Happy Birthday Hannah!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Hannah's birthday.  She turned 14 this year and a great day was planned to help celebrate the fact that 14 years ago a strong, spunky, sweet, eternally good natured little baby came in to our family.  I choose to list strong as my first adjective because she survived her first 6 months under the constant scrutiny (by scrutiny I mean being bitten and having toys thrown at her) of her loving big sister Rachel. :)  On to the celebration....I am going to list exact menus because that is what Hannah would do.  She is obsessed with food and the descriptions of food so here's to you Hannah....For breakfast Hannah came up with a new menu and it was delicious.  I made breakfast paninis with scrambled eggs, smoked Gouda and roasted red pepper chicken sausage.  We also had a fruit salad of mango, raspberries, red grapes and bananas.  Unfortunately, her birthday fell on a school morning so we were a little rushed, but we managed to still have a good time.  Following Kenney traditions, she opened all of her presents during breakfast and was excited to see what she got.  A Harry Potter coloring book and a new backpack were just a few of the goodies she received.  After breakfast, everyone went about their day as usual.  (Except for me....I spent the day wondering how in the world Hannah could be turning 14 and going off to high school when just yesterday she was toddling around the house making us all laugh.)  Sadly, on her birthday the weather decided not to cooperate and the spring winds were in full force.  In fact, we were topping winds of 60 mph and had a complete "brown out" situation with the dust.  Kind of yucky but even more of a reason to hunker down and enjoy each other's company.  For dinner it was the same old chicken yummy casserole that Hannah has always had on her special day.  We combined it with Spanish rice and a salad.  Cake this year was something different. ...I made a giant Samoa cookie cake.  It sort of looked like a Samoa but not really.  All the flavors were there though, and it tasted really good, so we considered it a success.  We ended the day with a viewing of Aladdin.  A fantastic day to celebrate a wonderful girl.  A girl that next year will be leaving to go to high school all day. :(  I have gotten so used to having her here for the majority of the day while she homeschools....used to having her to run with so that we can chat about and vent about our days....used to seeing her put elaborate lunches together for herself and say how lucky she is that she is home to do it.  I suppose change is inevitable, I am learning that fact everyday I continue to raise teenagers. I will find a way to embrace this new stage in Hannah's life but I will cherish the memory of having her so close during the last 3 years. Happy Birthday my strong, spunky, sweet, and eternally good natured young women! I know that those qualities will serve you well as you head in to the next phase of your life. I love you sweetie....lots.

breakfast is served....

Ugh...yuck!

really Mom, I'm not growing up too fast