only thing I couldn't get.

The girls enjoying their shopping spree.

Oh, and something funny to add.   Sol has a huge sense of humour, she just makes everyone smile everywhere she goes.  As you will know from the blog posts I write she has to wear a patch on her eye for a number of hours every day.  These patches are sticky and pretty, Sol likes to stick them in memorable places as she hates to throw them away.  It is now a standing joke that everywhere we go she leaves a patch behind on a pillar or a fence.  At the shopping precinct in a nearby town she has a few patches dotted around.  She sticks them on the rear sides of the parking pillars usually and checks them each time we visit.  One particular patch was stuck on the pillar near a bank, it was stuck there for a couple of weeks and it looks as though someone found it. It was unpeeled and stuck onto the window of the bank much to our amusement.  Three weeks later the patch was still stuck onto the bank window!  This shows that the bank people do not clean their windows.  You can just about see in the photo, it is worn but still there. 

What Is It About Birthdays?

What is it about birthdays lately? We don't seem to have the luck that we need to have a complete birthday without some sort of incident. Last night other half was taking Mag to his club and the car went 'pop'.  Out of the exhaust billowed thick black smoke and after a few minutes it settled down.  This morning was a different matter, other half left early to go to his secret handshake meeting and I could hear him kangaroo jumping the car down the road.  After a few minutes the car was fine, or so it seemed.  I  had planned on taking the children out for the day, after all it was Mag's birthday and I at least wanted to do something a little different for him.  However, I waited for the call from other half ... it never came.  I had a feeling there was something wrong with the turbo on the car so I eventually tracked him down to explain.  He said that the car was fine, but unconvinced I held on at home for him.  Next thing I knew I got a call explaining he was kangaroo jumping down the road again with black smoke pouring out the back.

Fast forward a couple of hours and the car was at the garage up on the ramp getting checked out. I met other at the repair shop there so he could get home if the car had to stay.  Just as I suspected it was to do with the turbo, lucky for us the pipe had just popped off and was easy enough to fix.  The guy didn't even charge us which was a huge relief as we just didn't have spare cash for an unexpected car bill.

We didn't get our day out to the city in the end but we did go to a local shopping area to do some birthday shopping.  Mag, birthday boy, got a tee shirt, some game cards, a book, and he ordered a pair of boots which should be in his possession on Monday.  He is very happy as he also received a gaming wheel and a stand for his favoured game Gran Turismo.  He is as happy as a pig in muck today.

Caramel Cupcakes

I made 36 caramel cupcakes today.  Each caramel cupcake has caramel frosting with caramel sauce drizzled on the top.  I finished the cupcakes off with a Rolo for decoration.  I can't wait to try them.    

Simon Or Is It Simone?

Today was pretty much run of the mill stuff. We got all the lesson materials laid out for the three little ones so when we returned from our errands we could get stuck in.

We had to run to the pet shop first to get new water bottles for the bunnies. The rabbits have chewed the nozzle on one of the bottles and another one I ruined by washing it in boiling water. In the pet store we had a look at the adoption centre, not the animals for sale but those that are donated for homing for whatever reason. The kids fell in love with a pale brown lop rabbit called Simon. While we were waiting I asked the assistant about Simon and if he were neutered. She said "Oh, sometimes you can tell", so off we went to look at the poor rabbit's private parts. It was funny as the assistant jumped up suddenly in a panic, that rabbit is NOT a boy! That was me, I laughed at the pet store, and they got it wrong.  It's only funny because we made that mistake ourselves a few years ago.  I asked to have a look and sure enough Simon is Simone. So the lop is still in the store but I have a funny feeling we will end up going back for her, she's cute.

Mag stayed home while we went out for errands, just as well really as I needed to get him birthday cards and a few bits for his 16th this week. 16, did I say 16? There's no way Mag is 16. I can hardly believe that 16 years ago I was all excited and nervous about the prospect of giving birth to my first child. I was told the placenta wasn't working so well but he would be just fine if I was induced that week and that they'd keep him in my tummy as long as they could. I had been in hospital for several days and turned out I didn't actually need my labour induced, Mag decided to make an appearance very early one morning himself taking a few staff by surprise.

I am planning on baking big caramel cup cakes tomorrow for the big day on Thursday. Mag expressed he was a bit grown up for a cake, he wanted something more sophisticated than a fun cake yet he felt the cakes he had seen were a little too 'old' for him. He loves my big swirly cup cakes so that's what he's getting, hopefully 16 of them each with a candle. I hope they turn out okay and he's not disappointed. We are planning on going into Belfast for the day to do some birthday shopping and have a little light lunch. I also have a surprise lined up for him, I usually work at nights but I was able to swap my shifts around this week and take the evening off from work. We are going to get Chinese, he loves Chinese food ... Ssshhhhhhh don't tell him if you see him about.

