Weekend recap: food, family, and fun

We are at the time of year that always kicks my butt.  Swim, baseball, play rehearsal, track season...all on top of working full time.  Trying to juggle it all makes me a little crazy, but I know life will slow waaaay down in a month.

This past weekend was fun.  My parents, who are in Georgia for their mission, were able to come home for the weekend for my niece's baptism.  We all went to dinner Friday night.  I realized that I never take my kids out to sit-down places anymore when Sam came over mid-meal and asked me, "Is this a restaurant?" 

Saturday morning was Naomi's baptism.  Tom was at the Region track meet Friday and Saturday so he missed all the fun.  The boys were both supposed to have baseball games and Ellie was supposed to go to a debate tournament, but we skipped them so we could be with Naomi on her special day.

That evening, we all got together at my brother's house to swim, play games, and eat lots of food.  A fun family day was just what we all needed.

Celebrating Ellie

Ellie's 12th birthday was, in my opinion, a success.  I had birthday doughnuts ready for her when she woke up.

She still wanted to go to her first period class, Language Arts, because that's her favorite teacher. I dropped Jack and Sam off at the respective schools and then went to my school to get a few things done before picking Ellie up at 8:30 for our day of fun.  Reminiscent of last year, we went to the grocery store so she could pick her favorite foods.  She had invited her cousins and two friends over for dinner, movie, and games that night so we were trying to come up with a meal plan.  Initially, I was just going to order pizza, but Ellie wanted scalloped potatoes.  Then she added pot stickers and ramen noodles.  I asked if she just wanted to make a meal of all her favorite foods, she agreed, and so we added fettuccine alfredo and HEB's homemade tortillas to the mix.  We thought it was pretty funny how all her favorite foods were basically the same color.  We grabbed a cookie cake and ice cream to top it all off and then we went home to hang out until it was time to meet Tom for lunch.  The past couple of years, we have met Tom for lunch at Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Ellie wanted to continue that tradition.

Then, we went home and played video games and relaxed until it was time for her party.

birthday treats from sweet friends

One of the girls commented after seeing the menu that it was the strangest party she had been to, but everyone seemed to enjoy the food. 

Then the girls watched the new Jumanjii and gorged on popcorn and candy.

After the movie, they played games until it was time for me to drive the two friends home (the cousins were sleeping over).

Honestly, it was such a chill party.  Throwing parties for preteens is much less stressful than throwing them for preschoolers!

Dear Ellie at age 12

Dear Ellie,

Today you are 12.  It is hard for me to believe you, my first-born, are already 12.  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was cradling you in my arms, making "choo-choo" noises (thus earning your nickname Choo-Choo), in a desperate attempt to get you to sleep?  Now, here you are, one year shy of being a teenager, and you LOVE to sleep.

This past year, you started middle school.  It has been a bumpy road at times, middle school is never easy, but you are handling it well.  You have maintained straight As, even in your Honors and GT classes.  You have thrown yourself into Theatre - competing in tournaments, doing a lip sync as Elphaba, and soon you will be playing a principle character in your first play.

I have also started relying on you even more at home.  Having you old enough to watch your brothers has been such a huge help.  They look up to you so much.  I know you often get annoyed with them and that you sometimes feel they get more attention than you do.  I hope you know how much I appreciate you and how thankful I am for you.

I have never parented a preteen before, and I worry that I am not doing a very good job of it.  I know that sometimes I am not patient enough, that I get angry too often, and that I need to be more present. I love that you still want to cuddle and watch shows with me.  And even though I grumble, I do like it when you come down each night to talk to your dad and me (but you really do need to go to bed).  I hope you know that nobody loves you as much as I do.  I will always be there for you and I will always love you. No matter what.

I love our tradition of playing hooky for your birthday.  I don't know what you have planned for us today, but I know it will be awesome.  I hope this is your best birthday yet.

Love you forever,
Mom

Easter 2018

Easter was a little different this year in that we had General Conference (something I forgot about when I bought my boys their matching Easter shirts) and Sam's actual birthday.
The boys were up bright and early.  They dragged Ellie out of bed for the Easter egg hunt.

The kids had a healthy breakfast of doughnuts and chocolate bunny.

In between the first and second session of conference, we went over to Dianna's house for Easter dinner with the family.  Then, after the second session, we met up at the park for an egg hunt and to eat the traditional bunny cake.

Dear Sam at Age 5

Dear Sam,

Happy birthday, baby!  It is hard for me to wrap my mind around my youngest being 5 years old.  I like to tell you that I am going to keep you my baby forever.  You always laugh and say, "I'm growing" and then I tell you I am going to stop feeding you and not let you sleep so you won't grow anymore and will stay little forever.  Totally reasonable.

We stopped by the grocery store on the way to school this morning to get a cookie cake for your preschool class (because every kid needs 3 cakes in as many days).  I was wondering at how grown up you were looking, but then I noticed that you had your pants on backwards and your shoes on the wrong feet.  I felt oddly comforted by you still needing me.

This past year has been challenging.  It isn't always easy for you to be the youngest.  You want to be able to do everything your older siblings can do.  You want them to play with you and help you and basically do anything you ask of them.  You are still learning how to ask nicely instead of demanding and yelling.  Honestly, 4 has not been my favorite stage for you, but some things have been completely adorable.  When your daddy leaves for work in the morning, you run into our room and jump into bed with me "to snuggle."  I love that brief period of time where it is just the two of us enjoying each other's company.

Another thing I find adorable is how you like to play near me or your dad.  You will drag your Imaginext buildings and people to whichever room we happen to be in and then you set up shop.  Your imaginative play is fun to watch and to listen to.  You have also developed a love of drawing and coloring. You drew me a picture this morning that showed Daddy and I holding hands with a heart above our heads.  You told me that Daddy was telling me how much he loved me and wanted to marry me.

You are excited about all the letters and numbers you have learned this past year at Montessori.  You can't wait til you start Kindergarten and go to school with Jack.  I made the mistake of telling you at the beginning of the school year that you would go to Jack's school when you were 5.  When you came into my room this morning, one of the first things you asked me was what school you were going to today.  When I informed you that we were going to Montessori, you quickly reminded me that I said you would be going to Jack's school when you were 5 and you are now 5.  That was a fun conversation to have.

Sam the man, you are an awesome kid.  You are smart, funny, willful, stubborn, and loving.  I'm thankful every day for my April Fool's Day baby.  Happy birthday, silly boy.

Love you forever,
Mom

Sam's Scooby Doo Party

Several months ago, Sam informed me that he wanted to have a Scooby Doo party.  Since his actual birthday was on Sunday, and Easter no less, we celebrated on Saturday.  I rented a big bounce house that had a slide attached.  I also found a fun cornhole type game where you throw weighted donuts into an open-mouth.  It was on clearance at Target for 70% off and it made a perfect "Feed Shaggy" station.  Party City discontinued their Scooby party line and I was able to snatch up a "Pin the tag on Scooby" along with several decorations for next to nothing.

For food, I kept it simple and went with hot DOGS and orange and green colored food like paw-shaped Cheetos, green grapes, and carrots.  I also bought the Scooby graham crackers.  Since the party colors were orange, green, and aqua blue, I made blue cupcakes with orange frosting. 

I told myself I wasn't going to do party favors this year since I think they are ridiculous, but I couldn't resist.  Each kid got Scooby fruit snacks, Scooby grahams, a Scooby pencil, and a glow stick lanyard.

It was a fun party to plan.  More importantly (I guess) is that everyone seemed to have a good time!