Three good children born in August. At LEAST three. Daisy turned 17! Her sisters made her a birthday crown.
We drew out her birthday festivities, as we often do. Swimming on the real day (plus a cousin's wedding reception). Birthday dinner on the next day. Cake and presents on the next.
Swimming (and the sad demise of my phone, but let's not get into that)
Birthday flowers from Junie
Some exuberant birthday dancing
Sunday…both girls wearing dresses I wore in college! The black one was my orchestra dress. I wore the sparkly one for my piano recital…the night I first met Sam. How are my girls old enough to wear them??
Clementine made SO MANY presents for Daisy. She wrapped every one of them by herself, just present after present, about thirty of them. And they were all just the most random things. Papers. Pencils. Crocheted cakes. Stickers…
…A filled-up coloring book that Daisy herself had given to Clementine. We were all laughing SO hard!
Clementine started laughing too, not really sure why.
She knew she'd done SOMETHING funny!
Junie and Goldie got Daisy exactly the presents she would love most. From Goldie, a baby Djungelskog (Djungelskog is the big brown bear Daisy got for herself at IKEA a few months ago).
Junie crocheted a tiny Penguigo for Daisy (that's a penguin to match the bally stuffed penguin Daisy already had). It was so tiny and perfect and cute! Also, Daisy makes the best faces when she sees something tiny and cute. Always has.
And here is Daisy in the dress she got for her birthday. (Should I have named her Rosie? I certainly considered it.) What a cutie!
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On to the next birthday! Seb had the day off work on his birthday and the next day, so he flew home from Denver to visit us…and he brought his girlfriend Whitney! She was so fun and so nice. We all liked getting to know her (and seeing Seb too, of course!)
It was a perfect day for Seb because we had a beautiful thunderstorm in the afternoon, which is just what Seb loves most. He has radar and meteorology apps on his phone and has been getting so into learning about it all. Every few days he's texting me with news of a cool supercell in Denver, or a mesocyclone in Tooele, or a photo labeled with "The storm had some super cool pileus clouds over it in its dissipating stage!" I cannot believe the things that boy knows! And he always has been eager to share what he knows with the rest of us. It's one of the things I love most about him.
Seb's excitement is contagious, of course, so everyone was up on the hill with him watching the storm roll in.
(Gus is very intent on his purpose! Whatever it is.)
We ate a delicious birthday dinner (Thai Soup) while we listened to the rain blowing on the windows.
And then we had Seb's other favorite thing—a beautiful sunset!
Racing down the hill as the downpour started in earnest!
Safe and snug on the porch swing
Cake and presents
And to top it all off…a rainbow!
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Last and tiniest (but not as tiny as she used to be!)…Clementine turned FIVE! I could try to tell myself she's still the same little bright-eyes she was when she was four, and three ("J'ai trois ans!"), and two. But the truth is, she seems five. She knows things. She explains things. She asks interesting questions, and cuts things out, and tapes things together, and thinks of "surprises" to give me. She isn't just a funny little poppet. She's a little kindergarten girl. There's nothing we can do about it!
She and Gus are SUCH dear little friends. They love to play together, and Gus is always wisely telling Clementine all KINDS of utter drivel, which I'm sure she accepts as gospel truth. Malachi was always doing the same to Daisy. She believed every word he said, and I'm still hearing things in her worldview that date back to their bedtime talks as four- and five-year-olds!
Clementine, of course, wanted a birthday crown just like Daisy's. Daisy obliged by making her one. ("I will keep it until I DIE," said Clementine.)
Goldie and I made Clementine's cake. Goldie did the hardest part (the decorating).
Someone wrapped Milky up in a present (Gus, maybe?) and gave her to Clementine, and Clementine thought that was hilarious!
Ziggy gave Clementine a gnome. Daisy's gnome, I think. Oh well.
Clementine thought that was hilarious too!
Junie gave Clementine a little bat. Sqouik Sqouik.
Little gnomes for Clementine.
And Clementine IS a gnome! I guess this was a gnome birthday.
She likes the little house for the gnomes to play in.
She made it into a treehouse with branches she broke off our trees outside!
What a dear, good, smart little sweetie she is! We love Clementine SO so so so much.
