This is how we spent the last day in January, 2012.
At the Zoo.
Here in Chicagoland.
Without coats.
Really.
And it felt GREAT!
And we had the best time with the dolphins! If you want the most amazing Dolphin experience EVER (for free), do this trick.
Stand by the glass in underwater viewing.
Repeatedly drop a penny (or in my case, one of Alana's barrettes) on the ledge by the glass.
The dolphins hear the sound and are attracted to it, so they kept swimming directly to us! They swam right by us, turned around and swam by again, then would swim straight on to look at the barrette. I even picked it up to show them, and they followed it around with their eyes. They made eye contact with us, even SMILED, and blew bubbles up! They -- and WE -- LOVED this dolphin trick, our own private dolphin show!
Date with Steve: Racquetball. No pic. Dang. B/c we look pretty hot in our sweat bands. And my arm is still sore. But we still got it.
Date with Carter: Ice Skating is like riding a bike...no matter how long it's been you always remember HOW MUCH those skates hurt your feet and ankles! Carter wasn't really buying the "Yeah, that's just part of ice skating" line, but he was a great sport.
Date with Addison: The Glow-in-the-Dark sure made golfing THAT much more exciting! Addison is SUCH a positive sport!
Date with Alana:The Carousel and Puppy Store. Doesn't get better than this.
Oh yeah, and this joined our family:
Welcome, Kirby. I look forward to our long and lasting relationship.
and fyi...Steve was just chuckling to himself with all my Kirby comments during the glitter incident the day before. But he stood by his guns for me to open my present. What a guy.
hmmm...how do I begin without disappointing so many? I LOVED your Happy Birthday posts, emails, texts, and phone calls. THANK YOU! And I loved that almost all of you couldn't wait to hear what clever sneaky thing Steve had planned for me this year...and, well....
Call me crazy, but I really told him I just wanted to have "Just Another Birthday", just like everyone else, who lives their birthday day like just another day, with cake and ice cream, a nice dinner, and call it good.
WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY? I think I was. And yes, that means that he stopped planning his surprise Coronado Island Trip (not kidding) so that we could save the money for our Colorado trip this summer. Yes that means that we canceled the massage he had scheduled, and the trampoline party. I just wanted to see what it was like.
So I volunteered in Carter's class, just like every Friday. Then, when I picked up the other kids from my friend's house, they surprised me with a delicious plate of mint chocolate cupcakes! THANKS, Marianne and all you great kids! What I loved best was that she remembered I like to eat my cupcakes flipped upside down (take off the top, and flip it over so the frosting ends up in the middle), so after blowing out the candles, she revealed she had already cut them to ease in the flipping process! I couldn't believe she remembered that!
After lunch we all headed over to Baskin Robbins 31 FLAVORS so I could try all 31...it just seemed like my day to do it! The worker thought it was hilarious and was so accomodating...
Wouldn't you know 31 Flavors REALLY only carries 28!!!! REALLY? Lame! Economy, shmiconomy. And there was one flavor I didn't want to try (pistachio almond, if you're curious), and since 27 is my favorite number anyways, trying 27 flavors on my 31st birthday seemed alright to me.
YES, my favorite Baskin Robbins flavor is STILL Chocolate Peanut Butter.
NO, I have not learned to love Daiquiri Ice (sorry, cheri).
Then we went to the children's museum for an hour before heading home and to the grocery store to buy me some flowers (well, for my cake). So we were gone from 8 AM til 4:30. Got home, put the kids into quiet time (SANITY PLEASE!), I made my cake,
I cleaned up downstairs, Steve got home at 6 (early) when we discovered that Addison and Alana had dumped a can -- and I mean a CAN -- of glitter all over the upstairs. No, not the salt-shaker craft size glitter. I mean the can that you use to REFILL those small little shakers.
"Yes, I'm calling to order the SPARKLE EDITION carpet..." I don't think so, but it sure looks like it. That Kirby vacuum cleaner is looking really good right now.
So we spent the next 1 1/2 hours cleaning that up. Though I like glitter, I now feel like I have sparkles everywhere (you know, like confetti and easter grass, that will never ENTIRELY be cleaned up). Hey, we all need a little bit of pixie dust once in a while.
So by 7:45 we were (finally) out the door to a Mexican restaurant, and then at 9:30 we were at a movie theater for "Tin-Tin".
