Kaira was a very excited princess when the big day finally arrived.  We were were joined by Lady Beverly, Sir Richard, the Bowman James, Lady Lorelle, the beautiful princess Kaitlyn, and the delightful jester Sirhc!  The games were underway when the Royal executioner showed up, escorting a servant girl he had found fleeing the Manor of Lord S and Lady K. 

The servant girl threw herself to the ground and begged the princess for mercy, and the executioner inquired what should be done with the servant, who was no doubt an accomplice in helping the Lord and Lady escape.  Kaira looked upon the groveling servant girl in mercy and answered the executioner emphatically, "Let her have fun!" 

And so, have fun we did.  The games included a quest for the grail, tests of archery, musical chairs, and tiara and shield making.  James the Bowman provided a demonstration of his skill, putting arrows through our bales with such force that we found broken shafts the next day!  The Lady Lorelle even brought along her pet draglet, whom Kaira took to immediately. 

Kaira's cousins attempted to present her with her very own prince, (who had journeyed all the way from Prague) but alas, her mischievous cousin, the wee jester Sirhc had enchanted the poor fellow and turned the Prague Prince into a Frog Prince.  The counter enchantment required she recite "Prairie Frog Fairy Prince" seven times in succession before kissing him three times.  (Seven plus three adding up to ten--her age, of course!)  Poor Kaira failed to recite it properly each time, and he remained amphibious.  Fortunately the fellow seems content to remain a pet.  (She's too young for a real prince anyway, so I'm secretly relieved.)

"Kenneth O'Laughlan" read the Fools Prayer, and the wee jester Sirhc did a Sirhcus act for us!  We feasted on shish kabob and raspberry cream filled cake. 

I should have required a few guests stand still for a quick photo op.  I didn't manage to capture my niece and nephew's beautiful costumes as fully as I'd like, and somehow the Lady Beverly managed to avoid the camera lens.  I also neglected to capture my own wee knights, Sir Keegan and Sir Kieran before they shed their armor.  (And, I was behind the camera instead of in front of it.  Which is all very good and well.)

A good time was had by all!  Huzzah!

After mailing out the invitations, Kaira was delighted to see her courtiers respond.  Here are a couple of the more interesting replies:

To the Attention of Princess Kaira,

It is my grievous duty to bring a matter of utmost importance to your attention. Reliable sources have informed me that the party invitees of (Lastname) Manor are planning to be late for the festivities. Such blatant disrespect for the royal Princess needs to be dealt with quickly and harshly to keep order in the kindgdom.  Therefore, on the appointed date, I will personally apprehend the culprits and bring them in haste for you to make a ruling on their punishment. I pray this will not cause too much disruption in the roayl festivities.

Signed in my own hand

X

His Majesty's Royal Executioner

And a little later, from her Aunt:

She sent invitations: sealed in wax, and delivered by national courior:



Most PrairieFrog birthdays are quiet affairs, with just our own little family.  Every ten years, however, for the entire duration of their childhood, we'll treat each child to a party with other guests! 

This year, as Kaira celebrated the completion of her first decade,  we hosted our first such event! 

I'll confess that the date gave me pause.  Although we do give a nod to Reformation day, the 31st of October is typically just another day for us.  We don't recognize the event our neighbors celebrate, or do any "alternatives".  But, with Kaira's birthday falling on Sunday, the day prior became a perfect choice.  (I think we've celebrated Ken's birthday on that date as well--He was born on October 29th--but it was a quiet family affair.)  Hosting a costume party on the 31st was new for me!

Stay tuned, for the courtiers' responses!

As I was still waking up, I was greeted by strains "Christ the Lord is Risen Today!" coming from the girls room, as they cheerily donned their dresses.

The tomb is empty, our Lord Lives, and has paid the sacrifice!

He is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed!

It has been two weeks since Kieran’s birthday, and I’m only now getting pictures uploaded! Fortunately I found enough hard-drive space to support my photo habit for a few more months! (I took him out for a birthday photo shoot as well, and hope to share some of those here soon too.)

