Happy Birthday Katya!

Today is Katya's 12th birthday. She was so excited this whole week that she was ready to bust. I asked her if she used to get excited about her birthdays in Russia and she said "not really because we didn't really do anything." That doesn't define birthdays in the Macrane family. We do birthdays big. Well, as big as I can with leukemia and five children as a handicap.

The day starts with the birthday child waking up to signs, balloons and streamers in their room. Why? Because I did it once for Emily on a whim when she was little and it became an instant tradition without anyone consulting me. (The year we moved to Chicago we were staying at Sam's sister's house and I didn't think to decorate Emily's room. Let's just say I won't be making that mistake again--you would have thought I had pistol whipped the child based on the reaction. And then there was the year we were in Russia for Emily's birthday. I had to leave the signs and specific instructions for Grandma to fulfill this requirement! And yesterday Katya asked me if I would be decorating her room like I did last year. I guess since we moved she thought the tradition might change. She can rest easy there, her siblings would never stand for it.) Needless to say there have been plenty of birthday eve's where I could be found holding my eyelids open while hanging the decorations in their rooms. Oy. Katya's birthday was no exception.

One birthday tradition that we got jacked on was free Krispy Kreme doughnuts since they went belly up here in AZ last month. But, that didn't stop Katya. She suggested that she could go somewhere else for doughnuts instead. The free part clearly escaped her. So Sam took her to Safeway for some coffee and doughnuts this morning. She LOVES coffee and doesn't get it very often so this was a fun treat. As if she needed anything to jazz her up even more.

Then this afternoon Sam took the kids and a few of Katya's friends to Hamilton pool for a couple of hours. It was so hot today that it was a great day for a swim. They'll sleep hard tonight. We capped it off with pan cookie and ice cream and sang to her. What kid doesn't like that part?

In our family, birthday kids get to pick the dinner menu. I was almost sorry for that today. Katya's request? Corn--you know it's going to be interesting when that was her lead item. And mashed potatoes with bacon. And fruit. Carb junkie doesn't even begin to describe her. That Atkins guy would have flipped to see her eat. I don't know where the idea for the bacon on the potatoes came from since I have never served it that way. I guess it was just creative birthday license. I opted to just offer it on the side and she crumbled it into hers for a smidge of protein and a whole lot of fat.

Her most favorite gift was a kids video camera from her grandparents. She's videotaping her siblings doing ridiculous monologues right now. A family of hams. She was totally surprised by the video camera as you can see by this picture. (Emily had given her the hat which ended up looking, appropriately enough, like a director's beret!)




Needless to say, her 3rd American birthday rocked. How could it not when she ended up with a video camera!?!