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Saturday was my birthday. I would have forgotten completely except for a wonderful skype call from my Mom and her students who sang "Happy Birthday" to me and a good friend's gift while we were out shopping. Sounds pathetic, but since I'm not much into birthdays (for big people), it's not really a big surprise that we would forget it. But we remembered in time and what a great birthday it turned out to be!

The family made the trek with a friend to the grocery store up north that is near an American school. As a result, they carry (randomly and never the same thing twice) some goodies from the States. We found some Reese's Peanut-butter Cups and a cherry Coke. Then, made our way home and sacrificed a long-treasured box of butter cake and tub of chocolate frosting for a cake. It was SO GOOD and so worth hoarding in the cupboards for so long to be able to just add a bit of water and eggs, throw it in a pan, slap on some frosting and be done! I love baking, but there are times (especially when making your own birthday cake!) that it's nice to not have to prepare ahead of time.

I can't believe how big the kids have gotten in one year.

Here's what last year looked like.

Em had a difficult time understanding the difference between her birthday and mine, but she LOVED singing "Happy Birthday"... all... day... long!