It was a typical PrairieFrog Party–a quiet celebration at home with siblings, a meal of the celebrant’s choice (with some guess-work in this case, as Kieran’s not yet very verbal), cake, and lots of love.

He was showered with handmade cards from his siblings, and gifs of vehicles as well as a Corduroy stuffed bear (both a full size and a tiny "keychain" sized to decorate the package) and of course a Corduroy book. (Slight ranting tangent: I was flabbergasted at the stuffed bear. The buttons on his overalls are embroidered on over velcro! I was honestly quite outraged, as the buttons are so central to the story! Kierie loves his bear though, and I’ve bitten my tongue about it being a sad fake.)

I’m off to change my sidebar stats to reflect that my baby boy is two years old!

Happy birthday, Kieran! You bring our family such joy with you quick smile and lively ways!

Continuing in our mad birthday dash, Kendra celebrated 7 years on Saturday!

She planned her birthday menu in detail, requesting:

grilled marinaded salmon

grilled steak

seasoned rice

corn

a fruit bowl (specifically mango, apple and banana)

chocolate milk

and black forest cake!

Always eager to help in the kitchen, she mixed up the filling for her cake.   It was delicious!



At first I wondered if "seven" was to be a serious and solemn year...

We celebrated Keegan's birthday yesterday!  His birthday menu requests were: peach smoothie, homemade pizza supreme, green beans, and blueberry snack cake.  He donned an imaginary chef hat (I've got to get him a real one), and helped make both the pizza and the cake!

His smile is ever-present (or almost) and lights up my heart!   If anyone is hurt, sick, or sad, he's ready with a hug and a prayer.  Even in the middle of making his birthday pizza, he asked to pause for a moment to go hug Kieran, who was frustrated or impatient about something and had given a cry of protest. 

His presents were primarily things with wheels--tractors in particular.  Even the bear kit that he gets to stuff  was a John Dere theme.  I'll have to get a picture of him with his bear by our little tractor.

Happy Birthday, Keegan--my big four year old boy! 

Kendra lost one of her "front and center" teeth during the Thanksgiving meal, and the other one wasn't far behind.  After much wiggling it fell out today! 

As I type she's singing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

My Keianna turned five!  We seem to be in an odd trend on birthdays.  Kaira had a misserable flu bug on her birthday.  After that made the rounds, we PrairieFrogs have enjoyed great health--until the next birthday.  Poor little Keianna woke up on her birthday  morning with her eyes and nose streaming--she'd caught a cold. 

Always a trooper, she insisted she was well enough for cake and presents--and for her birthday menu.  The theme of Kaira's birthday seemed to be buttery, while Keianna had a sweet tooth this year.  She chose meatballs with sweet and sour sauce (more sweet than sour!), acorn squash (with sweet maple syrup!), and sweet, hot, apple cider for the beverage.  After the main meal's sweetness, I wasn't sure my tongue could handle the cake!

Having a cold made her bleary-eyed and off kilter.  See--even in the picture she's blurry and off kilter!  I've had days like that...

She was indeed well enough to open and enjoy her presents.  Her doll from Grandma Kay (a Gotz American Girl type doll) has barely left her side.  She named it Noelle--borrowing from her own middle name.  Ken and I gave her a "Loving Family" dollhouse, and my parents gave her people for it!  Several hours a day have been spent deep in play with her new toys!   

And it was a nice day to snuggle with Daddy.  (There's no better place when you are five years old and have a cold on your birthday!)

Her birthday photo-shoot has been postponed until she (and I) are over the sniffles.  It wasn't a great day for nice portraits.  In the meantime, here's a shot of Keianna from last week:

Happy birthday, Keianna Noelle!  Born a week before Christmas, you are our precious Christmas Song.  We love you and thank Jesus for the blessings you bring each day!

Ken's been off this week, which has been wonderfully refreshing!  We've been enjoying our little "stay-cation."

