5 Celebrations

Back in February, Andrew started asking the question: "How many months/days til my birthday?" It really did seem far away at the time. And now the day has come and gone, whew. Here is a recap on five ways to celebrate being five years old:

1. Celebrate April/May birthdays with the Brockett's.

He had a hard time understanding that we were going to celebrate his birthday in April when I kept telling him that his birthday was not until May. Oh he didn't resist it, he just didn't understand it.

2. Have a birthday playdate at your house.

I didn't have the energy to put together a blowout party for Andrew so we invited a few of his friends to the house for a playdate. Originally I wanted to do a camping themed party at the park so I went with that concept for the playdate. We set up the tent in the backyard, put out a sandtable filled with plastic snakes and frogs, made corndogs and a smores cake for the kids. They had so much fun running around the backyard and finding hidden plastic bugs everywhere. And it was easy compared to the work it takes to put together a party for all sixteen of his classmates.

3. Celebrate with your family at home.

We had my family, Bob and D, and Angela and Mike over for dinner. I heated up a leftover lasagna from Jordan's First Communion that I had in the freezer . A little salad, some garlic bread and a lemon bundt cake that Andrew requested rounded out the festivities. Our house now has more legos, another light saber and TMNT toys, all of which he loves. (That's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). He was exhausted when he finally went down to sleep that night.

4. Make a birthday cake at Pre-school.

Andrew was snackboy in his class on Friday. He wanted me to bring mini corn dogs, rainbow goldfish, strawberries and strawberry milk for snack. Then we treated the kids to chocolate covered pretzels with sprinkles that we had made the night before. Andrew decorated his cake on the felt board while the kids waited and sang for him. Each of the kids made a birthday wish for him. They wished him everything from a toy elephant, a bike with his name on it, a million power rangers and a doggy. It was so cute to watch.

5. Surprise him with a trip to Disneyland.

Andrew has been asking to go to Disneyland for a while. So yesterday we told them that we were going to Grandma's house to celebrate Mother's Day. The boys were really surprised and happy when we pulled into the parking lot. Sue took Andrew to get his birthday button and he wore it all day. Cast members would say "Happy Birthday Andrew" and he was always amazed that they knew his name. Then he would look down and remember that it was written on his button. But honestly the best part of the day was getting a pack of flour tortillas from the Tortilla Factory as a birthday gift. Fresh, hot tortillas off the press; nothing is better than that. He wanted to spend his Disney dollars on a sword he had seen on a previous trip. When we got to the store he took two swords; one for him and one for Jordan. I loved that he wanted to share his birthday gift with his brother.

Over all, even though we didn't have a big birthday bash we spread the love over days and moments that, we hope, he will never forget. Happy Birthday sweet boy!



To everyone celebrating Mother's Day today, have a wonderful day. I will share my day with pictures and memories tomorrow. (except for the picture from this morning of breakfast in bed ; ), truly not a wonderful sight.)