My 26th Birthday

Despite now being 26 (eek!), I get way too excited about my birthdays. Well, all apart from the growing old bit. (Only 4 years until 30 now, and that thought is absolutely terrifying!) This year, my birthday was on Friday 13th, which always pleases me. Ever since 1998, when my birthday was an INSET day and I got a day off school, I've taken Friday 13th birthdays to be a good omen. This year was no exception, and probably one of my best birthdays yet.

Of course, being a Friday and all, I was at work and some of the kids had brought in lovely presents and gifts. After assembly, I walked back into our classroom to find "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS LASTNAME!" written on the whiteboard. I assumed a couple of the boys at the back of the line had hung back to write it, when I turned around and another boy was walking into the classroom with a massive cake. Behind him was my wonderful teaching assistant, who had come in on her day off to throw me a surprise party.

I hadn't noticed at first that she had decorated the room with birthday banners and a personalised My Little Pony sign for my door, and she was also prepared with candles and matches so I could make a wish. All the children sang happy birthday to me and we shared the cake out between us. One of the boys had even written a little poem to go inside the card that my TA made me, and all the children had signed it. 

 All day, the children were saying "Is this your best birthday ever?". They were so sweet, and determined to make it a special day for me. My teaching assistant even returned again in the afternoon with Cornettos for everyone! I feel very lucky to have such a special TA and wonderful children in my class. 
These are the presents I got from work: A handmade notebook and soap from the child support worker, who I'm very close to (she reminds me of my mum and I remind her of her daughter!) and is very creative, like me. The other teachers and staff in year 3 had a whip round to buy an Accessorize voucher, so I could buy things for my trip to Florida this summer. My wonderful TA, who had already done so much for me, gave me a B keyring, a set of really pretty nose studs and a mini cake. Because we have break duty together and I always forget my whistle, and have to send a child to her to ask the time as I don't have a watch, she also gave me a My Little Pony lanyard to store my whistle and a My Little Pony watch. As you can see, she also made a My Little Pony card. It's a bit of a running joke in my class that I love My Little Pony, so these gifts were so thoughtful! 

From my grandma, I received this lovely retro bag, which will be perfect for my beauty bits in Florida. My brother Jamie bought me the book as he knows I'm fascinated by true crime, and Rich's mum very kindly gave me an Arcadia voucher. 

 Rich truly spoiled me! I received the skater version of the Black Milk Marauders' Dress I love, Gizmo, My Little Pony and #Selfie pants, the entire collection of Harry Potter books (because I'm always losing books here and there), an adorable kawaii tote bag, my own chopsticks, panda Pocky sticks, a billion boxes of Mikado Daim, MAC Happy Go Lucky lipstick, a very cute and fluffy duckling, and a mini alpaca. Phew!

It was such a lovely day, and I feel very, very grateful to have such fantastic people in my life!