I know most people carve pumpkins in late October, but we save it for Thanksgiving, and carve the turkey in a more novel way!

I'm such a bad blogger, I never posted pictures from Kaira's birthday week!  We had a bout of sickness run through the ranks that week, so her "party" (just a simple family thing) was spread out over several days.  We've been well for weeks now, but somehow life has trotted on with happy busy productivity, and I never came back to post pictures!

Here's my Kaira with her packages and her birthday bouquet!  (We purchased the flowers prior to her photo shoot outing!)

Opening her present from Grandma and Grandpa:

A beautiful watch! 

(Which she's only taken off for baths since...)

A little doll from us

(And if you look closely you'll see she's already wearing the watch.)

                                                                                    
                                                                                              Glasses for her doll, Kalissa

Then her main present from us: a new bike!  A fancy one, more expensive than any I've owned!  She was so proud to go to the bikeshop with her daddy to pick it out. It should last her many years--it supposedly fits from her height up to just an inch below mine, but I can ride it fine. 

It was pitch black when they got home at night from buying it, but she had to ride it immediately.  She couldn't wait for morning.

Of course right after breakfast the next morning she was out riding again:

Then for her birthday meal she chose Lobster-dipped in drawn butter, acorn squash with butter and brown sugar and cinnamon, and corn-with butter.

Mmm!  It was... buttery!  I didn't happen to photograph the food, we just ate it!  It was delicious--rich, but delicious!

For desert she'd requested a doll tea-party.  Each of her siblings chose a doll or stuffed animal to bring to the party!

 (And I just edited my sidebar to reflect that she is now 9!)

Here's a few shots of our party.  I was busy chasing children and hostessing, and didn't take many pictures, but we enjoyed good food, extended family, cooking over the fire-pit (roasted apples, brats, and s'mores, oh my!), fireworks, and tractor rides for little boys!  (My nephew was especially excited about the tractor ride!)

Tomorrow is the 4th of July!   Having just studied the American War for Independence and the founding of our beautiful country, my daughters have new appreciation for our celebration.  Freedom has been a resounding theme around our home, and our hearts are full of gratitude.

If we grow complacent in our freedom, we are already enslaved.  

Let freedom ring!   (And have a spectacular holiday!)

(But we had fun!)


Saturday we celebrated Purim.  It is supposed to be in the Jewish month of Adar... which was in March.  I believe the actual Purim date fell on Good Friday, or thereabouts this year.  It didn't work for us, so since we aren't Jewish, we took creative licence with the date. 

The Jews were commanded to remember Queen Esther's brave sacrifice each year.  We decided to make it a family tradition as well because it is a wonderfully rich story and a lot of fun.  

We began with baking.  Kendra and her daddy worked on bread for dinner: (This had no special Purim significance... we just needed bread.)

Everyone took turns helping me make hamentashen.  (Hamentashen are three cornered hat cookies that are supposed to represent Hamen's hat.)  If anyone knows where the tradition of a tricorn hat for Hamen came about (although I'm assuming it is a more Persian styled tricorn), I'd be eager to know.  It isn't in the scriptural account, but may have some historic basis?


While we bake we sing the Hamen's hat song. 

"His hat it had three corners, three corners had his hat, and had it not three corners, it wouldn't be Hamen's hat!"

Next Ken reads the entire book of Esther (which isn't long)  Here he is with the boys just before the reading.  I love their Batik frog outfits!

Then the children act out the story.  Here's Queen Vashti just before her banishment.

King Ahasuerus with his Queen Esthers (Yes, our version had twin Esthers...)

In the quiet of the afternoon the children colored pictures of Esther and the older girls did some word searches and other Purim activity sheets.  An Esther movie is also tradition here, and they munched hamentashen while watching. 

And finally we conclude the day with a feast of... ham and bean soup.  Yes, very inappropriate and entirely unkosher.  Usually I do leg of lamb or something, but um... well... uh...