So there you have it. My official birthday run down.
Now, since today is my BIRTHDAY OBSERVED, I'll have more to share as the day goes on. My plan is to spend some increment of time on a date with each person of my family. Ice skating, painting, I think swimming, etc. Steve and I are going to go play racquetball in a little while.
But in the meantime, I am sequestered in my bedroom listening to the cling and clang of pots and pans below. Lovely.
Just a friendly game of Volleyball(oon) on a Sunday afternoon.
Steve claims he learned the game from an episode of Raising Hope. Sounds like a new parenting program on KBYU, huh. Nope. A sitcom on network TV. That I've never seen. But, hey, if he learns tips like this, such TV can earn extra parenting credit in my book any day.
Addison. Sweet Addison. Just had his birthday and is so proud to be 4!
Of course, he doesn't WAKE UP looking like this: let's get the chronology straight, shall we? THIS is how he wakes up on his birthday:
He went from this...
...to this, with just a tap of the shoulder!
Being super excited to have his first "friends" party this year
we invited 4 super friends over
for a Super-Hero in training party!
Max, Carter, Addison, Jared, Benny, Ollie, & Alana
The strangest thing was that he was insistent that this was a boys-only party. We've never had an issue about this before, he's never really cared, and he adores the girls we play with and that are in his preschool and primary, but for one reason or another, he just insisted that "for this, my FIRST PARTY, there will be only boys, and my next party can also be girls." It was so strange, but it was HIS party! (I'm so sorry, Moms!! Next year, he promised!)
Guests arrived at 3 and went straight to work.
Station One: Design your Cape Emblem.
Printed on iron-on transfer paper, the kids colored in their emblem that said "Addison's Super Friends" using fabric markers. Then, after ironing them onto the capes:
Voila!
Unfortunately, the iron-on didn't work as well as we'd hoped -- and we even tested it out the night before. I don't know why it didn't work. Oh well. But we were all happy in the end! Yes, I sewed them all. Yes, they are reversible red, blue, and gold. Yes, So cool.
Station 2: Make Your Walkie-Talkie
Using floral foam wrapped in tin foil, the kids decorated their "walkie-talkies" with gem stickers for the buttons and pipe cleaners for the antenna. They LOVED this, too! After they were done, they used them to play a rousing game of Dr. Good says...obeying what their super hero boss said, but not obeying what Dr. Bad says.
Station 3: Save the People!
Oh no! There was a giant landslide and the town needs your super-hero help! Save 2 people from the rubble (aka, colored rice).
Take them to the hospital to put bandaids on them, then put them in the ambulance to get better.
Station 4: Save the town!
This just in! Dangerous animals have been injected with evil serum and it is OUR job to stop them from destroying the city!
Perhaps it's a variation on a common bean-bag-toss theme, but it sure was fun to have them knock down at least 3 of the 5 animals lined up on the stairs. And the kids were REALLY GREAT at cheering each other on.
Station 5 and 6 got overlooked on the photography side of things :( But they did a Super Hero Freeze Dance and then kept their kryptonite (a green balloon) up in the air without letting it touch the ground until the song was all done.
And if you think THAT was fun, Station 7 was really the favorite. One kid even tried to sneak one up his shirt to take home for later!
Station 7: Super Kicks and Punches
I got Styrofoam trays from the grocery meat dept.
And the kids punched and kicked them right through with all their super-hero strength!
Addison's super kick!
Yeah, Steve's not kidding here...Ollie gave it ALL HE GOT! Way to go!
Max's super punch!
"What was your favorite part of the party?" EACH and EVERY kid mentioned this one!
A Super-Hero kid's DREAM!
Yes, try this at home.
And then of course, it's on to Cake and Presents time.
Quadruple chocolate cake deliciousness which means:
chocolate cake
with chocolate pudding
with chocolate chips
and double chocolate frosting
and no, that does not equal over kill...it equals amazingness!
And these sparkler candles add SO MUCH pizazz to the usual blow-out-the-candles routine!
I get them at Party City, but sometimes have to ask management to find them (like this time they were stored in the back, but yes they were for sale...hmmm...)
