Our camera went missing for a while and we were really starting to worry that we'd lost all our pictures of little sister's birthday. I happened to be dusting the top of my dresser and I moved a small paper jewelry box - it felt way too heavy. I opened it and would ya look at that! There was the camera! Whew! So. Here's a few from little sister's birthday.
Opening presents
Blowing out those candles - pretty sure this one is the carrot cake she requested. Girl after my own heart!
Then there was big brother's birthday. He's 7 and I just can't believe it! We
measured him on our wall and he's almost as tall as Big sister was at age
8. My big boy! His requests for his birthday were pancakes. I think
he would've eaten pancakes for every meal if I'd have let him. So we
did pancakes for breakfast, and then everyone got dressed and we went
bowling. Last time it was so crowded it really wasn't that fun, but it
was on a holiday, too. So this time we got there right as they opened,
which was perfect. Only 2 other lanes were being used. The kids had a
blast, and big brother was in heaven. Then we brought Husband home so he could
work on his Elders Quorum lesson in peace and I took the kids to
McDonalds to eat and play in the playland. I love that his requests are
so simple! After McDonalds, we came home and Daddy played MarioParty
with all of them. Best birthday ever as far as big brother is concerned. For
dinner he wanted soup and rolls. Mainly rolls. I can't say no to that,
can I?
Pancakes!!!!
Bowling!!!
I was slightly hopeful that we'd get away with not doing cake on his birthday since it was on a Saturday and we were having the whole family over to celebrate his and big sister's birthdays on Sunday. Nope. He wanted rainbow chip cupcakes. Again, can't say no to that one, can I?
Big sister was thrilled to get to open her presents a little over a week in advance. Spoiled. Thanks to so much family for making these kiddos feel so loved! Big sister's big desires included very specific kinds of sour candy (She loves warheads) and a memory foam pillow.
Big brother had numerous requests, but he was most thrilled with his new Captain America costume. I mean, check out that grin! Little brother had to find his Iron Man costume and join in. They're both so cute, I just don't know which side to root for!
I knew with all the crazy birthday stuff I wouldn't have time to make a cake, so we ordered them each their own small cake form Schmidt's. Yum.
Big Brother
Big Sister
For big sister's birthday, we took her to see the latest Captain America movie. It was pretty
good, and she loved it. We had her birthday party Saturday evening.
She wanted to take her friends to Olive Garden, which was (of course)
yummy. They brought her a little dessert for her birthday afterward,
and also one for me for Mother's Day. That was sweet! I'm always up
for free dessert! Then we went to Schmidt's Pastry Cottage so they
could each pick out their own dessert. Double dessert, My life is
complete. Then I took them to Target and they each got $5 to pick out
their own party favor. It was funny to watch them try to decide what to
get. And then back here where they had a silly string fight in my
backyard.
On Mother's Day I was awoken at 4am with big brother. He has a very painful ear infection. He
just wanted mama to hold him, even though he hurt too much to sleep
(and that was with the ibuprofen, poor baby). He was just writhing around, like he was trying to get away from the hurt and just couldn't. This is the real mom
stuff. My family spoils me on Mother's Day, but I like to put extra
effort into serving them on this day, too. Because it is an honor and a
privilege to be able to do so. Fortunately we got him an antibiotic and by evening he was feeling great and dying to go visit great-grandma. All the grandkiddos love the old
teeter-totter. It's terribly unsafe and oh-so-much fun! Safe
teeter-totters are so boring. I love the lilacs and snowball bushes! And the man in the leather jacket. Man, he's hot, isn't he!It was lovely to celebrate Mother's Day with Husband's sweet grandmother, and of course to visit with our own Mothers.
The day of Big Sister's actual birthday was a Monday full of the classes she does not love so much. Sometimes that's life, eh? Husband took her to IHOP for breakfast and her best friend decorated her locker. I did check her out for a little bit to go to lunch - Her request was Jamba Juice. Then we went and picked up her cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Yum. Yummy. She had to go back to school for a bit, but she seems to have survived. We went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then enjoyed her cake for dessert. We celebrated the heck out of this girl for well over a week, really. It's great to be 12!
