today is a special day.

Dear Mommy,

Happy Birthday! I'm so glad that I got to Skype with you, and I hope that you have an amazing day. It's been so hard to be away from you this summer. Ever since my first night here, I've slept with the letter you sent me tucked under my pillow. At night I'll slip my hand underneath the pillow and hold onto the letter, reminding myself that somewhere under the Indiana stars that I haven't seen in too long, I have my mama who loves me. I keep finding myself wishing that I could talk to you, or thinking of something that you would laugh at. I don't miss just the special moments (even though I do miss them like crazy) like the time last winter when we talked for two and a half hours. I miss seeing you every morning, the both of us purposely trying to embarrass Joseph, saying goodnight to you in Dutch. You're so amazing. Everyone thinks so. My friends have all told me multiple times how nice you are, how easy you are to talk to, and how much they trust you. I can't help but feel jealous of them this summer. They get to see you when I don't. But. I'm here, and I'm having a great time. Thanks for letting me come this summer. I have a special birthday present for you when I get back, and I really can't wait to give it to you. :) Love, Katie.

Dear Boy the First:

Happy Birthday! You've gotten bigger since I saw your family last time, and when I got here, I didn't recognize you as the little kid who went to the zoo with my family. Thank you for teaching me how to say pineapple in Arabic and talking about obscure Psych facts with me. I'm so happy for all of the J.R.R Tolkien books you got for your birthday. Out of the seven, there are three I haven't read. I can't wait to read them all! Thanks so much for letting me share your family this summer, and not getting mad at me when I boss you around. :) Love, Katie.

The birthday party today involved cake & ice cream, pizza, Wii, World Cup gear, and goody bags. The goody bags included sparklers. We passed out the remaining bags to the kids after everyone left, salvaged the sparklers from the three extra bags, and headed outside with children, sparklers, and cameras. We went through ninety sparkles in ten minutes. It was beautiful and amazing.



I'm staying up too late.again. It's taking too long to upload the pictures from my camera. I have a book (Tolkien, of course. what else?) that I would love to start before I go to sleep. But it's 11 right now, and it's looking like the pictures and the book will have to wait. So I'll end this the way I end many posts: goodnight.