The Affair of the Birthday Parties

January birthday parties always get a bit of the short shrift, falling just after holidays as they do. In a year when there are a new neighborhood and new friends and new dollar stores involved, simplification is really the only acceptable way to go. Sera's birthday party had a "Strawberry Shortcake" theme. Sadly, there were no actual Strawberry Shortcake decorations to be had, though pre-Valentine's-Day decor abounded, and really what's the difference if there are red and pink balloons and streamers? Between bouncy balloon games and a cake walk, I think everyone had enough fun for a winter afternoon. And Sera was plenty pleased to be four, since everyone has assumed she already was for months and months.

Family party with the strawberry cheescake Sera requested

We started a tradition of doing British/Canadian Crackers for Sera's birthday--she loved it!

Party day!

Emerson's party featured legos. Which was lovely. We played some building-race games and cracked open the world's easiest-to-make-at-home pinata (a shoe box with some milk lids hot-glued on and painted). It was fun to get to know some of Emerson's friends from school, and really, playing with legos was exactly what most of them wanted to do most of the time. Also, his lego theme resulted in him getting a bunch of new legos, which made him the happiest kid on the block.

Family party cake (it might not be pretty, but made of brownies and oreos--yum!)

Party day cupcakes

Lego craft (remember our simplicity thing--yeah)

Balloon games were a huge hit

But lego playtime was the best part . . .

Well, maybe except the PINATA!

So hooray for my littles! But don't they know it breaks my heart every time they celebrate another birthday?

To Sera at Four

Dear Sera,

This year it has been easy to be your mom almost all the time (the exceptions mostly occuring post-10pm when you still haven't seen fit to go to sleep). You have a ready smile, an absolutely beautiful little face, and despite the fact that you have grown ridiculously long and lean this year, you've managed to keep those cheeks at least a little bit juicy. You crack us up every day. My recent favorites include:

• jumping up and down with a tummy full of juice to show off the "blarp" sound.


• your bum--which we can nearly always see peeking out of your pants--all rosy from all the near-constant pants-falling-down that has resulted from you growing too tall too fast!


• playing cards (I Spy memory). I think you could do this all day. Despite the fact that I have lots of other things to do (I really do!), you persistently follow me around all morning asking if I'm ready to play cards yet until I relent. And honestly, I haven't regretted a single game.


• you're bound to be a diva in every sense of the word, we can tell. Obviously you like things your way, but more importantly, you can sing the pants off an elephant (why, why do I make up metaphors that make no sense?). I could listen all day.


• you're so sensitive! If we raise our voices just the teeniest bit, you legitimately get worried and sad--we have to be extra-gentle with you. And you get really sad when you see other people (or cartoon characters) who are sad.


• When we catch you mid-sneak or mid-fib, we just look at you funny and you're pretty quick to 'fess up with "whatevoh, I did it."

Most of the time you're still my baby, my last baby (I'm pretty pretty sure, I think), and even though you grow too fast, you're perfectly happy to let us sweep you up in our arms and kiss your face off. Your breath is still sweet, your hair is super-soft (though you hate having it brushed), and you manage to keep your face from turning into the sticky mess that I remember on your brothers most of the time at this age. I already miss you at two, so I'm doing my best to treasure every single minute of four--sometimes I really do wish it could last forever!!

Love,

Your Mom

To Emer at Six

Dear Emerson,

You have done the best job of any of our kids at staying little, but it's not good enough! I don't know what it is about you little kids, maybe it's from having bigger siblings or something, but you just seem so much more rushed about this growing-up business. Sometimes I wish you'd slow down a bit. Some of the things I especially love about you this year:

• My favorite line this month was when you came home from school one day in a bit of a funk. I asked you about it, and you looked at me with deep concern on your face. "Mom," you said "some of my friends at school don't think I'm funny." As far as you are concerned, such a thing is tantamount to treason. Everyone should think you're funny! Because heaven knows, you are!


• Oh my goodness do you ever love you some food! A couple of the children in your class have even mentioned to me that you like to try to be the first one to get to snack station in kindergarten every day. And when you're home! You're the quickest to clean your plate at meals, the most likely to ask for extra servings, and the person who, minutes after a meal, tags along behind me whining "I'm so hungry Mommy! Can I pleeeease have a snack? I'm staaaarving."


• I won't deny that your kindergarten transition has been . . . interesting. But I have to say that I think I was right from the beginning. You, like me, don't necessarily adjust to changes very quickly. You like to know what to expect and if you don't, well, the world shouldn't expect your best showing. Since Christmas though, you've done just beautifully. Your teacher has mentioned how impressed she is with your behavior, your kindness to your classmates, and your eagerness to learn. I suspect you will have a very successful school career. Way to go!


