Another Year

David asked for a very low key birthday this year.  His birthday is at a terrible time of year for him since he is an accountant.  He doesn't do taxes, but even with his auditing, it seems he will still be in busy season mode for his birthday each year.   And even in college, finals week was always during his birthday, poor guy!  He chose the wrong career if he ever wanted to celebrate his birthday :)

David has a wish list that he updates here and there which is handy for gift ideas for him.  When I went to see what he had added recently to get him something for his birthday, I noticed he added a lot of educational stuff for Katelyn.  He really wanted me to get these learning videos and I just couldn't do it.  I thought his birthday was supposed to be about fun things for him!  And I have teased him a bit lately about it because some of the books and videos he has on his wish list are geometry, calculus, biology, grammar, astronomy, and a few others that are WAY down the road in Katelyn's education.  They weren't on the urgent list, but I still had to tease him about those. 

Here's what he got...wrapped with Katelyn's help.  She is quite the artist lately and helped me color the wrapping paper...she is also getting fluent coloring on walls and in her favorite books :( which makes me sad, but we are trying to emphasize that only paper from mom and dad are okay to write on.  She enjoys helping to clean it off too much so we aren't sure how to get the point across other than just keeping the crayons and markers out of reach unless we are around to supervise. 

 David really wanted an upgrade on our simple iron and loves it.  He must be an old guy now if he is thrilled with a new iron for his birthday.

He was a little bummed about the book I got him.  I took a motivational management class in college that spent the whole semester going over various methods to discipline and motivate children in the classroom and also at home.  Of all the styles we brushed over that semester, the one that really stood out to me was the Love and Logic philosophy by Jim Fay and Foster Cline.  I had mentioned bits and pieces here and there to David and he read up on the basics of it and then added the book to his amazon wishlist thinking that I would like it.  I saw it on there and of course I liked it, but I thought that was his wishlist so I grabbed a copy of it thinking we both wanted it!  He teased me back since I made such a big deal about not getting him things for Katelyn for his birthday, but instead I got something for myself for his birthday...I promise it wasn't on purpose...whoops!

 He requested an all chocolate cake and to no surprise, cookies 'n cream ice cream.  Katelyn and I decorated with Easter candies...sixlets and Hershey kisses.  The candle came from our emergency kit because I usually save candles from birthday to birthday, but must have tossed them from the last one or in the move so that was all we had.  Katelyn had a bit of practice blowing out David's candle.

I know David completely cheated, but Katelyn is getting there!

She absolutely loves 'cha-ca' and we have to hide it all away when we want her to eat real food.  Ice cream and other sweets are okay, but chocolate wins her over instantly every time.  I sometimes stash some away in a secret pocket in my purse for "emergencies" and it has never failed!

Katelyn liked the cupcake but couldn't keep her hands clean enough while she ate.  She can't stand her hands getting dirty and if we don't have a napkin or rag nearby while she eats then she will shake her hands furiously until she flings it off.  Her face is fine as long as there isn't anything huge hanging off.  She cleans off her lips with her teeth after every bite though.  She hasn't figured out the power of her tounge yet :)

We played some card games that night and David got a free sandwich from Firehouse Subs for his birthday dinner and he was a happy camper!  We had a fun date that weekend with a group of friends doing the Amazing Race.  We were hoping for some birthday luck, but we came in tied for last.  We had fun and still loved each other by the end of it so David was happy.