My Little Princess' 11th Birthday...

       I spent most of the last few days, and today, chasing the traditions that Kim had built for our bambini...and I have to tell you, I struggled.  Oh, there were times where I felt like I had it under control...and then, there were times where I knew that I did not - and it was not a good feeling - and went through what Kimmy called "pity parties" for myself...mostly toward the end of the night...
      The morning started off well enough - after staying up until 1, preparing gifts and food and cleaning, I woke up at 5:30 to water the new plants in Kimmy's garden and get going on breakfast...The bambini woke up around 6:10 and, of course, Autumn was anxious to open gifts!

Whoa!  A new fedora!

Tonio helps Autumn choose which gifts to open next.

            Betsey, Hadley and Mitch put flamingos and balloons in the front yard early this morning for Autumn. She was thrilled!  What a nice surprise to start her day!  What I would call a 'Kimmy' touch - and that which I sometimes failed to deliver today...   
            Angie and Andrea called while Aut was getting ready for school, to give her birthday wishes - after she talked to each of them, she came to me and told me this was the best birthday ever so far!

Autumn chose to have me bring in Luigi's Italian ice for her class today!  They really enjoyed it!  And Mrs. Rudzena treated them to a little Johnny Tremain while they ate.

Right after her treat, I busted her out of school and we went to Michael's (a horrible store, where I was afraid I would have to slit my wrists!  The lines were long, the merchanding sloppy, hard to shop and overwhelming.  There were at least 10 people in line when we went to check out, having to stand along a long, $1.00 wall...the lady in front of us was so distracted with these 'values', that I finally asked her if we could get in front of her so she could shop this fantastic merchandise...sensing my sarcasm, she declined and moved along...

Autumn wanted to go to Viro's for lunch.

Autumn had, what else? pasta!!! We had a nice time and everybody made a big deal about her birthday!  I took her shopping at Target when we were done and she picked out some neat stuff.

Then, we picked up Lexy at school and met our neighbor Betsey and her daughter, Hadley at home and got ready to head over to the Tucson Mall to Build a Bear.  The girls had so much fun building and accessorizing their bears!

                 Lexy, Autumn and Hadley decide which bears they want to make.

                          Autumn is all smiles having chosen a bear and getting it filled up with fluff, while Lexy and Hadley wait their turn to have their bears brought to life.
                                   
                                Autumn give her new bear a bath at the washing station.

                             And chooses a dress and checks it in the mirror.

                                       Autumn and Lexy create birth certificates for their bears.

All done with their bears!!

Betsey and I took the girls to Justice, where they picked out friendship necklaces...and then to the Disney Store!  Then, it was time to head home to get dinner ready.

I made Italian Wedding soup, angel hair pasta, salad, bread (from Viro's!) and the red velvet cake...I tried to use serving bowls and dishes that Kimmy would have used, did my best to present the food and Autumn seemed happy...

I had two different # 1 candles for the cake to make the 11 for Autumn...she thought this was peculiar...

We sang to her and applauded her...

                         Autumn made her wish, careful not to tell us and successfully blew out the candles!

                         Betsey got the honor of cutting the cake - we did offer it to Andrea, since her sister Janene cut Tonio's First Holy Communion cake.  Amy was the candle lighter.  They said the cake was good, but I found it a little dry...It was fun to try to do all of the special things that Kimmy always did - I pulled off a lot of it, but fell short in other areas...I know what I have to work on.

                           Lexy, Monsi, Mario, Manny, Andrea, and Lupe helped make Autumn's big day special.

Tonio, Mitch, Breanna, Lexy, Hadley, Monsi and Autumn enjoyed the party!

After everyone had gone, the bambini got ready for bed and we went outside to say goodnight to Kimmy...Autumn, once again, told me it was a great birthday. I asked her what had made it so great.  She told me, all of the people who came to the house tonight to eat with us and celebrate with us made it the best...she was so thankful for the company and the thoughtful gifts...

At the end of the day, that was what was most important to Autumn...the big, family style meal, with all of her friends and family there to make her feel loved...like her Mama always did...and I did my best to stay upbeat for her and to make it super special, but, it was a hard day...and I know I could have done better and will work on doing better...

I was glad and relieved that Autumn so appreciated today...thanks to all of you who helped!!

And now, I've nearly gotten the house back to what it was at the beginning of the day...time to step back outside, to look for meaning in the bright stars...

Love,

 Dave