Happy Birthday Izzy!!!

I call my Isabelle many things...Bella-Button, Peanut, Turkey, Stinkerbelle, Princess...but today I just call her baby. My baby is 3 and I get choked up just thinking about how fast she is growing up. This is the age Alex was when she came into our lives, and he seemed so big back then. My baby, my last baby, is growing up into a little girl. Gosh, who knew I was this sentimental?!

So, to my dearest one, who makes me laugh, cry and pull my hair out (sometimes all at the same time) I must say that I am so grateful for all of your hugs, kisses, giggles and silly faces. It is my honour to be your mommy and watch you grow into this wonderful little person. I am happy to celebrate this milestone with you and eagerly anticipate all the other ones to come. How lucky we are to have you!

What a beautiful day for a birthday, too. Sunny and 20 degrees meant an early afternoon jaunt to the zoo. While we missed the hippos that she desperately wanted to see - they weren't feeling social - the orangutans put on an entertaining floor show, so we sat and watched them for half an hour. Tonight we'll just celebrate quietly with Rob and Alex. The cupcakes are made and her requested meal will take little effort - nachos and chicken nuggets. Later, after everyone is tucked into bed, Rob and I will likely snuggle and reminisce about all these big moments with the kids. By then I won't be the only one with watery eyes.

I'm fretting...

Izzy's birthday party is in a week and while I have a theme, sort of, I still haven't come up with a real plan for the cake. I know it will be 3 tiers because I bought 3 round cake pans from Michael's. I know that there will be Sesame Street characters in it, with Abby Cadabby (the new Fairy Princess in training) featured prominently. I think. Ughhh.

These were the cakes I did last year for the kids:



The Princess cake was for Izzy's second birthday. I did a butterfly for her first. The pirate ship was for Alex's 5th and I did a transformers fight scene for my nephew, also 5. I have a lot of fun making them, though you wouldn't guess that during the whole process, lol. Good memories too. Like not being happy with the shape of the already iced pirate ship and hacking away at it with a chisel. Izzy sitting next to me reaping the rewards of discarded chocolate cake - begging for more. By now I usually have an idea in my head, some rough sketches of what I want but not this time. Completely blank.

In the grand scheme of things I know birthday cakes aren't that big of a deal. Still, as a non-crafty person who will likely never make a Halloween costume or knit them anything that remotely resembles clothing, it feels good to give them this. A special, one-of-a-kind cake made just because I love them. I think I'll be wandering through the cake decorating aisles and party stores (LCBO perhaps?) tonight for some inspiration.

Thankfully tomorrow, Izzy's actual birthday, we are just having some cupcakes with some sugary Elmo faces on it. I know she'll be happy with whatever I come up with. As usual, the hardest person to please is always myself.

Writing Woes

We had a good weekend. We decided to stay in, for the most part, and relax. We are really getting into the Harry Potter book. Alex read me half of the book, My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, and we did a lot more math. His reading astounds me. Not only is he able to figure out most words on sight, his style is quite good. He has a really good grasp of punctuation and tone. It comes across as being quite effortless.

Of course, not everything can be perfect. He hates writing. He still prefers to use all capital letters. He has never wanted help in this area. In fact, he is self-taught, as far as writing is concerned. We didn't sit down and practice letters. I tried but it was not a pleasant ordeal. He doesn't always write the letters the way everyone else does but they are pretty good. I don't really push him but I will create situations which require him to put in some effort. Like right now we are participating in a postcard exchange with other home school children.

I think there are a few reasons Alex doesn't like to write. He finds it a very slow process. As does his dad. I am trying to think of all the times I've seen Rob write anything down. Aside from the very rare grocery list or some scratch paper for work, he is a keyboard guy all the way. Alex has never really been fond of putting anything to paper. He never coloured. He rarely doodles. He is a big fan of short cuts. Instead of having to write out the word love he will use a heart as the symbol. Instead of writing Izzy not allowed, he will draw a picture of his sister and put it in the middle of a circle with a line drawn through it.

I will keep moving, in little baby steps, towards being at least moderately proficient at writing.