Birthdays, Birds and Burns

I've resisted starting a blog because most people quit after a few postings, which is probably what will happen with me. But I'll give it a try and this first posting will explain why this blog is called what it is.

There's a Chinese idiom 雞飛狗跳, which roughly translated, means, "flying chickens and jumping dogs", and describes an out-of-control situation where everything and everyone is going crazy. This sort of describes our family life sometimes, and probably many of yours. But I find that despite all the busy activities, things usually work out well in the end, especially when the family pulls together to help. The following is a good example.

Last Monday afternoon, we made last-minute plans (we don't have any other type) to have Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner and a small party for Rami's tenth birthday. Stephanie scrambled to make a simple dinner of Costco potstickers and Costco pizza (to which I'd added Costco spinach and Costco artichokes) while Aarim helped shuttle Amria to and from piano lessons while everyone helped get the house in order while I sat at work hoping all was going well.

After an initial exciting moment when Grandpa explained to Rami that they'd brought him some presents but his birthday wasn't actually until the next day and Rami misunderstood and started crying and we had to explain he'd still get his presents that day, we had a nice dinner. As a child with Down Syndrome, Rami sometimes perceives things differently than other people.

Rami enjoyed opening all his presents and thanking Grandpa for each of them, even though some were from us. He even got a toy dog that looks just like Autumn. Then we brought cupcakes with ten candles and Rami blew out each one individually and he was really happy.

After that, Amria put together more cupcakes and candles for Grandma's upcoming birthday. Stephanie tried helping her, but she said, "Mom, I'm twelve years old, I can do this myself." Then she entered the room and everyone sang, ". . . happy birthday dear Rami . . . " "No, this is for Grandma!" "Oh, . . . dear Grandma . . . " I recorded it while Stephanie snapped pictures, and she bumped into the bird cage causing Tiki and Chi Chi to fly all around the room. Then Autumn saw the cupcakes and jumped all over the place trying to get them. And Amria hurriedly put the cupcakes down and yelled out, "Mom, I burned my finger."

But in the end, we all had a good time and ate potstickers and cupcakes and opened presents and put aloe vera on Amria's finger. And the soaring birds returned to their cage while the leaping dog gnawed her rawhide bone.