Birthday Numero Cinqo!

In our family, we do not actually have birthDAYs. We have birthday seasons. Perhaps I've mentioned this before.

The reasons for this policy are many, and mostly self-indulgent. But you also can't assure yourself of ONE perfect day on a birthday; there are too many factors that could go wrong. But with a birthday season, given the liberal application of presents and high-calorie goodies, you have a much better shot at success spread over a few days.

Take Her Majesty's birthday season. The actual birthday was a three scant days after my surgery and boy-howdy was I still sore. Did I want to go out to Chuck E Cheese or some other hellacious place and whoop it up? Nope. You bet I didn't.

However, I could ride in a car to the local bakery for the selection of a birthday cake. AND I could later hang out while the cake decorator made it. This was purely fortuitous.

It seems the bakery put down the wrong day for us to pick up Liv's cake. So when we arrived, the decorator had no cake to give us. She did, however, have time on her hands and a glassed-in "exhibition kitchen," so we got to watch while she decorated the cake right before our eyes. This was little short of magical for Olivia, and we, veterans of Food TV, enjoyed it too.

Thereafter, we spread presents out all the way through Sunday, letting her open gifts from us and from Laura Mac every so often. Girliness abounded.

Poor el Freddo. One of our gifts to Liv was a trampoline. He went to great pains to put this enormous contraption together in the cold and snow. When asked her favorite gifts this birthday? Liv asserted that they were: Barbies and lip gloss.

Oh dear.

Tonight was actually the official "birthday season dinner." Sort of like a season finale on TV, I'd say. Since I fell sound asleep this afternoon when I should've been making and cooling custard for homemade ice cream, I flipped through some "cheats" on Food TV's website and found a non-cooked ice cream recipe by Paula Deen which would drop a diabetic in his tracks. It was mighty, mighty good. Bear in mind when making recipes from Paula Deen's oeuvre, that I omitted TWO whole cups of sugar by accident and it was still super rich and sweet. Good grief!

Liv got to lick the ice cream maker paddle and, of course, hilarity ensued.

Anyway, aside from mama sleeping away great portions of every day, it appears to have been a successful FIFTH birthday season!