Sent from my iPad

Anything, But Not Nothing

The round up of a week of weird happenings.  I guess it wasn't exactly a week that was exciting or even worthy of a blog post, but here goes.

I ended up at the dentist another two times with my bridge.  It came out, then it came out again 12 hours after it was fitted.  Then, another attempt at having it put back in which lasted a few days instead of a few hours my dentist decided that my bridge was distorted or my teeth have moved.  So I get the absolute pleasure of being numbed up this Wednesday for an hour to have new bridge preparation work done.  My previous bridge was a maryland bridge which involved very little prep work, but this time I wont be so lucky and will have to have the neighbouring teeth crowned.

My birthday was a non event. I don't want to moan about a whole lot, but it was a 'nothing' day.  There were no gifts, or cake from my other half. I was so annoyed by it all I didn't even out my cards up, its as if my birthday didn't happen. I wasn't asking for extravagant gifts, just a little token and a cheeky little note would have done.  A cupcake with a candle on it, perhaps, anything but not nothing.

I did treat myself to getting my nails done with a little bit of nail art on my two ring fingers.

Kearney Village & St Cooey's Temple

Well, we had planned on going out for the day to escape the triathlon crowds in the village.  It was also to be a little birthday picnic lunch for me, you know two birds killed with one stone.  The weather yesterday was glorious, the news reported that it was the warmest day this year.  Thinking today would be the same, and there was a distinct blue colour to the sky early this morning we loaded the car to set off.

About half way down to Kearney village a chilly mist drew across the water and by the time we got there the children were shivering.  We were well equipped for paddling in the sea and sitting on the grass eating lunch.  The swim wear and rugs stayed in the car.  We did mange a quick look around despite the cold feel to the air.

Plans of paddling abandoned, we headed on our way down the coast.  We came across a little temple with some holy springs St Cooey's Wells.   The temple was fascinating to walk around, there must have been many people who have visited over the years either out of curiosity or for spiritual reasons. There were coins pressed into the bark of the trees and ribbons tied to the branches around the holy wells.The children decided to try out the holy water for themselves.

Hoping For Good Weather

This week is my birthday.  There have been a number of discussions about my birthday supposedly without my knowledge. A well meaning friend wants to plan a surprise party for me and to be frank I could do without it.  I don't want a party, I'm not up for it, I'm just doing my own thing on the day. I've been troubled with depression the last few months I just don't want a party.  I'm struggling on a day to day basis already and this is causing me a certain amount of anxiety.

Anyway tomorrow our village will be closed off due to the Triathlon so We have decided (if the weather holds) that we are going to go out, away from the crowds, for the day to 'celebrate' my birthday.    I'm hoping we can go to Kearney Village, it's beautiful yet there's nothing there.  Peaceful, pretty, and perfect for a picnic.  There's traditional looking cottages, fields and a lovely beach.  So in the morning we will pack the car up with a picnic, the kites, footballs, the kids, whatever else we can think of and heading off to have some fun.

Birthday Blues

It was Sol's birthday, she is seven now. Sol has been looking forward to this day for such a long time and counted down every morning when she opened her eyes.

To be truthful the day could have been better organised. We decided not to have a party, instead Sol expressed excitement about going to a local beauty spot and flying her kite.  All week we watched the weather and prayed that it would be kind to us.  On the day we were woken at 7am with a very excited Sol and her siblings.  A few yawns and groans later we were ready to do the gifts. Sol was very pleased as she received a pink LED TV with a DVD player in the side, she wasn't expecting it which made for an entertaining display of arm movements.

The trip for kite flying failed the moment that the other half switched the 2012 Olympics on the TV. He sat there glued, explaining to me that there were only so many kilometres left on a certain race and how the participant's were so dedicated.  Three hours passed and I resigned myself to the fact we weren't going out to fly the kites after all, I was disappointed to say the least. If I had I known I would have organised a party after all, at least I would have felt like we had made an effort. Sol was still happy prancing about but still I felt the day slipping away with barely a moment that we could call memory making.

In the end I got cross and insisted that we all went to a near by walled garden to at least take some photos so I could have a birthday memory of my daughter. The photos turned out good and the whole family raved about how beautiful the Walled Garden was and how they were sorry thay had never made the effort to go there before.