Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Birthdays!!!!


Saturday saw us giddy with excitement over Jonno's birthday. Jonno lives in a family completely obsessed by birthdays, not just our own, but every single person we have ever met. And because we particularly love Jonno, Archie, Hugo and I spent weeks discussing it and making all sorts of difficult decisions so as to ensure him the best possible day ever.
The day began (after he returned from the milking shed - we are all slightly less enthusiastic at the crack of dawn) with a big cooked breakfast and lots of presents (including a pie maker... more about that later).
Cuddles on the trampoline are also a big part of the day. Would you believe that this is our second trampoline. The boys spend every spare moment bouncing and actually wore out the first one. One moment Archie was reaching for the stars and the next, he was swallowed by the earth.
In the afternoon we took Jonno bowling and out for dinner which was kept as a big secret. We had his family jump out from behind a secret hiding spot when we walked in and shout out "Surprise" -it seemed the most appropriate thing for them to say under the circumstances. he had been told they were all busy and wouldn't be able to catch up on the day. Jonno said to me later he felt guilty because while he was surprised, he found it difficult to act surprised. It is very hard when you are somebody who takes everything in your stride to jump out of your skin at the sight of your loved ones in a bowling alley. But, he was surprised.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the pie maker that Hugo gave to Jonno (Jonno loves making pies). Hugo and I are both gluten free and this little man has gone through his whole life without ever having a pie. I have just found some great gluten free pastry in the freezer section of the supermarket (by Pavilion if you are in N.Z.) and so, Jonno and Hugo busied themselves cooking up lots and lots of pies. Can you see the joy in Hugo's face!!! I have to say that they were the best pies I have ever had and if you are gluten free - a pie maker is a must.
Birthday cake... it disappeared very quickly.
Sadly, this bread is not gluten free. Gluten bread for the birthday boy. I made it for him with love and had to cross my fingers that it would taste okay as I couldn't test it.

The last two photos are of what I got up to on the weekend. I am loving knitting stripy socks, the pink is almost a marl and is so beautiful I could eat it.
Lots and lots of love,
Kate xxooxxooxx.