"My SuperBirthday Party"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

Even though Alex had picked out a completely different theme months ago, when it came time to plan his birthday party he insisted he now wanted a "superbirthday" -- i.e. superhero -- party. Who am I to deny what the birthday boy wanted? So off I went to pick out different decorations.

You can't see the details up close, but the birthday boy's banner was accented with the occasional "BAM!" and "POW!"

Just like the tablecloth.

And the cupcakes were full of all his favorite superheroes.

We were very lucky this party came together as well as it did. Mommy got strep throat two days before the party (the worst strep throat I've ever had ... ugh!) and I couldn't get off the couch. Thankfully Daddy and Victoria saved the day. They were my personal superheroes, who took care of baking the cupcakes and putting together any decorations that might touch food (like tablecloths!). Even Alex helped by putting the cupcakes into their wrappers.

The party was at Adventure Zone so all the kids could play and eat pizza ... two of Alex's favorite things. As they arrived they each got to pick out superhero capes!

Remi, Alex, Leon, and Victoria! V wanted a cape the same color as her brother's ;).

These four kids are all in daycare together. They just love playing together!

"Pow!"

Even Baby Raelie got into the supercape action!

Some family members came too. Here is Alex with my Uncle Roger and my dad.

I think he had to explain to Grandpa how old he is now. Big boy!

Grandpa was also the specialist in putting tattoos on.

A-man was full of goofy energy, as always :)

"SuperAlex!"

I sure love that kid.

After pizza, it was time for cake!

"Happy Birthday to you ..."

He couldn't quite blow it out. Not wanting to get any germs on it, I had Didi blow out the candle for him.

"LouLou" our daycare provider brought Remi and Leon to the party. It was such a treat to have her at the party!

Ryan with Eva and Jett (and Cruz)

Time for presents! I love that he wasn't inundated with a ton of new toys. A few things, all exactly perfect for his interests, and just enough to open without everyone getting tired of watching :).

At one moment I looked up and I was so grateful for all these dear kids who came to celebrate with Alex.

Grandma and Grandpa!

I just love him talking with his friends and pointing out all the cool stuff he got!

The kids couldn't wait to go back out and play in the bouncy houses. With fewer kids there as the afternoon went on, Alex finally was ready to brave the play area.

And then, when I saw the big bouncy slide was completely empty, I told Alex and he decided he was brave enough to try it! ... with big sister's help and encouragement.

Victoria is such an awesome big sister!

Here are some videos of them having fun on the big slide.

Slowly, most of our family and friends left. The Moses family, and the Lee family, were the last holdouts. Even after our room reservation was done, we found more games to play, including the "Star Wars Battle Pod" where the kids were mesmerized watching Daddy fly a Star Wars ship.

The next morning, we decided to let Alex open his gifts from Granny Gail and Grandpa Earl. There were some cute clothes that he instinctively knew how to model:

And then, what I think was his favorite gift of all:

A Star Wars backpack just his size! He has since hauled that backpack everywhere, used it to carry toys around the house, modeled it to my coworkers with  an "I am hot stuff" attitude, and even slept with it.

A video of him talking about the backpack:

He also got a glow-in-the-dark Darth Vader baseball cap. Why he thinks he needs to wear it hunting, I don't know ... but check out this video ...

From us, he got a toy spaceship he had long admired at the toy store! And, like Didi, we will be buying him a new bookshelf when we go to Ikea next.

I think the boy had an awesome birthday!

The Christmas of the Shoe Puppy

In my last post, I talked about Christmas Eve. As we all fell asleep that night, there was one thing we all knew. Or at least -- I THOUGHT we all knew. We had talked about it as a family, and come to an agreement. There is no such thing as a "shoe puppy."

I mean, what would such a thing even LOOK like? And why were we even talking about such a mythical creature? It started when Alex went shopping for his sister's Christmas present. That boy can't keep a secret worth anything. The instant he saw Victoria, he wanted to spill the beans. He started to explain, "I bought you ..." and I intercepted him, explaining once again that he couldn't tell her, that it was a surprise. Bursting at the seams, he finally whispered loudly in my ears -- something about buying her a Barbie and REALLY big shoes and a puppy. It didn't quite make sense. Did Barbie come with her own shoes and a puppy? I even took a peek inside the bag. I saw a "Chelsea" doll, and some clothes, but no puppy and certainly no big shoes. How did Alex think he bought his sister shoes? He repeated it -- "mama! Shoes! and a puppy!" Victoria, across the room, said -- "what?? You bought me a SHOE PUPPY? hahaha.

So it became the family joke. We laughed about it every day. The story even grew into a legend. Soon the shoes became enormous. And smelly, apparently. Alex would laugh: "I got you big smelly STINKY shoes! Hahahaha."

At least we prevented him from telling her what he really got her. Ummm ... right?

We'll come back to that later.

