Yes. We Celebrate Our Birthdays By Eating. Also With Love

That is how Lily's cake turned out. I really thought there were no flowers blooming that would look good on a cake but somehow I wasn't too worried. It definitely needed some decoration because I messed up and put too much of the frosting between the layers and could barely eke out enough for the sides and top but ultimately the ratio of icing to cake will work fine, I believe. 

When I took the compost out I looked for flowers and first I found those tiny little white flowers that grow everywhere. I've noticed them before but hadn't paid attention to them. But when I picked a little sprig with some of the flowers on it, I realized they were so very sweet and simple. Plant ID app says they are an invasive plant (of course!) called Florida snow. And they are non-toxic to humans and animals. So they were fine. I found one rose on the bush in the garden and one little bud. Perfect! And then my attention went to the spotted bee balm that I've grown this summer from slips Liz Sparks gave me and TA-DA! Done!

Lily ended up wanting to go to a local restaurant for lunch and so it was a bit of a repeat from last night's Owen celebration except that he chose a Mexican restaurant and the place we went to today is a sorta-kinda farm to table situation or so they would have you believe. They do grow some things and they have chickens, an almost-farm on a very small scale. It takes a lot to impress me with that whole situation. Here in Lloyd we eat garden and woods and sea to table all the time. Still, they're making an effort. 

Neither Glen nor I have been feeling that well today. It's almost like our bodies decided to get some more immune system work done from the covid vaccine last week. I don't know. I really planned not to go to lunch at all but I started feeling a little better and it IS Lily's birthday. So off we went and I carried the cake in with me and as soon as the hostess saw me she said, "Just to let you know, we charge a thirty dollar cakeage fee." 
Cakeage fee? Like a corkage fee? Sure. I realize that they sell desserts at the restaurant and that it's asking extra for plates to serve our cake on but we always tip very well when that does happen and quite often, we give cake to the employees too. But here we were being told they'd charge us thirty damn dollars for a grandma cake to be served after the meal (and we'd use the same forks we used for lunch!) so that cake sat on a spare chair to be eaten later. 
Bah. 
I am bitchy. Sorry. 
Not sorry.
Lunch was fine and since we sat on a porch-like addition to the restaurant we could look out on the garden planted there which at this time is mostly herbs and flowers and a few vegetables. So it was all very pleasant and after we ate we took the cake outside and got some pictures. 

Lily looks happy and that's what matters most. 

Owen's last night celebration was fun too. Beside the people you see above, Jason, his mother, and his girlfriend were there. So it was a larger group. And I really didn't get any good pictures but here one's of Owen with his own Mama-Made cheesecake. Which was amazing.

Also- no cakeage fee.

I got this photo of him and his grandfather.

Not quite as tall as Boppy yet. But it sure could happen.

I've been thinking all day about Lily's birth and the beautiful fall day she decided to make her appearance. I went back and read the account of her birth and I cried, rereading it. I'm not going to wax lyrical about it because if you want that sort of thing you can go HERE.
I didn't get too gynecological about it but if the very thought of a woman giving birth gives you a bit of a shudder, just skip it. Same if you've read that particular post five or ten times already. 

Here's a picture of Lily when she was still so new her umbilical cord was still attached.

She was pretty much a two-month old when she exited the mama. Glen had built her a cradle and she hardly fit into it. Which didn't really matter because she mostly slept with us. 
Yes. I was that mother. And no, I never rolled over one of my babies and squashed them. 

Let us not forget that on top of all the other birthday celebrations, another one is going on in St. Augustine for Vergil. This dear, good man right here.

I love the fact that Vergil's mama had him at home too. 

Just thinking about Vergil and how dear and beloved he is to this family brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine a better daddy, a better husband, than this man. And he is such an important part of our family, always there to help, to share celebrations, to love us despite the way our family is different from his. 

We are such a lucky family. As fortunate as any family on earth could ever be. 

All righty then! Next up, August on Monday! Hurray! He is going to be eleven years old. 
Stop it. Stop that nonsense. There is no way that child is going to be a true teenager in two more years. And Maggie will be too. 
Of course she's been a teenager since she could rearrange the bow on her infant headband for best effect...

As was her mother. That beautiful peach of a baby girl born forty years ago today. 

And as always, on my children's birthday, I think, "Thank you, Jesus I am not in labor."

Keeping it real. 

Love...Ms. Moon