Two special girls and their birthdays

I think I might say this every year but I love starting our Christmas season out by celebrating these two girls.  Having two birthdays to add into all the Christmas festivities isn't always easy.  It does add a little bit more stress but it feels special to me.  They are both rainbow babies and came after heartbreak and loss and they are such treasures to me and I like being able to remember the gifts that God gives us, before, during, and after heartbreak.  For me, celebrating them just kind of kick starts the season of thinking of God's love for us.  

Piper had a long day at school but I think she still had a great day.  I made sure Mike picked up some cookies at the commissary that she could share with her class and her birthday also landed on the day that anyone in her class that finished a reading challenge got to have a pizza party.  She finished the challenge, which was a huge stress but also big accomplishment for her, and she got to join in on the pizza party.  She requested an ice cream cake.  The story with the ice cream cake was silly.  I asked Mike to pick up some ice cream sandwiches and some coolwhip to make the ice cream cake.  I didn't check the package of ice cream sandwiches and didn't think to tell him how many to buy--a normal sized package should have been fine.  On her birthday, I got a late start to making her cake and went to get the ice cream sandwiches to discover six miniature ice cream sandwiches.  I had a brief moment of panic when Mike suggested I go buy these ice cream sandwiches that they sell in Japan.  They aren't like American ones with ice cream surrounded by chocolate cookies.  In Japan they sell waffle cone filled with ice cream. So, think of an ice cream cone but but in a sandwich form.  I ended up having to walk to three different grocery stores to find enough of these ice cream sandwiches and then had to quickly throw the "cake" together so it would freeze in time for her birthday celebration.  There was some grumbling involved, I'm not gonna lie.  It wasn't as easy to eat as a normal ice cream cake but everyone still thought it was delicious and it all worked out.  

Felicity's birthday was on a cold and rainy day.  We walked to school and her class made her feel special, making a giant card for her.  I didn't have to worry about treats for her class because they banned birthday treats after parents started one-upping each other by their birthday treat offerings.  I couldn't help but laugh when I found that out.  It's probably not the kind of problem you'd have in a normal school where people make a normal amount of money and live a normal lifestyle.  By the way, I've really come to love and appreciate the parents at Felicity's school so while I'm poking fun, they are wonderful people--they just lead a different lifestyle.

Anyway, her cake requests have stayed the same over the last three years for the most part--strawberry.  This year she threw in a rainbow.  I didn't bring any cake pans so it's a bit tricky to make a cake in glass pie pans but it works.  Last year I spent over twenty dollars on the ingredients to make homemade frosting because the butter and sugar are so dang expensive.  This year, I just made Mike pick up some canned frosting.  He has a bunch left over from a YM's activity so I just added food coloring and frosted it as a rainbow.  She was delighted.  It is a little weird to think that I used to spend so many hours making cakes for the boys when they are little.  I've given that up except for Felicity, who is the only one who wants actual cake anymore and her cakes are usually just simple creations.  

One more thing to note, something that no one but me will actually care about, is that for Felicity's birthday photo I took a photo of her in front of a curtain.  Then, I cut out a bunch of snowflakes and took a photo of those on a dark background.  Then, I layered the photo of the snowflakes on top of the photo with the curtain.  She loves to pretend she is Elsa and loves watching Frozen so I thought I'd make it Elsa themed.  Again, no one actually cares, but I feel proud of myself every time I look at the photo.  I made those snowflakes and then I added them on a picture.  haha.  

Anyway, they are wonderful little girls and so special to me.