In the meantime, we finished our preparations, and celebrated Christmas Eve. We all went to sleep, waiting for Santa to arrive (some of us may have gone to sleep exhausted AFTER Santa's arrival ...

... yawn ...).

And on Christmas morning, it was the kids mommy who was up bright and early. 6:15. For some reason I have never been able to sleep in on Christmas morning! I kept waiting to hear kid voices ... and didn't. I knew I would want to have coffee, and figured no one would want to wait for that, so decided to go downstairs. I got coffee started. Checked facebook. The coffee finished. I poured a cup. Leaned on the kitchen counter, still checking facebook. Texted Adam, who was just getting off of the night shift. Drank a whole cup of coffee. No kids. If they don't wake up soon I'm going to have to wake them up! Who do these kids think they are anyway -- they're not anxious enough! Ha. FINALLY I heard Alex.

Yep, the first thing we did was record a Christmas greeting for uncle Adam.

And here's what happened next, when Alex realized Santa might have come:

We walked downstairs quietly, and Victoria was just getting up:

 

We heard Daddy getting up, and with my second cup of coffee in hand we went to check what Santa had brought.

Santa left Lego tables, hopper balls, and lots of packages for everyone! I love how the kids are checking everything out.

V shows off how to use the hopper balls.

We started with stockings. Of course.

The Flash!

Stampers with our names on them!

Piper: Not only did Mom make me wear this scarf, but now she won't share her chocolate either?

The kids each got a surprise Playmobile figurine.

Precious Victoria realized Santa had forgotten to put something in Piper's stocking. She ran to get a treat, stuck it in the stocking quickly, then "helped" Piper open her stocking.

After stockings, time to see what Santa had left ...

"Legos!!"

Piper had help from V with her gift.

This awesome squeaky/crinkly giraffe toy that she loved to death.

She carried it around the house.

Everywhere.

Constantly chewing on it.

"What do you mean I should take a break?"

The giraffe ended up with a nice size hole. Don't worry. Mommy will sew it up soon.

The kids "played Santa" by handing out everyone's gifts. So fun to watch them be able to read the names on tags!

Victoria stacked her stash neatly under her Lego table. She's not like mommy at all. Ha.

Goofy kid face. He never looks at the camera when he says "cheese." 

Time to start opening!

V got books from the Chunglunds!

Star Wars books from the Chunglunds. We have read at least one of these books every night since.

"I'll open my next one when I'm done with this book."

In fact, Alex played with everything right away, postponing other gifts until we felt he could be torn away from playing.

Victoria had been very excited the few days before Christmas -- about a special gift she had wrapped just for Mommy. I was especially touched and surprised when I opened it. While I had expected a picture of some sort, what I found was this velvet picture of Elsa, which she had received just a few days before at her daycare Christmas party. Here she had just received this as a gift -- and was giving it to ME?! 

Victoria, you are amazing.

I absolutely love this girl for her big heart. So loving!

Both kids showed their caring side related to Piper and her new toy giraffe. Wherever Piper went, they brought her toy.

Star Wars was a big theme this year.

Thank you, Granny Gail and Grandpa Earl!

And now, back to the SHOE PUPPY.

In the pile of presents, Victoria found a tiny package. "To Victoria, From Alex."

At first, questioning eyes. Is this for real?!

A little wind-up toy she had played with at Legacy Toys one night!

And what was it??

A pair of shoes.

With a tiny puppy (mouse? puppy?) inside.

I laughed so hard.

Alex had been right all along! (And Matt, of course, had known, but not said anything.)

The joke was on us!

I think we will always remember the "shoe puppy."

After laughter died down, there was more opening to do.

 

 Interspersed with frequent hugs for mommy (my favorite part about that morning -- all the unasked-for hugs. I am so lucky!).

And more playtime.

Victoria opened her big present from Mommy and Daddy, something she had dreamed about with big eyes at the toy store:

A special Anna doll!

Alex's was a "mote-contoll car! mote-contoll car!"

I loved Alex's response to these fire truck PJs from Granny Gail and Grandpa Earl:

Who says socks aren't cool?? Both kids got socks and loved them. For Alex, it was Star Wars. All tags were removed immediately.

Granny Gail hand sewed these matching hand warmers for the guys. So cool!

 More play time before quick naps ...

I love Christmas morning chaos

Then on to Grandma and Grandpa's. Alex demonstrated his car. (As well as the sweater that Mommy bought, which she thinks makes him VERY handsome.)

We hung out with family.

Enjoyed the Christmas ambiance.

Ate a delicious supper.

And opened presents.

Victoria received an American Girl doll looking just like her. Now Anna has a new best friend, appropriately named Victoria.

My mom opening a Department 56 building

Alex got guys!

Stuff for her American Girl doll

Star Wars guys!

My mom quilted a table runner for me.

A wonderful Christmas. Happy kids ...

And great memories.