That Friday we fulfilled a promise we made 4 years ago. She has been diligently working on getting her Faith in God award. The church used to give them a necklace or something, but now they don't really do anything like that. So we promised her that if she'd complete it, we'd let her pick an "experience." At that time, her request was to go with mom and dad to The Roof. She did earn the award, and she still wanted to go to The Roof, so we got grandma to watch the younger kids and took big sister out to dinner. She loved walking around the grounds on the plaza and around the temple before our reservation time. This pic gives me a tear or two - she looks so grown-up! She was really impressed with the dessert display, especially when they told her there were over 21 different desserts. She was super impressed with the Lion House Rolls, too. She ended up skipping on a few of the desserts so she could have a roll. That child must be related to me. Haha! Afterward, we decided to go on a tour of the Beehive House. We had the place to ourselves and the cute sister missionaries really plugged the beehive program and personal progress. Thanks sisters! Big sister was more into it this time than last time since she's been reading so much about the pioneers lately. It was cool to basically have a private tour!
The next morning we had an appointment to go to the temple with big sister for her first time doing Baptisms for the dead. We were so thrilled that my sister was in town for a short time and that she and 2 of her kids were able to join us. The temple president took a few minutes to talk to big sister and the rest of our group. He told about a Korean woman who is descended from royalty and brings in names from 3,000 BC. Wow. That is amazing! He really emphasized the important work big sister was doing - we'd even managed to find a few family names for her and Gabe to do. It was a beautiful time in the temple, and so wonderful to feel the presence of some of those ancestors and loved ones that have passed on.
Later that day we got to go to big brother's performance with his acting group. Oh, my boy. He performed magnificently!. This is
him riding a "magic carpet" - he's the green blur. I was definitely
more focused on watching him perform than getting great pics. He was a bit late starting the program and so didn't have a line in the script. So they made up 1
line that wasn't in the written script for him. Due to his lack of communication abilities, it was up for debate what that
line was. I'd asked his speech therapist if she could try and get it out of him. Turns out it was "look at you!" Of course he missed the
cue, and basically every kid on stage was saying his name to prompt him.
I think he said it, I'm pretty sure his lips moved. Couldn't
hear him, but an attempt to say it is HUGE! I love that his Up With
Kids family was supportive and helped him say his line and didn't just
let him fail. I love that we've finally found an activity for him that
is helping his speech, building his confidence, and that he finds SO
fun. This boy isn't comfortable in most settings, so him loving this is
amazing.
Yesterday was the spring recital for all my piano students. They all did fantastic. I love watching these kids work hard and succeed. It's awesome. I was so very proud of my own girls. They played some very beautiful music!
little sister played A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
Big Sister played Harry and Ginny - an instrumental song from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movies. First time really using that pedal. It was hard, but she made it sound easy.
And then yesterday afternoon we decided to take the boys on a bike ride to the park. They've both been doing great without training wheels, big brother just isn't as confident. He was stressed about riding so far and I told him I'd run alongside him. That seemed okay, so we headed out. We'd barely made it around the corner and down the street when he started throwing a fit. He hadn't fallen or anything, but anything we said seemed to make it worse. So finally husband just started off with little brother and I started taking big brother back. He threw a bigger fit and said he wanted to go to the park. So off we went. He was doing just fine, not that he would agree with that. We were over halfway there when he started braking every 6 feet. *sigh* At that point I didn't want to turn around, and I wasn't going to carry him or his bike. I knew if he could just get to the park he'd see he could do it. So I just made him keep going. I'm sure to the casual observer I looked like a horrible mother, forcing her terrified son to ride his bike. Unfortunately, there was a rather large family there that had taken over the entire park. Big brother wasn't having that. I was going to try and take him over to one of the free swings, but that many strangers was WAY too much for him. So he collapsed in a heap and wouldn't budge. We decided we'd best just go home. Again, I can't carry him and his bike, so we made him ride. My favorite part of this whole experience was when he decided to brake and jump off his bike right in the middle of the crosswalk. While a car was waiting for us to cross. Oh, I'm sure I just looked like the picture of motherly patience and gentleness. (sarcasm font) My patience was gone because he was purposely sabotaging himself. The kid can ride, and he can ride very well. But for some reason he threw a fit all the way to the park and all the way back. I think he'd have been much better if he'd actually gotten to play. That part didn't help at all. We finally made it home where I collapsed on my bed with the world's largest headache. *sigh* *sigh* Another one of those moments where I just felt so incredibly inadequate to meet his more special needs. He does just fine most days, but every once in a while something happens to make him revert back to his non-verbal fit throwing. It tests my patience beyond it's limits. It is so frustrating when he goes to that unreachable place. I'm still not sure how to help him avoid that, or get out of it when he does go there. Oh, my bucky. I sure love this boy. He drives me absolutely insane, and I'm constantly wondering if I'm doing any good or just failing miserably. But then he usually giggles at me and I'm reminded that he's trying and just as imperfect at it as I am. So I'll keep working on being patient. With both of us.
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