Fevers, birthdays and butterflies

On the 9th of August, Noesheen turned five, but that isn't where my story begins. It begins earlier, in-fact a few months earlier, where sitting on my lap as I combed her shoulder length hair Noesheen chatted about everything under the sun in her usual manner, then came the "Muuuummm?"

My well-trained mother ears are knows that tone, the way my title gets dragged out longer than is needed, a request was sure to follow. So I answered, "Yes Sheen".

Just incase I missed the subtle message the first time, she checked again, "Muuuummmmm?" Patience has its virtues you know.

"Yes Sheeeenn".

" I want two cakes for my birthday, a butterfly cake at home and a dinosaur cake for school and the dinosaur has to be a pink dinosaur. Muuummmmm, you can make it?"

"Of course", why not right, after-all after one Sponge-bob Squarepants episode last year, I am a pro at these kind of theme cakes, NOT!

So almost every other day after that day, Noesheen never forgot about the two cakes she was going to have for her birthday.

But this was going to be a damper of all birthdays so far I suppose, since it was going to be the second birthday daddy would miss and her first birthday where she would be sick (hopefully the last as well)

Friday night, we have been counting down the days to the 9th. The icing sugar in bags brought home from the store, the food colours checked and checked again, the eggs bought in trays, the design of the butterfly and the dinosaur cakes carefully etched and re-etched in my minds eye....SHOWTIME?

Apparently not, because that's when things got heated up, literally. Noesheen goes down with a fever, that won't break. There is nothing more tormenting then when my child is ill. There goes the sweet tickle of medicine down her throat, still nothing, not a sign of a sweat bead forming on her body.....this means sleepless nights for both of us.

Saturday....I could see how she fought to be "I am better mum", but her eyes gave it away...there goes more medicine...still nothing...Saturday night comes. Noesheen spends her evening curled up on the sofa under blankets watching George swing through the trees..."watch out for that..." while I bake. Still no sign of the fever breaking....instead we get a lot of throwing up and more medicine.

9th of August...the birthday girl is fast asleep, the fever has subsided for a while. Church?? well only if we could go in our pre-school tee-shirt, I don't think the Lord would mind. So off we go to church and sit through sacrament meeting once again covered in blankets listening to the speaker talk about a kind and loving heavenly father who gives us more than we can imagine. I look at my daughter curled in my arms and say a little prayer. And slowly her eyes pick up its former spark, I smile knowingly..."there comes the sunshine" There is an old Indian saying, "Bhagwan ke ghar mein derr hoti hai undherr nahi" rough translation "In God's house there may be delay but never darkness"

Her grand-aunt has a gift for her after church, a brand new pink umbrella! Prefect gift for an umbrella fetish just turned five-year-old little girl, and so she finds the strength to walk along the streets of Berry Road holding her precious umbrella shielding her self from the beautiful Suva sunshine.

At home she manages a morsel of fried chicken and grandma mashed potatoes and sausages..."my cake???"

Well I have told the story so far, let the link tell you the rest

here you will find pictures of her special turn five day

Oh and that fever....it broke...finally. Is all well? I have hope, we will see. The Dinosaur cake you ask? well I will finish that story tomorrow....or the next day..