Birthday Marathon

Welcome to the season of the year our family affectionately refers to as "Birthday Marathon." This is a season that occurs from just after New Year's until April 23rd. This is the time when birthdays come one right after another, like the contractions of a woman far into labor...and then....boom! Birthday! First we have Justin. He will be 7 this year on Friday which is exactly one month after Christmas. This creates a shopping challenge, but we keep it small. Katherine will soon follow as she will be 11 on February 5th. Karissa will finally be a teenager on March 12th. She really gets a party this year, and has been talking about it since her birthday last year. Sandwiched in there is our wedding anniversary. Fifteen years on March 20. I can't believe it, but an unnamed number of pounds, backaches, and dark circles under the eyes don't lie. (no grey hair yet, praise the Lord)We end this season on April 23rd with Paul's birthday. He doesn't want me to reveal his age, but there is still a 3 in the ten's place for 2 more years. I am quite relieved that my birthday is in July. It gives everyone time to plan the sweet ways they will thank me for all the planning and baking I've just done for 6 months straight. (since we can tack Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's onto this just to make me look more angelic.) Of course, I think it is no accident that God planted Mother's Day just a couple of weeks after the last day of the marathon! ;-)