Happy Birthday Hunter...

In honour of my daughter Hunter's 14th birthday, I would like to dedicate this post to her and share 14 things about our big "Curly Girl".

1. She has always been our little fashion diva. Even at a very young age, she liked sunglasses as an accessory. Here she is with Mr. Ducky at our backyard pool in 1999.

2. When Hunter was little, she had ringlets literally dripping from her head. She used to get a lot of attention because of her curls. I called her my "Curly Girl".

{With Daddy on the Scotia Prince Ferry from Yarmouth, N.S. to Maine, U.S.A.,1999}

3. Hunter has had the same best friend for 14 years.....Miss Charlotte. Here they are at 1 yr. going out dressed in their Halloween costumes. Charlotte is a flower. Hunter is cute little piglet. {She is still mad about the pig costume. When she was 2, she was a skunk. She would be super mad if I posted that picture.}

{Flower & Piglet, 1997}

{Best Friends at the Childrens' Festival Parade, 1999}

{Hunter & Charlotte, Best Friends, 2010}

4. Our Family & Charlotte's family used to have a Nanny for the girls. They used to get themselves into quite a few messes.

{Best Friends,1998}

5. Hunter has always been a very loving big sister to her brother. She was a little mother hen to him when he was very young. When he was 2, Daddy was away for work and Mommy was in bed very sick with the flu....Hunter gave Tyler supper {toast} and tucked {dropped} him into his crib. Mommy was so thankful to have her help with her little brother!!

6. At 14, Hunter is quite an accomplished 'baker' for her age. Here she is with the birthday cake she made  for herself when she was 12. She saw the 'flip flop' cake idea in a magazine.

{Here she is with a birthday cake that she made with her Grandmother for her 13th birthday.

The recipe came from Martha Stewart's baking book.}

7. Since age 4, Hunter has had a love affair with skating. First singles skating, and now her passion is synchronized skating.Here she is in her very first Can Skate 'Show' in 2001. Her little group was 'Banana's In Pyjamas'. She looks nervous because she did not enjoy performing in public.

{Her first year of synchronized skating. 2006}

{Synchronized Skating. 2009}

Her fear of performing in public is long gone!

8. Hunter loves chocolate....just like her mother.

{Hunter with chocolate cake on her 10th birthday, 2006}

9. Hunter's dream of getting a puppy comes true on September 6, 2009. She names her little girl 'Molly.'

10. Hunter has a total Type 'A' personality. She is a self-motivated individual who likes to complete projects on her own and do the best she can. Here she is painting her bedroom closet on her own. 2010.

11. Hunter is an excellent student. We never have to ask her to do her homework or to study for tests. She has always done this on her own. Here she is with her Grade 7 Honours Medal in 2009. She also received an Special Merit Award for Grade 7 Social Studies.

12. Hunter loves babies & small children. She gets asked to babysit a lot.

{Here she is with Baby Nate. 2006}

{Here she is with Baby Xavian. 2010}

14. When Hunter turned 10, we held her birthday lunch at Amerian Girl Place in Chicago. She has loved those dolls since she was 4 years old.

14. Hunter is thinking about becoming a french immersion teacher for a career. She tutors elementary children in french afterschool...she has been doing this for 3 years.

{Here she is at Madame's desk, correcting Grade 4 French Immersion homework, 2010}

Hunter....Daddy and I are so proud of the way you are growing up!

J'taime beaucoup!! xoxoxo

A Reflection on Birthdays...

I remember when I was a kid and birthdays, for me, were one of the funnest, most-looked-forward-to days of the year. Next to Christmas, it was the one thing that could keep me awake on the eve before, wide-eyed with excited anticipation. Who could forget those birthdays of Holly Hobbie birthday cakes, or 'Little House on the Prairie' books, fresh from the local bookstore....just some of the must-have delights of a child of the 1970's.

Many, many years pass and adulthood takes over. Birthdays become nothing more than a quick flash in the pan....over faster than Molly Ringwald's movie career in the late 80's.

This week, as I contemplated another birthday upon me, I sized up my face in the mirror one too many times. Hmmmm. Where did that  trench line come from? Then I dressed up for a function in high heels. Disaster. I was dressed up for about 2 seconds when my feet began to hurt. There it was.... a case of the over 40-something high-heelitis.

Fine lines and high-heelitis.  That could only mean one thing.

Clearly, I was coming down with a case of the birthday blahs.

The thoughts of my upcoming birthday had left me alone and deserted on Birthday Blahs Boulevard. Where is my map? Which direction should I go? I know only one thing. I cannot return the way I came. I have to choose a new route to leave this place. And none too soon. 

Then it happens Two days before the big day. The doorbell rings. This is what arrived.

A yummy fresh fruit bouquet from a friend who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday.

Awww! How sweet.

And when I check the mail box later, a birthday card from my parents announces itself

 in a pretty purple envelope.

