Two Birthdays and a Little Laini

Boker Tov;
This month is a special month:
Next week we celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleaven bread.
Last week was my sister younger sister's birthday.
And this week there are two more.
My son Aries who birthday was yesterday and my beloved husband Mark, which is tomorrow.
As everyone who reads our blog knows, in the Reel house, birthdays are a big deal and we celebrate the whole month long.
You don't need a lot of money, just a good imagintion and planning skills.
When I recieve my allowance from Mark, I sit down and write out my budget for the month. Something I learned from my mother. Since this is Mark's birthday month, I began planning a few months ago for this. That way my beloved would have a grand bithday celebration.

Monday, I gave my beloved a peanu tbutter truffle. Next to chocolate, Mark loves peanut butter. So I went and brought Mark his own truffle.

I remember a time he use to look at me like that.
Tuesday, after a visit to my mother's (she had a birthday gift for Mark) I took my beloved out for a surprise birthday supper.

Saffron Indian Bistro is about a year old, I think. We have been about three time already and Mark loved the food.
We had the Mango and spice curry with salmon. Yum.

And yes, there was enough to take home for lunch the next day.

And yesterday, needing a grill to roast the lamb and Mark has been wanting a grill, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Since we have such a small space right now, this is the grill we settled on. As Mark walked away, I called "Mark!"
He turned around.
"Happy birthday, dear." I believe the big smile on his face says it all.

But before we went shopping, a beautiful bit of sunshine filled our home.
My friend Lily had her fourth child, a precious little girl. Lily and her husband asked Mark and I to be g-dparents and if anything happen to them, would we look after their girls.
Of course we would.
And then Lily asked if the baby was a girl, if she could name her little Elayne.
So yesterday, on the same day that years before I held my son for the very first time, I held our g-ddaughter and name sake, Elayne.
I haven't included pictures of us because I don't have permission of the parnets.
But Lily took pictures of Mark and I together with Elayne, which I am having framed this afternoon after hebrew class.
It has been a hard few months. There are things I really wish to write about and one day I shall find a creative way of doing so, and not have to worry about walking about on eggshells.
But holding that wee bit of heaven in my arms, turned sorrow into joy, giving us hope and in a small way, giving us some reasons why we have gone trhough what we have.
So now it is time to finish my coffee, review my hebrew lession and prepare for Mark's next gift.
Blessings