Birthday Boy

Another busy week… and another birthday in the family. Yup, we end up celebrating a birthday roughly every five seconds or so…

Tuesday was #3’s- a.k.a. The Boy- 8th birthday.

Ah, this guy. #3 is a sweet, kind little boy with a gentle heart and extreme love for his family. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, his response?

“Oh, mom, you guys are so great and always get me nice things. You can me whatever you want.”

*Heart melts*

And he truly meant it, too. He’s the quiet guy, unless it comes to Wii games. Then, back away. Because you’re liable to get hit, either with a remote, his jumping body, or words of blame for “messing me UP!”.

But his birthday. A chance to highlight the little guy- wheeee!

When each child’s birthday rolls around, I try my best to make their day special. I don’t mean in terms of big, expensive gifts- “we on a budget!”- but I take care to try and make it a memorable day for them. And doing so requires:

decorations. cake. presents. cool wrapping paper. lots of hugs. lots of sugar. lots of pictures taken. lots of sugar. lots of family.

Tuesday was no exception. And the celebration begins the night before, with these:

Cupcakes. Because no kid birthday is complete without sugar & dye, topped with more sugar.

I always decorate our dining room the night before a birthday, so that the birthday child wakes up to a house that’s ready to celebrate. I blame my own mom for this; she had (& still has) a way of making amazing memories by adding just the right touches. So the night before each child’s birthday is a mini-version of Christmas Eve… from a parental perspective. As in:

Wrapping. Yawning. Sneaking gifts out. Yawning. Attempting to hang streamers. Attempting AGAIN to hang streamers. Cursing. Finally going to bed, way too late. And waking up, way too early.

The birthday morning commences with a family breakfast; then the Birthday Boy hauled his cupcakes to school. The kids got back from school, The Captain came home from work, & we enjoyed a family dinner before the grandparents arrived for the good stuff- cake and present time.

We had a moment. One of those moments when you see how awesome kids can be- how genuinely selfless, kind, & loving- and it warms your heart because you think,

“This little person is turning out to be a great human being.”

And depending on the day, you finish that thought with:

“because of ME!” (a good day)

OR:

“in spite of ME!” (a bad day)

#1 and #3 often don’t get along. It’s the typical oil with water scenario. But for #3’s birthday, #1 took it upon herself not only to be nice to him THE WHOLE DAY, but to surprise him with this fantastic homemade card:

So, cake time. Getting six children and their respective grandparents into chairs is sort of like trying to rein in the circus clowns spilling out of their tiny clown car… loud, chaotic, and crowded. But a tuneless rendition of “Happy Birthday” commenced, and no one:

A. was burned by the candles (yes, that’s happened)

B. blew out the candles for the birthday boy (yes, that’s happened, too)

C. spit on the cake while attempting to blow out the candles (because yes, that’s happened too)

Present time was another one of those amazing-kid moments. Because as I said, #3 is a sweet, kind little soul. So before every gift was opened, the gift giver was treated to a warm hug once the card was read. And each and every gift that was opened elicited the same genuine, “Yay! I love (insert gift item here)!” He was thrilled to be the recipient of each and every gift he was given. Those that he could see, anyway. Because whenever someone is celebrating their birthday and opening gifts, personal space becomes limited. Kind of like this:

Big Family= “Hmm. Can I borrow/share/steal this from the birthday boy?”

So as I’ve said, I love my girls and my boys equally. That being said, the tomboy in me LOOOOVES boy toys. So, so fun! There were Ninjago sets. Super Mario games. Loud, colorful swords. Power Ranger gear. Great, great gifts. Everyone liked them. I mean, everyone.

And the best part of the night was when our shy, quiet birthday boy disappeared briefly from the room and re-emerged like this:

No one was spared.

One of the things that I love most about my babies is their comradery. They love to bond with one another, whether it’s through the making of cards, blowing out candles together (if they had their way…), celebrating the unwrapping of gifts together, or a good, old fashioned impromptu Superhero Convention…