Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Ethan's birthday, and the girls were prepared with gifts galore!  In typical fashion, they insisted upon hovering over Daddy while he opened his presents:

Madeleine presented Ethan with a hand-made card, inside which Julia had written the words Madeleine dictated about loving Daddy:

The picture Madeleine drew is my favorite part of all.  Ethan with his scruff, and what appears to either be a crown or spiky hair, and Madeleine with her bouquet of flowers.  Of course, neither person has any arms, but they seem pretty happy anyway.


Madeleine also decorated the back of the card:

No card is complete without a spiky armadillo heart.

Madeleine also drew Daddy another picture as an extra gift:

It's a piano, next to which is a light and a "pink fairy thing to hold up the light."  And also: "A thinking, working Dad...that I have no idea why I drawed that."  (According to the artist.)


Julia's card to Ethan went back to her old-school obsession:

Is the cake going to be green and made of witches' brew?  Yikes!

And then the pièce de resistance: Julia wrote a new book as a gift for Ethan.

GOING TO MUSIC CLASS
written and illistrated by Julia Rowe


Inside cover:

GOING TO MUSIC CLASS
"To my Dad, who loves music."

"Tanya and Dean loved lisening to there parents sing."

Okay.  First of all, I love the fact that Julia draws nostrils on the side of peoples' cheeks instead of under their noses.  Secondly, it's too bad Dean is a boy, because he's got some of the best child-bearing hips Julia has ever drawn!

"Mother, some day, me and Dean are going to be just like you and Father,' said Tanya.  'Be like you big time!' said Dean.  'Well, that's very good.  Becuse I sined you and Dean up for music lessons!' said Mother.  'Will we learn how to sing?' they ask't."

How exciting!  They're sined up for music lessons!!

"Wi'rr going to music lessons!; said Tanya.  'Music lessons big time.'  Tanya look't confused.  'What?  I like saying big time,' said Dean.  The next day, it was time for music class.  I LOVE MUSIC!  DO YOU?"

I *do* love music, BIG TIME! 
What?  I like saying big time.

"And off the went.  Every day, Tanya got better at singing."

What happened to Dean?  Did he not get better every day?  Maybe he quit music lessons BIG TIME.

"And so did Dean.  And they loved going to music lesson."

Okay, phew.  Dean DIDN'T quit music lesson.  I'm so glad they both got better and loved it so much!  What an encouraging story!


I had some gifts for Ethan as well, but none as inspiring as the girls' home-made ones.  And speaking of home-made, this morning Madeleine and I got to work making Ethan a chocolate cake from scratch.  My little baking helper got a little TOO eager to taste the batter, however.  As I searched through the kitchen cabinets to find my next ingredient, Madeleine decided to try a taste of what we had put in the bowl so far.

I came back to find her lips covered in brown goo and a look of displeasure on her face.  Probably because the only ingredient we had put in the bowl so far was Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder.  Smart choice trying a taste of that, Madeleine.

I explained to her that she needed to wait until all the ingredients were in the bowl to try anything, because otherwise it would taste gross.

Clearly she didn't learn her lesson from eating dry cocoa powder, because the next time I returned to the bowl with an ingredient, Madeleine was gagging on a mouthful of flour.

ANYWAY, we managed to get the cake baked, so hopefully Madeleine will enjoy her slice tonight better than she enjoyed its individual ingredients.

Happy birthday, Ethan!!!