Happy Blackeyed Susan Day!

Blackeyed Susan turned fourteen today. This has been a year of great physical and emotional growth for her. More importantly, Susan knows the Lord, which will be the key to navigating her way through the sometimes stormy waters of teenage-hood.

Absent-mindedly, I didn't remember until the night before that I had the responsibility of a birthday cake. Hello. We have celebrated One Hundred Eighty-Seven birthdays in this family already, [not counting Charming's and mine] yet somehow I forgot. How timely that just this morning I read of a very cute, cute cake idea here:

I used fourteen lollipops instead of candles.

Now to the presents! In our family, the privilege of drinking coffee is reserved for those over the magic age of 14, so this was the "morning" gift: Then Daddy and Alvin Fernald went shopping for this baby: Don't fail to note the Cubs-logo baseball.

This gift would have gotten more use if the weather had reached thirty degrees here. Hello--April?

Susan assured herself of full family attendance at dinner by choosing Steak and Mushrooms for her meal. Her older brothers marveled that they had chosen things like hot-ham-and-cheese sandwiches and pizza when they were coming along the pike. Can Susan help it if she's a little more savvy than they? I think not.

Susan finished her wonderful day by having brother/sister friends overnight. She and Alvin and they played cards and Apples to Apples till about 11:30 pm. It is now 1:30 am and they are still talking in their sleeping bags.

Good. Maybe I'll have a little time for myself in the morning.