Saturday night at my birthday dinner, Meagan and I were telling Sarah how wonderful it is that the man she married is so great with children. I mean, look at these photos! These boys adore their Uncle Gage!
Steve found matching decor for dinner and it was half price, which made me happy.
Gage made one of his usual wonderful cards, using an old camera of Ken’s for a model. (He and Sarah inheirted the camera.)
It was wonderful to be surrounded by all the family to celebrate. We never take for granted the blessing of living close to our kids and grands.
As we were getting ready to serve the dessert that Sarah made for me (my favorite chocolate eclair torte), I was looking for a serving utensil. I grabbed this ancient workhorse that Vernie has used for as long as I have known her. It is the perfect small size, and the flat edge is ideal for many kinds of desserts.
Meagan has told me more than once how much she loves that utensil (its usefulness, along with its connection to Vernie), and I’ve promised she could have it once I was done with the cooking chapter of life.
A few weeks ago, I got to thinking, “Well, if Meagan likes the spatula that much, I should try to find a similar one for her that she can enjoy without having to wait so long. I knew it was an old piece and I wasn’t going to find a new one, so I looked at several used sites and finally found a close match on eBay. I was so excited to have tracked one down and placed the order with great anticipation.
Until the day it actually arrived, that is. Then my excitement sputtered right on down to whatever the opposte of excitement is.
Turns out, I am not super good at eyeballing dimensions, nor is paying attention to measurements one of my superpowers.
This is the spatula that showed up in the mail.
I got it pretty close, right?
When I told Meagan after dinner what I had tried to do and what I had actually ended up with, she just howled with laughter. Looks like she’s going to have to wait a few years for a small white spatula of her own.
Another topic of the evening was the Daddy Daughter Dance that is coming up this weekend. Madi and Meagan went out shopping and found a dress Madi loved. It’s so funny that Madi does not want Nathan even to know the color of the dress; it is very hush-hush, top secret, high level information and Nathan does not have security clearance. After dinner on Saturday, Madi and Meagan went back to our room with Steve and looked through his collection of ties to find one that would coordinate well with the dress. Nathan was, of course, barred from the area.
Madi is so excited about the upcoming event, talking to me about how she will be doing her hair and what jewelry she would be wearing. It’s such a big deal.
After they left, Steve and I discussed that Nathan is helping to model for Madi what she should look for in a date and eventual husband. He is showing her that she is a treasure and should be treated as such.
Maybe part of that is because he saw his sister being treated the same way by Steve. (Steve had just told a dad joke: hence the eye roll.)
The princess descends!
Hard to believe that these two (incredibly young and clueless) people have turned into ten people–a family gathered at a long dinner table, enjoying each other’s company, celebrating a birthday, and looking ahead to many more together times to come.
How about you?
Do you have a kitchen utensil you truly treasure? What is its story?
Do you remember any special dances/occasions as a child or teen?
What is your favorite birthday dessert?
What is your weather like today? I know there’s a lot of weather news across the country, right now.
Uncles are very special and I treasure my memories of my uncles.
My mom had a flour scoop that my brother made in school. It was tin and had a flat edge that was perfect for leveling off cups. My parents started giving family items as Christmas and birthday gifts. The year she gave my brother the flour scoop I moaned, “how will I bake now?”. My next birthday my brother gave it to me, which my mom didn’t think he should have. I still use it and don’t imagine baking without it.
I never went to a dance as a child or teen. Learned Contra dancing later in life and that was fun.
My favorite birthday dessert is Chocolate Cherry Cake. Super easy to make and the fudge frosting is soooo good.
Our weather is very very windy today with snow predicted. Spring snow never lasts though.