Since Meg was born on her Nana's birthday, and since we really hadn't celebrated my Dad's November birthday yet either, we had a combined family party with the five (almost six) Wilcoxes and the three Nalles. Meggers ordered up some Kraft mac 'n' cheese for her celebratory dinner, and the adults enjoyed a yummy baked potato bar in my mom's honor. (Thanks to my mom's spud-lovin' example, a good baked potato is about as true a comfort food as I know.)
After dinner, we had the kek. I mean the cake. (Martin Short, Father of the Bride, anyone?) Meg had requested a flower cake, so this is what I came up with.
Horrible, picture, I know, but if you ignore the crumbs (I've never in my life had such problems with a frosting job!), the cake itself turned out pretty cute. Here's a little video of the presentation of the cake, starring Meg but also prominently featuring my belly, as well as lovely harmonies by Don and Nancy Nalle. Note: we had just finished celebrating Advent and singing our traditional verse of "Hark the Herald Angels," so that's why Mom teasingly starts off singing that instead of "Happy Birthday."
Time to serve it up!
This pained and painful expression is what passes for a smile in Matthew's book (but only when there's a camera pointed at him).
The grown-ups had this Oatmeal Cake, which was warm and gooey and divine. Well, actually, my mom and dad and I had the oatmeal cake. David had the kids' cake, since he prefers buttercream to toasted coconut. And Lena had vanilla ice cream, because she doesn't eat wheat. Just in case you wanted to know.
A few pictures of our gift opening time...
I'm not sure why Meg is doing the smart-aleck look here. This was her card from Matthew, which he did a great job of picking out himself, and she was very pleased and sweet about it, as far as I recall.
Studying Matthew's gift together:
We had the kids pick out their own gifts for Nana and Grandpop this year (with some help from Mommy), but in order to avoid conflict, Meg picked for Nana and Matthew picked for Grandpop. Here is Nana, about to open her Birds of America calendar and her DVD of 1776 (the musical).
And here is Grandpop, whistling at the book Matthew chose for him about the British WWII aircraft Spitfire.
Meg with her new sweatsuit from Nana (Esme got one for her birthday in September, so now they can be matchy-matchy!)
All in all, it was a wonderful, low-key night together. Time with my parents and Lena is surprisingly rare and very precious, so we're blessed to have the excuse of birthdays to force us to clear the calendar.
And, ohhh... my sweet, amazing oldest daughter. I don't have time to go on at length now, but I wish I could say all that this wonderful girl means to us. She brings us more joy with each passing year and is truly a gift from the Lord. I can't wait to know what He has in store for her life.
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