Birthdays!

Today is Bora's birthday, and while her cousins may have beat her to the punch, Mabes is very excited to wish her aunt a happy birthday. She was quite disappointed when I told her we couldn't bake her a cake and drive it to her, nor would she be coming over for a party tonight. So yay for Bora. In the last 24 years, the world has been blessed by Laura and her obvious talents, such as her music and just general awesomeness, but let me point out the many silly reasons Laura is fabulous.

(you may have to crank up the volume, Mabes insisted on whispering)

"Sparkler hugs": Okay, this has become and Ostler-girl thing, but Laura has mastered the finger tapping/awkward breathing that make the hug both creepy and hilarious. Stairs: If you're going up the stairs and Laura is behind you, run. And cover your bum. Phone calls: Conversations generally start with "so I don't really have a reason for calling you," but then we end up talking for an hour mainly about food and/or TV. Food is at least mentioned once. Pork: I revere bacon as much as the next girl, but Laura is one of two people I know who dreams of eating a bowl of sausage like she would a bowl of ice cream. And I find this hilarious. Ice cream: it's a food group. Silly walks/prances: I don't have much to say about this, I think it's self explanatory. Humor: While I happen to think our entire family is pretty funny, Laura is exceptionally talented in this area. She has not only mastered the sarcasm necessary as an Ostler, but she is perhaps the best one at being able to take a joke and laugh at herself. I mean, she's put up with being the butt of the same joke for 12 years now, and while that may be mean on our part, I think it just shows how easy-going and fun she is. Happy birthday, Bora.

And I can't post a birthday song for Laura without mentioning my mom. Her birthday was almost two weeks ago, and I didn't post anything for her. Mabes sang to her via Skype, so my mom got to see it. But given that last month was Scream Like a Demon Month, video just wasn't happening. But rather than having Mabes sing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma again, I thought I'd share this:

If you turned up your volume for "Happy Birthday," you may need to turn it down now. About a month or so ago, my mom sent a package including CDs for the entire Primary songbook. Mabes will only let us listen to the CD with "Give Said the Little Stream." Mabes adores this CD, and while I may get a little sick of it, it makes car rides much more bearable. There are enough songs that she doesn't get bored like she does with other CDs we've tried. This is just one of the many reasons my mom is awesome: she always knows what we need. It may seem random at the time--a CD when your kid is crazy, a dress when you have an ovarian cyst, or just listening when nothing is going right--but she knows what will make you feel better. She knows when to give advice and when to hold back and let us make our own decisions. But she's always there, supporting, crying, cheering, sympathizing. I had a boss tell me once that if his kids turned out half as well as I did, he'd be thrilled. Likewise, if I turn out to be half the mother my mom is, I'll consider that a huge accomplishment.