Jack's Big Birthday Surprise

 This year Jack had a birthday that I will never be able to top.  It came about rather last minute.  Like I normally do for my kids' birthdays, I had already taken the day off and arranged for my friend, a retired teacher, to sub.  About 2 weeks before Jack's birthday, I was talking to my sister and she mentioned wanting to take her youngest son on a trip to Disney World for fall break...just the two of them.  She then disregarded it because of cost, but it put the idea in my mind that maybe Jack and I could meet them there on his birthday.  This was so uncharacteristic of me.  I never do anything spur of the moment without months of planning.  But Dianna said she was on board if I was.  I booked the tickets using my vouchers from our cancelled Vegas trip, arranged for my mom to keep Sam, asked my friend to sub for one more day, and then went about trying to pull off the biggest surprise of Jack's life.

I was so determined to keep this a secret that I didn't even tell Sam or Ellie.  I had Rosie make Disney shirts for us and I ordered Disney masks.  

On Sunday, I told Jack that since Tom couldn't take Monday off for his birthday, were were going to go somewhere to celebrate together.  Because we were all wearing A&M shirts, he assumed we were going to an A&M game.  Even when we pulled up to the airport, he still had no clue where we were.  To be fair, he has only flown once before in his life so he isn't all that familiar with airports.  To say he was surprised when I said we were going on a plane trip would be an understatement.  He kept saying, "I can't believe you are taking me out of state for my birthday!"

When we landed in Orlando, I told him an Uber was picking us up.  Instead, it was my sister and Krew.  

We grabbed dinner at Panera and then checked into our hotel.  He still had no idea what we were doing so I gave him his birthday present that night...inside was his Disney shirt, his magic band, and his Disney mask.  

Monday morning, his actual birthday, we woke up early and were at Magic Kingdom before opening.  We spent the entire day there unntil it closed.  Throughout the day, Jack kept thanking me over and over again.  He said it was his best birthday ever and one he would never forget.

We had to leave for the airport Tuesday morning by 5:00am (4:00am Texas time).  I was tired, my feet had blisters, and I had the worst chafing of my life, but that trip was definitely worth it.  I loved spending quality time with Jack.  And it also reminded me to loosen up, have some fun, and be a little spontaneous.

Dear Jack on your 11th birthday

Dear Jack,

Your 11th birthday was a week ago.  This is the first time I have been late writing a birthday letter, but I had a good excuse...we were at DisneyWorld!  I surprised you with a trip for your birthday and it was the most fun day ever!  I loved spending some one-on-one time with you.  You are good company.

A snapshot of you at 11...you enjoy playing soccer, you still make excellent grades in school, you still love to read, you enjoy sketching, and you absolutely hate to be bored.  

You still love costumes and dressing up.  You also have a great sense of style.  Just this morning, I asked you advice on the clothes I am wearing.  

You continue to be the most empathetic, compassionate kid I have ever met.  I love that so much about you.  Being such a sensitive person sometimes leads to a wide range of emotions...anger, joy, sadness, etc.  You tend to feel things more deeply than your siblings.  I hope you always are as empathetic towards others as you are now.

Jack, words cannot express what an amazing person I think you are.  I hope you know what an integral part of our family you are.  We love you big, Jack-Jack.  Happy birthday.

Love, 

Mom

September - Returning to School during a Pandemic

September brought with it the true end of summer.  For our annual Back-toSchool/End-of-Summer family day, Tom and I took the kids to Every-Bellies.  We ate so much that Sam literally got sick at the restaurant.

Afterwards, we went home and watched the "We Bare Bears" movie together while I did my best to ignore the pile of clean laundry on the couch next to us.

The first say of school arrived and I made my kids pose for early morning (6:00am) pictures.

Picking the boys up on their 1st day of school

September also brought the end of home-church as our building re-opened for modified services.

Ellie started high school this year!  I love that she and Tom are at the same school.  She chose to joing the swim team this year.

September for me was spent either planning lessons or sitting on the sidelines at the soccer fields.  I know which one I preferred!

 

August highlights

 Soccer season resumed at the beginning of August.  After having all organized sports cancelled for so long, it made me so happy to see my kids competing again.

We continued to spend time together with the extended family.  This summer was such a blessing.  With everything shut down or cancel, we all had the time to spend together.  We got together every Sunday for church at Mark's house and would get together frequently during the week to play games.  I am truly going to miss that.

Summer ended much too soon and it was time for Tom and I to return to school...3 weeks before the kids had to return.  We would be teaching both online and in person simultaneously on a brand new platform.  Our lazy days of summer were replaced with hours upon hours of working.

July highlights

July found us craving more outdoor activities...even in the oppressive Houston heat.  We had been cooped up for so long that we wanted to enjoy nature as much as possible.  One day we took the kids to Brazos Bend.  We counted 18 alligators...always a thrill!

4th of July was spent at my brother's house like usual.  We played hard and ate too much...also like usual.  My oldest brother, finally out of quarantine, drove down with his family from Tennessee to join the fun.

#sundaybest with cousins

My parents took Ellie and all the girl cousins to a beach house in Galveston since the cruise they had planned w\with them was cancelled.

Tom and I cancelled our Las Vegas trip and went to Colorado Springs instead.  We explored Garden of the God's and Pike's Peak.

My sister Dianna came for a visit with her family.  We took them to Lake Houston Wilderness Park in an effort to prove to ourselves that Houston also had some nature.

Home church at Grandma and Grandpa's!