• I hope you keep your beautiful soprano voice forever (well, maybe not forever). If I can ever persuade your dad to conduct the Chichester Psalms, I hope he lets you sing David. I don't think he could get anyone better!


• I'm not too sure you have a big future in sports. You obviously enjoy playing basketball (and you had fun in softball last year too), but I'm pretty sure that's primarily because you like entertaining your teammates so much. You usually skip, rather than run, down the court, and if you can distract anyone for long enough (could be someone on your team or the other team), you'll keep them laughing until a coach or ref reminds you that you're in the middle of game. We love watching you!

Even though I know that eventually you'll have to grow too big for me to gather in my arms to squeeze, I hope that you'll always keep your enthusiastic, unfailingly kind, sweet disposition. I love you! Love,

Your Mom

We Give Thanks!

That's our theme this year. I tried out a few variations before settling on it, but "Be Grateful" and "Attitude of Gratitude," didn't quite capture what I'm going for. There's something more to the word "thankful" than is captured in "grateful," at least to me. Being grateful seems to indicate a state of dependence, of neediness, while thankful seems to be more of a state of appreciation for bounty. Of course, both are applicable to us at times, but thankful is what I want this family of ours to feel every day, in every way, this year. We are so blessed! The actual words "We Give Thanks" are the ones that were on the Thanksgiving cards my aunt and uncle have sent every year since I remember--they did Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas cards, a tradition that I admire but could never be organized enough to execute! So, thanks Rick and Linda, for our 2011 family theme.

Now, the actual truth about our family themes over the last six years is that they have bonded our family together and given us common goals to work toward . . . during the first four or five months of the year. After that they get mostly forgotten, which is a little sad. But this year we're a little older, a little more experienced, and a little bit better at this whole thing (at least I hope so). So this time, in addition to our theme for the year, we're going to be having SUBTHEMES. If you're rolling your eyes about this, trust me, they are rolling nowhere near as much as Aaron's--he's a little skeptical of January Britt, for the most part (I think his favorite Britt is the one who comes out sometime in March and lasts through the summer--she's the fun one . . . also the skinny one). But this year, January Britt is putting stuff in writing, so that the lazier Britts don't have so many excuses to slack off. Here's the plan:

January: If you're mad, get thankful.

This month all fights will be resolved by people telling each other all the stuff they appreciate about one another. This will continue for as long as it keeps working. I'm crossing my fingers that will be for a long time.

February: Please and thank you.

Our family needs some work on manners. I don't want to name names, but there are certain people in this family who seem not to be aware that it's not okay to eat peas with fingers despite evidence and contradictory instruction on such matters. By the end of February, I'm hoping for a family with a cursory sense of social ettiquette.

March: Just say yes.

We've gotten pretty comfortable saying no. Mostly it's because we want our family to be our first priority, and sometimes too many demands are made on our time. But the truth is, we're not a grad-school family on one small income with four tiny kids anymore. Many people have helped us over the years and it's payback time. We want to say yes when people ask for our help, and more importantly, we need to learn to offer before we're asked.

April: Thanks for the gospel.

Church, the gospel, spiritual things--these are what give our lives direction, purpose, and satisfaction. Alongside Easter, I want our children to understand what Jesus Christ means in our lives, and how that changes who we are.

May: Prepare to be thankful.

The plan is to plant a garden this month. Wish us luck--I don't have the greenest of thumbs.

Summer: For the beauty of the earth!

This is an easy one. The world is such a beautiful place, and we would be fools not to enjoy it's beauty over the summer. Also, it's low-pressure.

September: To learn and to grow.

An education is a privilege. We need to recommit to getting the most out of the educational opportunities we have. Even us grown-ups!

October: Thanks to those who went before.

I love learning about ancestors. The people who went before us have given us so many gifts. We need to know more about them and be grateful for them! I especially appreciate learning about those who pioneered in our behalf, our founding fathers, those who moved their families great distances, and who lived through wars and hard times. They are responsible for so much of the bounty we enjoy.

November/December: Because we have been given much.

Over the holidays I hope we can come up with a good way to really serve those in need.

Here's us with our "Thankful Forest" banner. For the past couple of Thanksgivings we have put up a thankful tree and covered it in leaves that tell things we're grateful for. By the end of the year, I hope our forest is filled with leaves and flower petals that tell all the many things we've felt gratitude for over the year.


Unless, of course, it keeps falling down like it has so far and ends up in a crumpled wad on the floor. Or in the dumpster. I think I'll try some packaging tape next.