Celebrating Birthdays
Our son Jake turned 43 last week. Our granddaughter Irene will be 13 this week. We met in the middle on Sunday.
Jake works long hours during the week and Jill and the kids had just returned Sunday morning on an overnight flight from their spring break in Hawaii.
Tom and I are just hanging around, wishing the rain would stop, and with plenty of time to host a birthday party.
For Jill's kids there has always been a theme. While I think that tendency is losing steam, Irene did set a theme before they left. Space. OK, so what do I do with that?
I ordered some stuff online and found a few more things at the craft store. And I twisted the meaning of "space" a bit.
The table cloth is a black hole. The repurposed centerpieces were combined, and where there were soccer balls and stars, now there were planet stickers and stars.
And there was a Milky Way of sparkly stars. Stars and planets hung from the chandelier.
There was a lollipop at each place- a space shuttle, an astronaut, or the planet Earth. They all wanted to know how the Monet napkins fit. I said that "I had lots of leftover napkins taking up "space" in the pantry, so just set aside the Monet for dessert, and use the other two for the messy ribs and corn bread with honey" that were on the menu. There were grins.
We feasted, but of course there are no photos of the food and eating, because I was busy. There were gifts. Those big bags hold the tee shirt pillows I made for Jake that you may remember from a previous post here.
Irene has taken over cake decorating from her mother, and she wanted to do her own cake, so they baked the cake before they left and froze it. Then sunday, when not napping, she decorated it.
The night sky over the sea ( she added the water because of Hawaii. They had a wonderful time!) is full of stars and constellations.
It was great to have Jan with us too, as we got together with our kids to celebrate their latest trip around the sun.
Now they will all be going back to their normal lives, while Tom and I are running away from home for a few days.
See Ya'.
Way to go Reeders keep those family celebrations coming.
ReplyDeleteYou go all out for birthdays! I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteI love the "taking up space" rationale. You are all so talented. I can see Reeder family traditions moving on to next generations.
ReplyDeleteLove the shower of stars, Linda. You certainly did make a dent in the search for joy and peace in your corner of the universe! :-)
ReplyDeletehow fun we have lots of april birthdays also...so creative and festive!
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful get together, a great celebration.
ReplyDeleteIrene has a very creative Grandma. To teach primary one had to be very creative to have material ready for the little guys.
ReplyDeleteBelated Happy Birthday to Irene and Jake. I am always impressed how you go all out when presented with a theme. Irene really did a great job with her cake.
ReplyDeleteI truly am envious of you grands being at birthdays with you. We do not have that tradition and our kids are often at some vacation or commercial site and we are not with them.
ReplyDeleteNice table setting and cake. Happy birthday, Irene and Jake! Aloha from Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteYou are the best grandmother. Loved seeing the creativity. Wow. I can’t believe Irene is already 13!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job with the Space theme! I like the 'milky way'.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
Happy Birthday to Irene and to Jake! Looks like a great celebration:)
ReplyDeleteI do love celebrations at your house and with your family! Happy Birthday to Irene and to Jake! You do everything so perfect! The table looks amazing! Like Sally said (above comment) "you are the best grandma"!
ReplyDeleteAnother great celebration! Happy brithday to Irene and Jake. Happy trails to you and Tom as you run away from home.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your ways of interpreting space. Excellent set up and a very fun time for sure.
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