My baby is 11 – how did that happen? Haha! We have a tradition of opening up presents birthday morning – no matter our schedule. This means we may have to crawl out of bed a bit earlier to accommodate life but we do it anyway – it’s tradition. There is no complaining or attitude because birthdays are sacred.

Today, was no exception and I rose even earlier to get breakfast sorted to be ahead of the game. My son and I planned to make breakfast cookies today and laid out all the ingredients the night before. Thank you, Oh She Glows, for a 10 minute cookie prep that makes me feel like a rock start mom for feeding my babes healthy food before school.

30 minutes later and the kitchen was filled with cinnamon spice goodness and three kiddos waiting to start the unwrapping ritual. I adore these three who love to doat on one another. Siblings have a special bond and I feel that mine especially do as TCK’s raised abroad. They argue and disagree and have their own unique personalities but underneath all of that is a strong connection to one another.

The offical party is this coming weekend so today was a bit chilled out. We went trampolining and to Build A Bear followed by a Mexican feast with an ice cream sundae bar. At 11 pm I realised we forgot to sing happy birthday to her as we had no cake today. I grabbed my crew and we marched in to her room for a serenade before we all collapsed for the night. She was overjoyed at the thoughtfulness and funny moment of a family singalong in her room so late at night. It was great and it completed the day.