MADDIE, WE LOVE YOU!!!
Mom told us all that you wanted recipes for your birthday, and we'd love to keep on going! This blog is just a beginning! We love you so much.
Dear Maddie, It was so fun to think about recipes for you because it brought back so many memories of everyone eating together! When you were tiny every one of your siblings had many turns during family meals to feed you in your high chair. Now we've all come together to give you some favorite recipes, which is symbolic of the way every one of us loves you. The memories of eating together include lots of laughter--for example, Dad and I remember how you'd make a strange groaning noise at the table and rise up in your chair, saying, "I'm growing!" Happiest of birthdays yet--Love, Mom and Dad
"Just for laughs on Maddie's birthday--this sheepie is one of my very
favorite drawings of all she's ever done" (MOM)
Happy Birthday Maddie!
We love you and are excited to share recipes with you on your own recipe blog. :D
Love,
Eric, Abby, Autumn, Heidi, Esther & Becca
Maddie, I love you! Happy birthday!
It was so fun to gather recipes for you.
We think about you and pray for you very often.
I hope you feel like this birthday is the best yet!
And I really hope you feel like life just keeps getting better!
Love,
Q + M + E
Dear Maddie,
Today I was thinking about the morning that you were born (or at least the morning I found out), when it was whispered in my ear, "You have another little sister..." Since mom had expected you to be a boy, I was SO surprised that I sat up and bonked my head on the bunk-bed and flopped back down. I remember seeing you at the hospital; you were all pink and tiny and sleeping and beautiful.
I remember several months later, watching you sitting on your yellow Little Tikes chair, drinking your juice in a bottle and lazily playing with your ear. I remember how you used to walk around with a dishtowel over your head and one pant-leg rolled up, and that on your first birthday, you got a pretend phone, and held it to your ear and said hello.
I remember your first day of kindergarten, and how surprised I was that you weren't even barely as nervous as I felt for you. I was also sad to see you go. I was afraid that your feelings might be hurt--as seems to happen when kids are around each other for hours at a time--and I was sad that you were already old enough for school.
I remember going to the zoo in Jacksonville with you, Phill, and Isaac, and I remember your not-so-subtle explanation of why Qait chose not to accompany us, and how funny that still is to me--and to her! ;)
I remember peeking in on you and Qait in your room in Belgium, quietly watching through the door crack as you girls invented the most clever, most strange, most genius, and most fun ways to play.
I remember telling you that you could "adopt" Elroy, and hoping that he would comfort you after I left home--and knowing that I needed a cat, too, to comfort me after I left. I remember seeing you in my old bedroom in Georgia and thinking that you looked perfectly at home at the desk under the window, writing and drawing.
I really started this out only intending to say a little about that day you were born, but it just grew into this (miniscule) collection of some of my favorite memories with you. The truth is, if I were to list every good memory I have with you, it would probably be called a memoir!
I am so happy that you are my sister. I can't imagine our family without your bright light in it.
I love you
Rae
Today I was thinking about the morning that you were born (or at least the morning I found out), when it was whispered in my ear, "You have another little sister..." Since mom had expected you to be a boy, I was SO surprised that I sat up and bonked my head on the bunk-bed and flopped back down. I remember seeing you at the hospital; you were all pink and tiny and sleeping and beautiful.
I remember several months later, watching you sitting on your yellow Little Tikes chair, drinking your juice in a bottle and lazily playing with your ear. I remember how you used to walk around with a dishtowel over your head and one pant-leg rolled up, and that on your first birthday, you got a pretend phone, and held it to your ear and said hello.
I remember your first day of kindergarten, and how surprised I was that you weren't even barely as nervous as I felt for you. I was also sad to see you go. I was afraid that your feelings might be hurt--as seems to happen when kids are around each other for hours at a time--and I was sad that you were already old enough for school.
I remember going to the zoo in Jacksonville with you, Phill, and Isaac, and I remember your not-so-subtle explanation of why Qait chose not to accompany us, and how funny that still is to me--and to her! ;)
I remember peeking in on you and Qait in your room in Belgium, quietly watching through the door crack as you girls invented the most clever, most strange, most genius, and most fun ways to play.
I remember telling you that you could "adopt" Elroy, and hoping that he would comfort you after I left home--and knowing that I needed a cat, too, to comfort me after I left. I remember seeing you in my old bedroom in Georgia and thinking that you looked perfectly at home at the desk under the window, writing and drawing.
I really started this out only intending to say a little about that day you were born, but it just grew into this (miniscule) collection of some of my favorite memories with you. The truth is, if I were to list every good memory I have with you, it would probably be called a memoir!
I am so happy that you are my sister. I can't imagine our family without your bright light in it.
I love you
Rae
MORE BIRTHDAY MESSAGES TO COME!
I've never seen a blog do the "read more" option before! Bah! Who needs it? Just make sure you DO read more. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I fixed that "read more" thing. I figured out it's an option for when you put in a "jump break," which puts a link with text (in this case "Read More") between the words previous to the jump break and the words after--which are then only shown when you click the link.
ReplyDeletePsh.