Mother's Day Presents

Mother's Day was this past Sunday here in the U.K. I didn't actually get my gifts from Syrina until Tuesday, but that was because I'd had to keep her home the Friday before (she's not been doing too great lately - nothing serious, just kind of "blah").

I got this lovely potted plant and some chocolate cakes - those are LONG gone, of course!

If this plant is anything like the last one she gave me, it'll be around for a while. Two years ago, she gave me a potted hyacinth for Mother's Day. It was fine for a while, but then it seemed to die off. I stuck it in the back garden with the intent of cleaning out the pot to use for something else, but back in January I happened to look out the window while I was washing the dishes, and I saw green things coming out of the pot. The shoots are now about 8 inches high, and there are lovely pink flowers coming out of it as well!!!! I thought the darned thing was dead!

I don't think Syrina's paint job on this pot is going to last very long, though. I've already had a bunch of paint come off on my fingers when I was trying to water it. It's just water-based paint, the kind the kids always use at school, so I'm not surprised. But that's one of the reasons I wanted to get a picture of it. At least this way I can remember what it originally looked like, even if it's not going to last very long.

Birthday Party!!

I wrote this on Word last night... for some reason my computer wouldn't connect to the internet. I tried like 3 or 4 times, but it just wouldn't do it. *grumble, grumble*

We had the birthday party, as planned. But wouldn’t you know it… Syrina was too tired to be bothered with anything! I don’t know if she’s still not feeling well, if she’s having a hard time adjusting to her school schedule after having 2 days off, or if it’s just that she’s had a busy couple of days at school. Maybe it’s a combination. She DID have a busy couple of days, though… Thursday was her birthday party at school, and today (Friday), her friend Tommy had a birthday party. Tommy has Down’s Syndrome, and has been in her class since Sunningdale (as were most of the kids in her class right now). I think there might be a pic or two of him on her photobucket page.

I made an “experimental” cake. See, I’d bought a cheap-o store brand box of brownies just to try out – simply because it was less than half the price of the Betty Crocker ones (you have NO idea how excited I was the first time I saw Betty Crocker Brownie Mix!!! *lol*). They weren’t all that good… but on the side of the box was a recipe for a brownie cheesecake! That sounded SO yummy that I just HAD to try making it. And since Syrina’s and Blake’s birthdays were coming up, I figured it would be a perfect time to try it. It went over like a charm. Even Caitlin’s friend Natasha – who was here for the party – said that it was the “best cake [she] ever had!” *lol* And even as tired as Syrina was, she sat up long enough to have a piece of cake… and then went right back to sleep.

She was too tired to come and help blow out the candles, though. That’s why there’s a blurry (sorry ‘bout that) picture of her lying in bed. She couldn’t be bothered to get up. Caitlin even asked her “do you want to come blow out your candles?” Syrina shook her head “no” at her! *lol*

Vicci came back for the party. Chloe had a great time “doing” her hair. *lol* She mainly just brushed it and put little ponytails in it, but she sat here on the couch with her for a couple of hours just doing Vicci’s hair.

Grandma sent birthday cards for both Syrina and Blake, with $20 each in them. They arrived today – perfect!!! – so I took the money into town, exchanged it for ££s, and went shopping for them. Blake got some mountain climbing gear, and Syrina got a cute pair of boots.

I really wanted to get Syrina a nice warm pair of pj’s for her birthday. She has one pair – but ONLY one – and she really could use some more. The funny thing is, this kid has pj’s coming out the ying-yang, but only ONE pair of WARM pj’s. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any in her size. Oh, I found warm pj’s alright… but only in the terror twins’ (Lexi & Chloe’s) sizes (and they happened to be on sale – 2 for £6, so I did get them for the TT). So I wandered around, trying to find something nice for her, and that’s when I saw this sweater. It’s “SO in fashion” right now, and I thought it would look absolutely adorable on her. Not to mention the color – brown – which means that even if she happens to drool food on herself, it’s not going to be all that noticeable – if at all. And it matches the boots perfectly! Now she just needs a nice pair of leggings and she’ll look like a fashion model!

Methinks I might put her in her new sweater and boots for her appointment on Tuesday. Why the heck not, right? :)

12th Birthday!!!

It's Syrina's 12th Birthday!!!

It's been kind of uneventful... unfortunately Mom & Dad can't afford to give her a birthday party... YET. We get paid tomorrow, though, so we're having pizza & cake for her after school tomorrow.

She did get a mini-party at school today, though. She had cake &
food with her friends. The school sent home pictures of it. Apparently she had a good time. :)

Aunt Vicci came over at dinner time, and brought her a little present. Unfortunately, Syrina being the way she is, it's hard to buy presents for her. There isn't a whole lot she's really interested in. And it's not like she can tell us what she wants for her birthday, either!



But Maltesers are one of the few sweets she really DOES like. (She's not all that big on sweets - she'd rather have fruit. Seriously.)

As you can see, she was ready for bed early tonight. She hasn't been feeling all that well this week. She stayed home from school Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday she slept all day at school and woke up to have a seizure. :( Not good. So I kept her home Tuesday - but I had to take her out with me when I took her sisters to and from school. Daddy was at his first day of college!

She did remarkably well. The hardest part was getting her in her wheelchair. (It confuses her until she actually gets her butt in the seat - THEN she knows what we're trying to do.)

She even kept her hat on while we were out!! This kid HATES hats - and anything else that goes on a person's head. But she never messed with it while we were out. It wasn't until we got back home and IN the house that she pulled it off and tossed it on the couch! *lol*

Wednesday, I thought she'd be okay going back to school. She was still asleep when I went in the kitchen to make breakfast, but I figured she'd wake up as soon as she smelled the toast (which is what usually happens). Nope. So I go in her room and wake her up. She looks at me like "what do you WANT?" So I show her the food. No response. WHAT?! Usually, as soon as she sees food, she literally BOUNCES out of bed. So I tried pulling her off the bed. No go. She yanked her hands out of mine and lay down... and went back to sleep.

This is EXTREMELY unusual behavior for her... so I figured, if she's THAT tired... she can stay home again. (Daddy was off college that day, so I didn't have to drag her with me.)

So today was her first day back at school since Monday. Apparently she had a good day, but I think it wore her out. As soon as she had dinner, she looked ready for bed. So I changed her and put her in her jammies... and THEN I thought maybe I should take a picture of her ON her birthday. So she ends up with a birthday picture in her pink fuzzy jammies. Oh well... better than no pic at all!!!