Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Birthday Alley

J not feeling so well on his 10th birthday--June 8
Everyone--except Me--posing with our 'light saber' rocket blaster water guns
J chose a Star Wars theme for his party
Caleb has definitely figured out how to eat birthday cake
J with the black panther he built, clothed and named with $ from Grandma Kathie and Papa Ed
Caleb's face after chowing down on his own birthday cake on June 14--4 years old
Caleb looks like he really wanted to get into his cake ahead of time

The handsome birthday boy
Caleb enjoying one of his birthday presents
For a few days our kids are stair steps: 10, 11, 12, 13 years old from left to right
On B's birthday he turned 14--posing here with T--on June 18

B chose a Batman theme. We took his cake to church and shared it with everyone after Bible study on Wednesday night

T and S goofing around with 'treasure' coins from T's party game
T's birthday is July 1--here she is with her marvelous mama, yours truly
T chose to have a pinata full of candy and root beer floats rather than ANOTHER birthday cake
Kevin's 47th birthday party at my parent's home--here with Caleb--on July 10
My parents and our family enjoyed a lovely evening on their back patio here in town



Here at our house we are in the midst of what I laughingly refer to as Birthday Alley. In a period of 32 days--beginning on June 8 and ending on July 10--we have 5, yes, FIVE--birthdays.

Our son, J, had hand-written birthday party invitations to 5 of his buddies from school, so he could hand them out before the school-year ended. Unfortunately on Sunday morning June 8 neither he nor B were feeling very well but we all decided to go to church anyway. B proceeded to throw up on his Sunday School table and on himself so I left the class of preschoolers I was teaching in the hands of a capable volunteer (thanks, Pat) and took both B and J home where we camped out in the living room and had TV church. I felt so bad about having to tell the invited guests not to come but I didn't want them to get sick, too. Thankfully, Grandma and Papa (my parents) braved it anyway. I'd bought a 1/2 sheet Star Wars cake so needless to say, there was some left over. We had to save the saber water guns and the water balloons for a later day. J very much enjoyed his PlayMobil knight castle and knight ship. With the $ he received from Grandma Kathie and Papa Ed, he went to Build A Critter and got a black panther (which he named Shasta) complete with a shirt and a "meow" sound and birth certificate.

Caleb's birthday was Saturday, June 14 and he turned 4. Rather than this birthday marking his transfer to an institution, it marked a joyous time surrounded by family and friends. We took his Thomas the Train cake to our annual special needs support group barbecue and we all sang to him. Of course, he didn't really understand what was going on but from the looks of his face afterwards, he must have enjoyed the cake. So far he has received an Alphabet Town by V-Tech and a Little People ride-on bus. I know it isn't traditional to buy birthday gifts over time, but I guess I'm just not being too traditional right now.

One thing I thought was so cool happened on the way to the BBQ. I heard Caleb singing in his carseat, which isn't unusual but this time I thought I recognized some of the words to "Jesus Loves Me". I looked back to his car seat and sure enough, he was accompanying his singing with signs for Jesus and love and Bible.

B's birthday is tomorrow which means another trip to Winco to order a cake. It also means I need to take a picture of B, S, T and J today while they are still 13, 12, 11 and 10.

2 comments:

Tami and Bobby Sisemore Family said...

HI Joy! :) Thanks for the comment on my blog about Noah! :) I have no clue where you heard we had to abadon our adoption. Never! I am so so excited and anxious for our travel date to come SOON! Blessings and hugs to yall,
Tami
tillGodbringsthemhome.blogspot.com

Dolores said...

Wow, I have sympathies and happiness together for you on the "birthday alley". We have four birthdays in July and four in November! Hard to keep up when they come all together, isn't it. ;o) Happy Birthdays everybody!
Dolores