The next day, another friend arrives to take Hunter & I out for lunch to celebrate my birthday.

This is what arrived for me at the table for dessert. It was a delicious reminder of  the value of true friendship.

This morning, on the  morning of my birthday, my husband decides we will hit the fresh seafood market to shop for  some fresh Maritime lobster for dinner. And he insists on stopping at my favourite cupcake store on the way home.We brought home some of these scrumptious cakes. { I didn't want a cake for my birthday.}

It was chocolate bliss!

I had more good feelings as I read the many birthday wishes that awaited me on facebook. I feel so very lucky.

And tonight I find myself miles and miles away from Birthday Blahs Boulevard.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Your Dad and I cannot believe it has been 13 years since we held you in our arms for the first time....our little curly girl has grown into a lovely young lady. Hunter we are so proud of the young person you have become....your amazing grades in school, your passion for your skating, your dedication to the little children you tutor in french reading, your love of literature and your yummy cookies from the kitchen. I cherish the goodnight kiss you give me at bedtime.

Kisses to our big girl.

birthday boy at home....

birthday boy at the bowling alley...

getting treat bags ready for the Ty's birthday..

after the cake..

the candy bouquet was opened and promptly poured into bowls for snacking in the tent... which the group wasted no time in getting to.I set up a cooler with drinks for them, and I gave out lots of extra comforters, sweaters and socks so they would be wonderfully warm. They had a blast as they watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I popped popcorn and delivered it to the tent. Then they decided to watch High School Musical. The most amazing part of all was that they were all asleep by midnight and I didn't heard a sound until morning. (One girl announced when she arrived for Hunter's party that at the last birthday sleepover she attended that she had stayed up all night, as Ron & I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.) It was a great little party!

the candy bouquet...

the first stop for getting ready for the party involved a stop at the local candy store to order this special candy bouquet. The kids have been salivating over these bouquets forever, we just needed an excuse to buy one. The bouquet included 8 kinds of candy that Hunter picked out herself, and it was to be the candy treat for the movie night.

Of course, we added our own gum stash on the plate below.

hunter's b-day....

Our sweet babycakes recently turned 11. With each passing birthday, we rack our brains with how we can celebrate in a way that is unusual & different from the year before. This year we celebrated with an Ice Cream Dream Party & Sleepover at our house. We convinced Daddy to set up the tent in the backyard with our small tv and dvd player inside so that Hunter and her friends could have their own little drive-in style movie night. After consulting the forecast for a few days, we chose a day that looked like the weather involved no rain and delivered invitations to 4 of her friends. My next challenge was to seek out & find movies that these girls have not seen, which is not an easy task with the techo-savvy kids of today. I decided on Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Mrs. Doubtfire, with Season 1 of Gilmore Girls as backup.

The biggest change that I have noticed with Hunter since her last birthday is that the barbies, polly pockets and the bratz hardly came out of the closet. . Same for the dress-up clothes....sigh...I knew this day would come.

Friday, July 27....

Today was an interesting day... we had breakfast at Uncle K & Aunt Z's, lunch with Grammie P. at her apartment at Tideways and then supper at the R's house. L's was so sweet-she planned this little surprise birthday party for Hunter with a gift and cake and balloons for Hunter. She even gave Tyler a little gift as well. So lucky to have this wonderful family in our lives.

not mentioning any names but....

somebody had a birthday this week. a big birthday.
the one that comes after 39.
we had to call him and sing happy birthday on the phone.
he got a boat for his birthday. and a trolling motor.
for fishing excursions with the family.
we might let him go alone once in awhile.

birthday party planning...

I cannot believe that January is almost finished. I am glad because I have grown quite tired of winter. I have been busy the last few weeks finishing up my duties with the fundraising job with Hunter's skating club. Every couple of years, I see to take on a volunteer job that just totally burns me out and this JOB did it. Managing 10 campaigns for over 100 skaters was a lot of work, but it was the total bitchiness of some of the parents that just blew me away. No thanks. No appreciation. I don't think I will be taking on a volunteer job in the skating world for a long time. I don't have the thick skin required to deal with some of those people.
Mr. Tyler's birthday is approaching and we have booked a party for him at Chuck E. Cheese, which is essentially a very cheesy casino for kids. Each child gets a cup of tokens and then gets to visit the various games and machines for entertainment. Tyler was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's almost a year ago, and he's been talking about it ever since. I am happy about this party because 10 little boys will be happy and occupied until it's time for cake. Hunter's little friends were always content to make a craft as a party activity, but that doesn't quite cut it for Tyler. Plus, girls will spent hours on a craft, but boys are done in 5 minutes, at least my boy is anyway. I actually think Ron is just as excited about this party as Tyler. I wish I would have remembered to take Grampie to Chuck E. Cheese's when he was here. Right up his ally for a little mind candy.