HAPPY BIRTHDAY NILDA!

The kids and I tried to plan a Birthday Party for Nilda - we sort of succeeded. First, I asked them what kind of party we should have:

Jack: "Star Wars, definitely Star Wars!"
Owen: "Ben 10."
Kate: "Princess Party!"

I went up to the only party supply store I know of and unfortunately for Jack and Owen getting the trademarked party-ware seems to be a problem here, at least that is what the shopkeeper told me. All they had was Cars the movie, Dora or Princesses. Kate won. Jack and Owen were not happy.

Next, I asked them what we should serve for dinner.

Jack: "Hamburgers and hot dogs on the barbecue."
Owen: "cheesey-noodles and sausages" (read: mac & cheese with cut up hot dog)
Kate: "Princesses!"

I liked Jack's idea - simple and John likes to BBQ.

We invited our friends the O'Reillys over since they introduced us to Nilda. Betsy came with their sons Magnus and Will, who love Nilda as much as our kids do. Betsy was bringing the cupcakes so we were good to go.

Well, Nilda had a different plan! She arrived on her birthday (September 26 by the way) with fresh fish - tilapia, tuna steaks and shrimp. She also brought her kareoke microphone that hooks up right into our t.v. The kids took turns singing and I didn't do too badly on my rendition of "Dancing Queen."

After singing and feeding the kids some snacks Nilda immediately went to work cooking stir fried noodles, a spicy shrimp stir fry and then BBQ'd the tilapia and tuna. I kept telling her to stop and relax since it was her birthday but she said, "this is my tradition!" She also brought gifts for each of our children - Jack, naturally is a big fan of Nilda's birthday since she gave him a Star Wars lego set!

We had a feast! After dinner we had cupcakes and then it was time for the O'Reilly boys to get home to bed. I told Nilda to go and enjoy the evening with her friends but she said they weren't going out until 11:00 p.m. so she proceeded to clean up after dinner and start laundry despite my every effort to get her to sit down and enjoy her birthday.

We have been so blessed to have Nilda in our lives. She is so wonderful with our kids and takes so much of the housekeeping burdens off of me so I can enjoy London and spend more time with John and the kids. She is like a member of our family now and we hope she will stay with us for as long as we are living here.

Cheers!