Approaching My Use By Date...?

Earlier this week, I noticed our milk bottle had my birthday as it's use by date... It made me pause and wonder... am I really approaching my use by date as I notch up another year in my 30s? And to be honest... the answer is a resounding *NO*! I have never loved life more... never loved my family more... and never looked forward to the future more than I do at this moment in time... There is so much happening in my life, but I have never been more blessed than now and I am ever, ever grateful for that!

This morning began at our usual 6:30am start... Elizabeth has been counting down 'til my birthday for more than a week... but this morning she seemed to have momentarily forgotten that when she came into my bed for a snuggle... But then Phan (who was attending to Catherine) called her out and next thing you know... she was showering me with pictures and collages she had made.... and giving me lots of birthday hugs and kisses... and then she revealed an awesome birthday card that she, Catherine and Daddy had made for me:





In all honesty... this birthday card is probably my most favourite thing about today... There was so much thought put into it - from Phan getting the speech bubble blackboard (it was also part of my present!), then coordinating to take the photo (he whisked them off into the spare room one night and I knew they were up to something, but I had no idea what!) and then printing and making the card... then inside Elizabeth had drawn a cute little picture of her, me and Catherine... Catherine had drawn a pretty little scribble in it... and Phan had written me a beautiful heart-felt note.. All those things just meant the world to me. I often say that Phan doesn't have a creative bone in his body (and he even admits it too)... but he really surprised me with his ingenuity this year... absolutely awesome and I love him even more for it! The little message on the speech bubble 'Happy Birthday "Mamma"', is also a bit of a joke for us too... Catherine went through a phase of saying "mamamamama", but she hasn't said it for few months now (I think she's forgotten how!) and now everytime we try and get her to say "Mamma", she always says "Dadda"... It's really quite funny! So this was Phan's little way of saying - 'Look... Catherine can say Mamma'... LOL...

Anyway... once I got past the awesome card, I had a big box to open which contained a myriad of gifts of Phan and the girls... The main item being... a film camera! Yes... I know most of you are thinking "What? Film? Isn't that a thing of the past?" But there is just something romantic about film that I find appealing... I mentioned in passing to Phan one night *ages* ago... and apparently he stored that idea away in that brain of his and then did a whole lot researching to locate one that was in excellent condition for me from the US... It came with a 50mm 1.8 and a 70-200mm f4.5... I'm excited to be taking a step into the world of film photography! There was also a coffee cup in the shape of a Canon 24-105mm lens... LOL... hilarious 'cos I initially thought it was a real lens (the box it comes in is so authentic) and I was thinking "I don't really want this lens..."... but then I laughed when I realised what it was!

After I had opened that present we got out of bed and got breakfast going for the girls and I opened my gift from my sister that I have been waiting patiently for a week to open! I had requested "small random kitchen gadget", so she got me "chobs" (handy!)and a cool recipe book stand plus a whole bunch of other yummy goodies (jam and haighs chocolate). I also got my first ever Pandora jewellery ever from Ko and Vinnnie and I can't wait to go and spend my kikki.k voucher from Bao, Ty and the Mitchells! I have been so spoilt!





We had to go drop off Phan's car from some maintenance, then dropped into Woolworths to pick up ingredients for the chocolate cake that Elizabeth and Phan had planned for me... Got home and they got cooking... it was so endearing to watch them labour over this cake for me... (Phan was using a recipe on the ipad for the cake... and notice how the ipad is on a stand? That's the recipe cookbook stand my sister got me... it's awesome that it doubles as an ipad stand... :))





While they were finishing off the cake, I got a call from Vicky who told me to go outside and she drove up with her girls and I got a personal rendition of "Happy Birthday" from her girls, an almond croissant from my favourite cafe and a bunch of lillies... I was so touched (yes, I may have teared up) that she made that little trip out for my birthday!

So after the cake was cooked and Catherine had had a morning nap, we got ready to head out to lunch at the Moray Cafe at New Farm... we discovered this place when Phi came up to visit and they make the best potato hash cakes ever (anyone who knows me will know that I love potatoes!), which I had a craving for when we were thinking of places to go for lunch. It was a delicious lunch!





After lunch, we went to New Farm Park for a play ... No digital photos of this part of our day because I was trying out my film camera... I almost went through a roll of film... it was really fun and got me thinking in a different way... I'll try and use it up this week and put it in for developing... so we'll see if anything worked out at all!

Came home... pottered around the house a bit... made icing for my birthday cake and then Elizabeth and Phan put so much effort into decorating my cake... Phan has discovered he likes wielding a palette knife, so he is responsible for the lovely pink buttercream icing finish on the cake... :o)... Elizabeth is responsible for the 2 lovely red bunnies on the cake (yes she had this planned since last week... she told Phan she wanted to make me a bunny cake and he freaked out at the thought of making a bunny-shaped cake! Lucky, she just wanted to draw me a bunny in icing!)... They are standing on grass and that's clouds in the sky... awesome huh? I loved it!





So that's my birthday in a nutshell... probably one of my favourite birthdays every... I feel so lucky and so loved.