And to wrap it all up,
we finished off the party with our traditional
Parachute and Balloons act.
which eventually turns into a
Look at MY hair
laughing fit, as in:
and this:
And how come this party was Super cool and amazing? Because my super cool husband, Addison's super-dad, planned the whole thing!
He put me in charge of 3 tasks: The cake, the capes, and "go-buy-all-these-materials-no-questions-asked." Done. What a man! What a dad! What a super-dude!
We loved having some of Addie's grandparents over for a birthday dinner (yummy strawberries and whipped cream waffles!) They are all just SO positive and uplifting and make us ALL feel good about ourselves! And they adore Addison, who absolutely adores them!
And to top it off, one more cake, at his request of chocolate chip cookies:
A Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.
Go BYU! The boy is a 4-yr-old Cougar fan!
Quick Addison Stats:
Is starting to learn to read by recognizing his letter sounds and sounding out the words, and can spot an "A for Addie!" a mile away
ADORES his family and brother Carter. He is always sticking up for Carter, loving Carter, and wanting to be with no one else, but Carter, often saying simply, "Because he's my brother!" No doubt they will stick by each other through and through.
Says the FUNNIEST things in normal life, and then we come to find out later that he's adopted it from some random episode of some random show he saw at some random time. For Example: "Wobble-Gobbles" are goggles (from Imagination Movers) and "You can't catch Koko!" he says EVERYTIME he's running or racing! We thought it was so funny! Who's Koko! (ah ha...months later we discover it's from Chuggington!)
Favorite food: Yogurt (have you SEEN this kid and yogurt? I mean, really)
Other favorite food: Rice Krispies
His NOT so favorite food: Snicker Bars ... I know, I can't believe it either. But truly, they make him puke, without fail.
Favorite color (and word, apparently): Indigo
LOVES marbles! To collect, to roll, to play with, to look at, ANYTHING. He LOVES them (Thanks Gma and Gpa for that present! Loves them!)
He is great at puzzles and feels really successful when he does the big ones all by himself (big meaning, you know, relative for a 4-year old -- floor puzzles or 48 pieces, you know)
GREAT at sharing and being a peace maker when needed!
How would YOU respond if the very moment guests were to arrive, your kids came out of the too-quiet room looking like this:
Oh yes, and these were far from "washable". Not quite sharpies, but the markers were on their faces for DAYS, regardless of scrubbings!
So how do you respond? You smile. Say cheese. *click* And plop them in the tub. The only sane solution.
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Or how do you react when you've had a relaxing morning upstairs, taking a little extra "me-time" getting ready, and after you smile at yourself in the mirror, ready to go downstairs and greet the day, you are greeted with this:
While you were getting ready, the kids
a) got themselves up
b) got themselves dressed, albeit in costumes
c) found the party bin and dumped out EVERYTHING
d) streamers, balloons, every piece of confetti on the floor
e) and when they see you they are so excited because according to them it is "party day".
How do you respond? It's your job to remind them that we have to leave for school in 30 minutes. Party pooper. And look at this mess. How do you respond?
Smile.
Say Cheese.
*click*
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How would you respond if when you came home from a date, you found your sons like this:
That's right. Our hearts melted, too.
Though they adore their babysitter, I'm glad they still have each other to comfort during bed times.
We are two ordinary people raising four extraordinary kids in a beautiful house with a gorgeous fence on a beautiful lawn living a fairy-tale life...or something like that.
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At the Fireworks on the Fourth, Carter was really interested to see WHERE and HOW the fireworks were going off. We watched the guys light them and run away fast. I asked him: "So Carter, do you want to be a Firework Technician when you grow up?" "No!", he replied, "That might hurt." ...after watching one they had just lit explode in the sky, he excitedly replied, "I want to be a FIREWORK!" "But Carter, don't you think that might hurt?" "Oh yeah, it WOULD! I think I'll be a truck driver!" ------
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Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition. --Abraham Lincoln
“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” -Sister Marjorie P. Hinckley
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Decide Today to Be the Greatest You!
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
There is inside of you all of the potential to be whatever you want to be -- all of the energy to do whatever you want to do. Imagine yourself as you would like to be, doing what you want to do, and each day, take one step towards your dream. And though at times it may seem too different to continue, hold on to your dream. One morning you will awaken to find that you are the person you dreamed of -- doing what you wanted to do -- simply because you had the courage to believe in your potential and to hold on to your dream.
