Birthday Party!

My beloved middle child will be turning ten-years-old on Thursday. On Thanksgiving Day I asked Paul's family when they would like to celebrate Ian's birthday, and they picked today. We had rigatoni and meatballs after church, which is one of Ian's most favorite meals. We usually just get one large pizza, but I have a coupon for one free large one topping pizza at our favorite pizzeria. I'm going to get two large pizzas tomorrow - one cheese and the free one will be a pepperoni. That way Ian will be able to eat pizza for dinner on Monday and Tuesday. Ian loves pepperoni pizza, and the vast majority of the time we get cheese pizza so he will really enjoy that treat. Tuesday morning he will get his birthday breakfast (donuts from Dunkin'), Wednesday afternoon they will have a play date with Micah and Isaiah, and on his actual birthday he will be eating pizza for lunch at our homeschool group's Christmas party. On Friday night he picked out two birthday balloons at Dollar Tree. When he got home from church he changed into his birthday t-shirt that he will wear again on Thursday. Aunt Millie made him

a delicious birthday cake. He will open his gifts from Paul and I on Thursday. Today he opened his gifts from Paul's family. Paul's parents gave him a large Lego Ninjago set (1,100+ pieces). Uncle Al and Aunt Millie gave him a Star Wars mask and two smaller Lego Ninjago sets. They used the minifigures from one of the sets to decorate his cake. We love Ian Alexander very much, and I can't believe he's turning ten in four days!

This is birthday week for our extended family as Aunt Janet will be turning 77 tomorrow, and my dad will be turning 76 on Tuesday. It was the norm to celebrate Ian and my Dad's birthdays together. Sometimes I picked a mandarin orange cake for Ian's birthday because my dad loves mandarin oranges. It was much easier to celebrate their birthdays together when Dad lived in Maryland. He moved to Virginia in the fall of 2017 after he married Margie. We did celebrate their birthdays together in December 2017 by meeting in Maryland. I baked Dad a cherry pie that year. I hope that Aunt Janet, my Dad,

and Ian all have special birthdays over the next four days! Eight days after Ian's birthday Paul's dad will be turning 78.

Paul's brother drove the company's pick-up truck to our house today. Paul and his brother loaded two things onto the pick-up truck - the mauve rocker recliner that we're passing on to Shawn and the red battery operated vehicle that Paul's parents gave Ian years ago. When Nadia outgrew her pink battery operated car I sold it for $100. I had planned to sell the red one once Oliver outgrew it, but it hasn't worked for a few years. Oliver barely got to drive it because around the time he was old enough to drive the red truck it stopped working. We're not planning to replace the vehicle OR the recliner. I am one of those people who finds great delight in decluttering that results in us having LESS stuff. I also like seeing Paul's "honey do" list shrink, and fixing the red truck had been on that list for a few years. Getting rid of it means there is one less thing on that list right now!