March Madness Strong Style

To most people March Madness means watching some of the best basketball games of the year. But at our house it means watching three of the best kids turn one year older and celebrating a wedding anniversary.

Elizabeth's birthday is first, March 11th. She turned 9 years old!

Elizabeth didn't want a traditional cake this year, instead she chose another dessert.  I was happy to accommodate since it made my life easier.

She was sent on a scavenger hunt to find her present from Mom & Dad. She had nine clues to get through, and she loved running from one end of the house to the other never knowing at which location she would find a surprise waiting for her.  She finally found it in the shed .

Here's Elizabeth riding her new bike.

The other two March birthday's occur on the same day, March 23rd. Rachel turned 7 & John turned 5!

Rachel's request for a "birthday cake" was a little hard, but I found a way to make it work. She wanted Paul to make her Breakfast Cake, but she also wanted a Strawberry Shortcake cake. I think the end product was the best of both worlds.

Her wish list for her birthday was long and constantly changing. I think she was happiest with her new ice cream cone blanket. I'm still trying to figure out why she chose that fabric for her blanket, she doesn't even like ice cream?

I have been working with John for several months on the question,  "How old are you?"  He has been saying he is three for the last two years. The early preparation paid off. When he was sitting down getting ready to open his presents, I asked him, "How old are you today?"  He held up his fingers and said, "I'm five!"

No "cake" for this kiddo either,  he wanted brownies. When I set the big mountain of brownies in front of him, he immediately started to break off pieces and eat them.  In his mind there is no reason to wait until after the candles and the song to eat.  It was hilarious to watch his pick away at his brownies while we sang happy birthday.  We did make him swallow before he was allowed to blow out the candles.

By far his favorite gift and the families favorite gift was his marble track.  It has provided hours of entertainment since he opened it.



Most years, amidst all of the birthdays, our anniversary on March 14th gets forgotten or pushed aside.  But this year we actually did something to celebrate the 10 eventful years that Paul and I have been married.  My Mom came to share in our March Madness so we took advantage of having a babysitter and spent a night in Louisville where we were able to go to the Temple and enjoy 24 hours without four little kiddos vying for our attention.

As much fun as it is to celebrate three birthdays and an anniversary all with in a two week time frame,  I don't recommend it! Perhaps one of these years we will be really non traditional and spread things out a bit.