It's Great to Turn Eight!

Big's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year. After a best-of-three thumb wrestling match, it was determined that Big would be allowed to have the day to celebrate. It seems only right-- I mean, I had a Faux Mother's Day, and Mother's Day comes every year, but turning 8 only happens once! I still can't believe that Big is eight!

Having Big's birthday on a weekend day caused us to change up our routine a bit. I still put up the banners and balloons (we made sure to put the animal print balloon right over his chair-- it's the little things)…

...and the cake was the same (for real the same kind that we had 10 days ago for Bud's birthday).

It was the order of things we decided to change. Usually, we eat the birthday dinner, then open gifts, followed by the cake and ice cream. When the kids are in school, the waiting the whole day thing isn't a big deal. Well, and for the other kids being home all day isn't usually a big deal, but Big was dying. He wasn't doing anything to act like he wasn't willing to wait, he just wasn't very good at waiting. :) He was driving all of us crazy with speculation about what he might be getting, he couldn't focus on anything he tried to do to help pass the time because it was his BIRTHDAY and his gifts were staring at him. 

Anyway, so after lunch we put the kid out of his misery and let him open his gifts. The card Edith made for Big was first-- she showed it to me after she made it and said to me earnestly, with her hand on my shoulder, "LOL means laugh out loud." So hilarious.

It was so cute when she "read" the card out loud to him. Her cards always say the best stuff. 

Then it was on to the other gifts. He got a bunch of cool stuff.

It probably won't come as a surprise to people who know Big, but he talks as he opens gifts. :)

Big was super excited to get this sketch pad. He has really been into drawing lately. 

The scooter has definitely been a huge hit. He has been heading out the door early every morning so he can ride his scooter a little bit before he rides it to school. It was especially important, of course, that he leave early the morning after his birthday so he could get used to the balance shift of riding with his backpack on. I love that it has solved the usual problem of end-of-the-school-year-feet-dragging. He's more excited to head out the door to school than he is at the beginning of the school year! It's awesome. 

Anyway, later that day we ate Big's requested dinner of bran muffins with sausage and cheesy scrambled eggs. Yes, the bran muffins really are that good. And then we moved on to the cake and ice cream. It's important to blow out the candles so it's all official, don't you know. 

We sang as Rophone carried the cake to the table, and when he set it down Big immediately closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and blew.

And completely missed. He opened his eyes back up and kind of laughed at himself. 

I told him it was good he missed because he's supposed to pose with the cake first. So, he did. 

Then he took another huge breath and blew, shaking his head vigorously side to side. A new, but surprisingly not completely unsuccessful technique. 

Only one straggler left to take care of after the head shake. Not too bad. 

It's official! Big is 8!! Happy Birthday, Big! We love you!

Faux Mother's Day

Since Big's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, we decided to have a little Faux Mother's Day celebration on Saturday. There's really only enough room for one of us to be special at once. I made sure to accessorize my outfit with all of my Mother's Day bling from years past.

We went to the library like I wanted to do, and then, because it was rainy and cold out, Bud and I decided it would be the perfect day to begin to put together my new puzzle. Perfect rainy day/Faux Mother's Day activities, if you ask me. Here we are looking for the edge pieces:

Rophone and the kids made me a lovely dinner (and the table was even set with goblets!) and gave me some wonderful gifts and cards (and lots of hugs!). I'm so glad that Rophone has such great taste in clothes, because I'm not very good at pretending I like things! :)

Edith made an adorable card and told me she loved me:

Big gave me an essay he wrote in school about why his mom is best. It's good to know he appreciates the things I do around here. :)

He was a little embarrassed about the mistake at the end, but I told him it was okay and that I loved it. 

Bud gave me this beautiful piece of art he created. I love that it even has a built in frame. 

Ginger used water colors to paint me a really cool picture, too. We're going to frame it for the wall.

Truth be told, I spend my life feeling like I'm never good enough-- worried that I'm too critical of my kids, so they don't know I love them; fearful that I'm so caught up in the day-to-day running of the household and our schedule that I don't seem fun; sometimes so resentful of the everyday drudgery of what I do that I worry that my kids only see someone who is bitter and unhappy; afraid that they only see me as someone here to do their laundry and feed them and drive them where they need to go. Not as a real person, maybe. And then Ginger gave me this:

I'm pretty sure I gasped out loud. I said something like, "I didn't know you see these things in me." And then something like, "I'm surprised you see these things about me." And then all the kids chimed in with an enthusiastic, "Why? You are those things!!" I almost burst into tears, but I knew that if I let myself that I'd probably just bawl and bawl and freak the kids out. So, I kept my composure. Although, even just writing about it today brings tears to my eyes.

What a gift. It was exactly what I needed. And I needed all of the other kids to enthusiastically agree like they did, too, acting like they couldn't understand why I didn't believe it because that's exactly what I am. 

This is what being a mom is all about. Happy Faux Mother's Day to me. I'll never forget it.

Doubled Digits

May Day isn't about flowers and Maypoles around here. Nope. It's about Bud's birthday! And this year Bud's birthday was a pretty big deal-- he hit double digits! It's hard to believe he's been alive for 10 whole years and is embarking on his eleventh, but it's true! Bud is one of the most thoughtful, kind, brilliant, and witty kids that I know. He loves to learn and wants to explore the world. We're so happy he's a part of our family.

I whipped up a quick batch of pancakes before sending the kids off to school on the morning of his birthday, just to make it feel more like a birthday. Bud didn't seem too sad about it. Once everyone was gone, Edith and I set about making the lime yogurt cake that Bud requested. It turned out better than ever before, probably because Edith has such a deft hand when it comes to stirring. Then we wrapped up Bud's gifts, with Edith doing the tough job of selecting which papers we would use. Now it was really beginning to look like a birthday around here!

We ate Bud's second choice (fajitas) for dinner, with plans to eat his first choice (lasagna) on Sunday. It ended up being a pretty good deal for him-- getting to have two of his favorite things to eat in one weekend. Dinner was great, but no one lingered too long because everyone was anxious to get to the really good stuff-- presents and cake! 

Bud was trying to save the paper at first, but then I told him to just go for it. So he did. The first two presents he opened were the final two books in a series he likes. Books are always a big hit around here, which I love. 

Then he moved on to a slightly bigger box from his Grandma. It contained a few things he's been really wanting-- a piano manuscript book and a ball maze like the one his cousin, The Wizard, has. He was so excited to receive both things, and he works on the maze for hours at a time, so it was definitely a good purchase.

All done.

No, wait. Maybe not. We had one more present hidden away…

Now that's what he really wanted. Can you tell?

After presents, we moved on to the main event. The big blow out.

Yay, it's official! He's 10! Happy Birthday, Bud, we love you!