Birthday Boy Redux

Here's the sad but true story of the finally-got-around-to-having birthday celebration for son number one.  After post-poning for a week and a half, Ethan finally made us commit to having his "party" on Saturday.  Please keep in mind that this is not a "Friend Party" year and therefore the only people who would be there were US.  After my early morning semi-successful long run on Saturday, I came home to Ethan and Scott bonding over American Ninja Warrior.  Knowing that I had a hair appointment that evening at 5, I tried to convince him to switch his celebration to Sunday so that we'd have more time to enjoy it but he would have none of it.  So, after getting the first of MANY loads of laundry started for the day, I tried to convince the girls to come with me to Wal-mart so we could pick out Ethan's presents while Alex was asleep.  I was -- once again -- only semi-successful.  Grace decided she wanted to stay and watch TV and just whispered in my ear what she wanted me to pick out for him on her behalf.  Jane looked like she needed a nap herself, so it fell on Sophie to represent for the family in picking out the rest of the gifts.  

We stopped off at the library first -- probably not the best of ideas in retrospect as we were there almost half an hour and used up pretty much all of Sophie's cooperative behavior -- and then went on over to Wal-mart for what should have been a quick little pit stop.  It was not.  And Sophie was hungry and therefore cranky.  I don't think she had eaten lunch before we left.  After freaking out and melting down about all KINDS of things, we finally got out of there with presents from everyone in the family as well as some ice cream and root beer for a little treat.  {I had thankfully convinced him he didn't need cake, too, since I had already treated him that morning by making the No Bakes he wanted all week long for his breakfast.  Don't judge.  Hahaha.} 

Once I was home, Scott had to run off to do errands of his own for church and unknowingly took all of Ethan's presents along for the ride.  By the time he got back it was after 4 and I had to leave in about half an hour or be late to go and get my hair did.  Scott suggested that the presents didn't need to be wrapped at all and Ethan heartily backed up this idea.  I, however, was flabbergasted and appalled.  Not wrap presents???  Unheard of.  Wrapping presents is one of my most favorite activities of all time.  Due to the serious time constraints, though, the duo managed to convince me that shopping bags would do the trick.  Seriously appalling.  As we gathered in the living room to sing Happy Birthday to Ethan -- who could barely contain his excitement -- it was gratifying to hear Grace's consternation about the unwrapped presents as well.  "Don't worry," I told her -- "When it's time for YOUR birthday I will make sure your presents are wrapped!"  

"The kids" {meaning I} did a fantastic job of choosing Ethan's presents this year.  He was quite excited about all of them.  From Scott and myself, Ethan received Phase 10 Twist -- one of his favorites from his Games Galore class at summer school.  Before we left for Wal-mart, Grace whispered in my ear to buy him a 1000 piece puzzle with donuts on it for her, but there were none to be found.  Instead I chose a 200 piece puzzle with Diary of a Wimpy Kid pictures on it, which I think is probably a bit more doable for him anyway.  Sophie's gift -- at my suggestion -- was a bucket of Legos.  And not the tiny kind, the Duplos kind.  Believe it or not, this was possibly the biggest hit of all.  The inspiration for the present came after seeing all of them fight over our one bucket of Legos while they were "playing" last week.  He was super stoked to have his own.  And rest assured that it has already caused many an outburst since he's had it.  Just imagine phrases such as "That's it -- YOU'RE DEAD!!!!" and "I'm going to kill you!!!" being shouted about as Jane {and others} have tried to play with his Legos, too.

"Jane" chose the card game Rook for him and "Alex" picked out a puzzle stow and go mat which apparently doesn't really work.    That's always fun.  In the midst of all the celebrating, I barely had time to snap a few pictures, scarf down a PBJ, and feed the baby before leaving for my appointment.  I'm told that the Root Beer Floats were enjoyed by all, though, and by the time I got home -- in the POURING rain -- everyone was sound asleep.  Hahahahaha.  Yeah right.  These are MY children we're talking about.  Nonetheless, everyone was at least in BED, and we only entertained a couple of downstairs visits from Sophie before everyone really did fall asleep.  All-in-all a rather successful birthday celebration, don't you think?  Hahaha.  Fortunately Ethan was happy with it and that is ALL that matters.  He's not always so easy to please.  Thankfully, the next 3 birthdays on the horizon {Scott, Alex, and Jane} will only be family celebrations as well and I won't have to work up any kind of "Friend Party" until Grace turns 8 in November!  I am already gearing myself up for that one as Grace has been drawing up her list of invites and all the activities she wants to do with them for a couple of months now.  {There is a reason I can't handle doing "real" parties for each kid's birthday!!!}

To end, here is a video Ethan wanted Grace to take this afternoon.  Enjoy!