Birthday for a Princess (Thundercloud)

Today is Princess Thundercloud’s 4th birthday…and our house could not be more pink or Hello Kitty’ed than it is, or will be shortly.

I thought I’d share with you a gift idea that I would love to receive…therefore, I give it!

Simple and cute, right?  To make it, I glued a quart Mason jar to a glass candlestick from the dollar store using E6000.  (I may need to start buying this in bulk!)  I cut a label out of my chalkboard decal vinyl using the Big Shot and Stampin’ Up!’s Framelit…love those almost as much as E6000.

To add a pop of color, I just tied some 1-1/4” Certainly Celery ribbon around it, then I filled it with….what else…Birthday Cake Oreos.  I’m addicted to them, and always have to buy a bag for myself when buying one to make this gift.  Strictly for quality control reasons, of course.

I think this is a great gift because 1) the Oreos are delish and 2) the “Happy Birthday” is written in chalk marker, so it comes right off and the birthday girl can refill it with whatever she wants. She could even leave the lid and ribbon off and fill it with a gigantic birthday mojito.  For example.

I know you were looking forward to more travel pics today, but I decided to spend the day with the Princess instead.  So you have that to anticipate for tomorrow!


The birthday girl had my version of Rooty-Tooty Fresh and Fruity pancakes…just pancakes with raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries on top, with a little whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles…for breakfast.
Her party is not until Saturday, so more of her friends can come.  It works out well, since it’s closer to her Gotcha Day.  Our kids are adopted, and each love to celebrate their birthdays AND their Gotcha Days, the day we actually got them.  They were each 4 days old when we were able to pick them up from the hospital or receiving home.

Along that train of thought, here’s my plug for adoption.  I don’t believe we (my husband and I) are these amazing people who opened our hearts to some kid and saved them from the “system.”  I think the birthmothers of our children are the heroes of their stories.  We were blessed to have been chosen by them, out of dozens of potential families.  We were blessed that God has sent these particular children to us.

When we first began trying to start a family, we were in total agreement that adoption was the route for us, if our first attempt at in vitro didn’t work.  We didn’t care how our children joined our family, biologically or through adoption, Adoption is not for everyone, I realize, but it has been a blessing three times over in our family, and despite every heartbreak we suffered throughout the process, our children have enriched our lives every day.

Our kids all know they are adopted.  I’m a little worried, frankly, because they don’t seem to get that most people carry their babies for 9 months, then deliver.  My kids think you just get a phone call and go pick up a baby. If only it were that easy, right?

If you’re struggling with questions about adoption, and would like to talk more about it, I’m always more than happy to share more.  The process was lengthy and, at times, very frustrating, but the end results are beyond compare!

Now I’m off to spend the day with Princess Thundercloud, and remember that amazing phone call out of the blue 4 years ago, when we were two weeks from leaving Kansas for Washington and God once again laughed at our plans!  And we’re so very ecstatic that He did.