Birthday Update

I'm having yet another one of those "if I can just get through this week then life will be quieter" kind of weeks that turns into months... sorry about the lack of updating lately. Usually it is a sign of activity rather than in-activity.....
A quick update for all those who wished Emily a happy birthday on Tuesday - she is now officially 11 and for some reason has decided that 11 is the age to start studying and has been spending most of her spare time doing "self study" - not quite sure what it is all about or how long it will last, but if turning 11 means a sudden interest in studying then I'm all for it... until now she has been more interested in comic books and sleeping!
When the children were small I tried to make their birthdays a really special day - party, food and of course cakes. As they have grown older they have opted for no parties and a special day doing something as a family instead. Unfortunately as they have grown older there is less time to spend with them on their actual birthday if it is a school day so it often gets postponed... in Emily's case to this coming weekend. As I had to work in the evening of her birthday I didn't really get to see her, but did manage to get a cake into the fridge and make a quick treasure hunt for them to find it. She had claimed that she didn't need a cake this year, but apparently it was all she could talk about on the way home from school.... "I wonder what kind of cake Mum has made this year!" etc. My husband is getting good at lighting the candles and singing happy birthday in my absence!
I also never got around to posting about Masaki's birthday... his birthday was in the holidays, but turned into a busy day - starting by picking up Mum from Fukuoka and finishing by picking up Emily off the boat from Oita. A late dinner at a restaurant on the way home followed by cake at home. In past years he has missed out on a proper cake because we have been camping etc. so this year I was determined to make one for him so opted for an icecream cake.... only by the time we got home it was really late and no one really wanted to eat cake and the cake was so hard that it took about half an hour to cut it! Oh well, I guess it is the gesture that counts.
There was also a birthday for Jichan (Tom's father) in between - I am getting pretty good at rushed decoration jobs!
Right - I need to get to Oita to talk to 277 high school students about... to be honest I'm not entirely sure what I am expected to talk to them about! I wish I could learn to say no to stupid requests!!!!