James turns four!

I have to admit that until James was born, I never played an April Fool's prank. On the day that he was born, we called and announced the great news to our family. A common response was, "nice joke". We weren't joking.

Now, every April first is James' birthday and part of the celebration is "my joke". This year, his pre-school had asked me to send in a small scrap-book of his life. This was the last picture in the book.

During Christmas we were in limbo. Homeless. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, yet right in the middle of an international move. I remember feeling like I had been lost in some kind of vacuum out in space as I sat on the airplane and imagined where in the world I was. I still wake up sometimes and look out my window at all of the unfamiliar sights and feel a bit of panic. I’m so far away! From what? I guess from familiarity. This experience has taught me how much my nature longs for the familiar.
Needless to say, we had a very small and simple Christmas-our suitcases were bulging with necessities and I was so overwhelmed that poor Santa Clause got locked out when he stopped by, if he stopped by at all. I pretty much ignored the fact that five small children would expect him to come no matter what our circumstances. On Christmas morning, James, being the magic age of three, opened his brown Mater Slippers (Disney’s "Cars"), threw them across the room and sobbed, “I wanted McQueen slippers”. His two other toys were broken by noon and every picture I have of James on Christmas morning is a most pathetic sight. Even this Scrooge vowed to mend my ways after my eight year old sighed, “I guess Santa thinks we were pretty bad this year”.
As James birthday approached, I pulled my bootstraps up to my armpits and set out to find some kind of familiar birthday bash booty. I had to smile when I saw this photo of his birthday. I hope what is said about children being resilient is true. But, if not, I always fall back on the Abraham Lincoln philosophy, “a little hardship makes for strong character”.

Happy Birthday, James! And for those who are confused by the cinnamon rolls for birthday cake, it’s not from lack of a cake mix. My children never want cake. They always conjure up some other kind of goodie, like pie or….cinnamon rolls.

To finish off our party for James, we hiked the mountain just as it was getting dark. I wanted the children to see the lights of the city. This sight never ceases to amaze me, no matter how familiar the city becomes.