Celebration

This is the week that I celebrate the births and lives of three very important people in my life. From three different generations. My Dad's birthday was yesterday (sadly, he's no longer here to celebrate with us, but we remembered him none-the-less). Today is Marcel's birthday. On Tuesday, it will be Nikki's birthday.

So it was a busy weekend. It started with a pool party on Friday night with Nikki's friends. She's got great taste - I like all of her friends.
After the pool party, the girls came over for pizza, cake, and a sleepover. Since I have a bit of an aversion to goodie bags filled with plastic trinkets that will end up in landfill sites, BUT I still find myself giving in to the pressure to send the kids home with SOMETHING, I try to find something a little more creative and less disposable. Well, as I've confessed, before, I'm one part creative and three parts crazy - I always end up with these grand ideas that develop lives of their own and result in me losing at least a little sleep the night before. This time it was cushion covers I sewed Thursday night, and then on Friday, while the girls partied, I printed pictures of them (taken earlier at the pool) on iron-on transfer paper and ironed them onto the cushion covers. It was a hit with the girls. My only concern after I pulled it off was that I hope I haven't now set a new standard in "goodie-bag alternatives" and created undue pressure on the other parents to come up with something comparable. That wasn't my plan AT ALL.
Then on Saturday night, we held a family celebration for Nikki, Marcel, and one of our brothers-in-law whose birthday is also this weekend. Marcel's whole family and about half of mine were here (except for the Alberta portion - we missed you!)

We had extra transfer paper, so the girls decided to put their picture on a t-shirt for their Daddy for his birthday. He's wearing it right now. I didn't take a picture of it, but here's the picture that we put on it. Aren't Daddy's girls beautiful?

I gave Marcel a fondue set for his birthday, so tonight, we had a more intimate (immediate family only) celebration and tried out the fondue pot with a cheese fondue. It's kinda fun being at a stage where all three girls can be trusted with sharp objects and fondue parties are fun and relaxing rather than challenging and dangerous :-)
And now the weekend's over, the celebrations have ended, the girls are in bed, and I'm ready to call it a night too. It's been fun. I'm a lucky, lucky girl with a family like this. My life is blessed by so many people, but this week I'm especially grateful for my Dad, my Husband, and my Daughter. Happy birthday to them.

Oh, and I also have a great friend whose birthday was this week too - Happy Birthday Michele! I'm blessed by her too.