I'm going to take some of my own words of wisdom here and bang out a post today rather than waiting until I can compose the perfect entry. November is basically almost over, and if I don't capture the November birthdays soon, it might never happen. And, in this case, like the title says -- done is better than perfect. Hahaha. So let me regale you with Grace-and-Isaac's birthdays extraordinaire!
Grace is up first, and in true Grace fashion, it felt as though her birthday day stretched out to at least a birthday week. If not longer. I'm willing to take some of the blame, however, because I wasn't super on top of things with planning her {family} party this year. What ended up happening, was that we ate at her requested restaurant for her birthday dinner the day of, and she was able to open a couple of presents that I had picked out for her when we got home. A few days later, she opened presents from the rest of the family {gifts which I may or may not have just picked out for them, to save me the hassle of hauling all of the younger ones to the store}, and rather than a true birthday cake complete with theme, she made life easier for me this year by asking for a store-bought cookie cake instead -- which she claims tastes better than homemade. (I beg to differ.)
Shogun was the chosen place.
To close out Grace's birthday recap, I'm going to do her least favorite thing ever and shower her with words of affirmation. Hahahaha. Grace is a character. She is fun, funny, and a huge help with Isaac. She has become a paragon of responsibility this school year now that she's in the driver's seat {literally} and I have been surprised, impressed, and grateful that she has woken herself up for seminary pretty much every morning and gotten herself off to school with Sophie (most of the time) and another couple of friends from church. I thoroughly enjoy hearing all of Grace's commentary on everything she experiences in life -- from school stuff, to friend stuff, to entertainment stuff, and I'm so glad she's a part of our family. 💗
In case you can't tell, most of her "presents" were candy. Hahaha.
Now on to Isaac!! This year we celebrated with a delayed "friend party" that he should have had last year when he turned 5. The pandemic threw a wrench in that plan, so I promised him that this would be the year instead. I decided with a couple of weeks left before his birthday that I wanted to make this party as easy and stress-free as possible for me, so I decided to outsource the whole thing to Chuck E. Cheese. You know -- where a kid can be a kid. Hahahahahahaha. {Does anyone else remember those commercials??} With only a handful of kids along with the earliest time slot for a Saturday morning party, we practically had the whole place to ourselves! And contrary to the norm, the Chuck E. Cheese here in town is easily the nicest, cleanest, and classiest joint I've ever been to in my life. Hahaha. {Seriously though.}
Grace left this sweet little birthday note on the counter for Isaac to see when he woke up.
Poor little lamb -- on his actual birthday day, I got a call from the school nurse around noon saying that he was running a fever and had a headache and felt like he was going to throw up. Which he did, right as he was walking out the door when I got to the school. He had a bag to use, courtesy of the nurse, but it was still gross and he was crying and wanting to just be home already. Thankfully, it was a short-lived bug and he was over it by the time his party rolled around on Saturday morning.
Sophie was sweet enough to take over the cake making duties this year and created a Roblox cake for the birthday boy. Unfortunately, it wasn't finished until late that night so Isaac wasn't able to enjoy it until the next day. Which is probably for the best since he wasn't feeling all that great anyway.
For two full hours, Isaac and company {which included his friends as well as his siblings} had the run of the place and consequently had a blast. Entertaining observations of the morning included watching the parallel play of almost all of the kids he invited, seeing firsthand what a frenetic skee ball player Isaac is, and observing the absolute fear that Chuck E. himself is able to inflict upon many a young child. Luckily for us, Isaac is no longer phased by the giant rat. Hahaha. After the party was over, we headed on home where Isaac opened his presents with just the fam. He seemed pretty tickled by all that he got and spent the rest of the day in a fantastic mood and declared it the best day ever!!
Who IS this kid you may be wondering?? Hahaha. A couple of days before his party, Isaac INSISTED on getting a haircut. I was a little surprised -- his crazy hair is such an iconic Isaac look -- but he wouldn't leave me alone until I got out the clippers and scissors. Here on the home front, we've all decided his haircut makes him look like Ethan 2.0, but Ethan, ironically, thought it was Alex and not Isaac when he first saw the pictures. 😂
Skee ball was always my favorite as a kid. And as an adult, too, if we're being totally honest. Hahahaha.
This size crowd was much more manageable than when Alex had his 8th birthday party here. THAT was pure pandemonium from start to finish.
When your kids swipe your phone...
The ticket blaster was a hit!
Hahahaha
It's hard to believe my baby is now 6! While laying down with him at bedtime the night before his birthday, we spent a long time scrolling through pictures and videos of the day he was born and those first few weeks, and it was such a trip down memory lane. I'm so glad for our little caboose. He certainly makes life more interesting and keeps us on our toes. In short, he is a hilarious and adorable little imp and I wouldn't have him any other way. Hahaha.
Isaac on his birthday eve.
Isaac was super excited about this present that came from grandma and grandpa. His direct quote upon opening it up was: "They are NICE!"
This is his on-demand smile these days.
It's pretty cool, not gonna lie!
