Seven

We celebrated seven last week. He's been saying he's seven for almost a year now. I'm not sure what his deal with six was, but now he can say it and mean it.

Birthday morning.
Bright and early. (Check out the still black windows.) His face looks like he's squinting from a blinding flash, or in terrible pain from some unseen person pinching him...but this is his "I'm so excited I'm going to burst face."


Then I made him wait for Dad before he could open his presents. Plus since he woke up at the crack of dawn, I think he's still in a little daze.


This is what he'd been asking for for months. Now it is put together, and he only occasionally freaks out when someone messes it up.


Strictly homemade cakes around here now. It's supposed to be a football field, minus the football and the goal posts. I was a little strapped for time. He did love the field though. He's sweet.


Isabela thought to make the posts with the candles, and formed a ball of sorts in the middle. Joaquin counted and noticed there were actually eight candles on his cake. Well, at least there weren't six.


Can you believe we forgot to smash his face in his cake??? He asked about it later and I felt so bad. What kind of parents are we?


So, in honor of our sweet seven year old, I thought I'd share seven interesting facts about him...

1. He likes to sleep with a nightlight on. I mean, he'll scream and leap from his bed if the light goes off without his nightlight on.

2. He wants to be a wild animal vet when he grows up. I see him more of a stunt man, or super hero, myself.

3. He'd probably say his favorite movie is Star Wars. (He's never seen it.)

4. His favorite sports are football and baseball. (He's never played them or even watched a game before.)

5. He can flip onto any cushion from any height. Well, we haven't tried the roof, but I'd bet he'd like to. He flies from the top of steps. He hits the ceiling before he jumps off his bed. I'm just happy we're in a one story house.

6. He can read for many hours straight. I checked out Bonjour Babar the other day...it's a compilation of six Babar stories...he was quiet for hours, took it with him in the car, slept with it at night.... until he'd finished it.

7. He's sweet, sensitive, and caring. Right after he calls you, "Butt", he'll apologize in the most sincere way...and make it up to you with an amazingly set table with folded napkins, tall wine glasses filled with ice water, dimmed lights, arranged silverware, and a precious smile.

We love you, Joaquin. You make us smile, too.

LEGO gift bags

We have a birthday coming up tomorrow. It used to be, moms sent cupcakes or cookies to school to celebrate. But I'm really not sure when that tradition started...I don't remember my mom ever doing that. And I, for one, am glad it's a no-no now. Those teachers don't need 25 kids full of sugar 25 times during the year.

What you can send in is a non-food item. Which is still a little confusing to me...the poor birthday boy is giving everyone else a present on his special day. But it's giving. And I'm all for anything that will help my children be more giving.

So this year...he's into LEGOS. And I found this amazing printable LEGO coloring book here.

I added a different cover for a boy or a girl...sewed the pages together...put them in a ziploc baggie...and added a little phrase on top of the bag. (Sewing paper is my new favorite thing to do.) Of course, I waited until tonight to do most of the work, so I just finished a few hours ago. But I think they turned out cute, and Joaquin is eager to hand them out tomorrow. Here's some pics:

thirty-three

I love Bolivian traditions!! (I was just trying to make it feel more like home for Juan Pablo.)


Of course, the kids wanted in on it, too.


The good thing is there really wasn't much left to eat.


I made these cool streamers real quick with the sewing machine with directions from MADE. These were the only colors I had on hand, so GREAT! they can double for July Fourth.


The rest of the day, except for our delicious steak dinner, was pretty much shot because of my bad mood. I felt much better after we ate cake though.

keeping quiet

Holding my tongue.

Lately, that's been the life lesson I've been failing at. The kids are making decisions, and I'm learning to let them.

I never liked to be in charge, but somehow, as a mom, I've gotten used to deciding when, where, what, and how. And letting that go is hard.

Like when Isabela had her choice to go anywhere for her birthday, she chose Chuck E. Cheese. My mouth dropped open when she said it, but I slowly closed it, trying not to say a word.


It was in that moment that I realized her choices are not going to be the same as mine.

So we played video games.

And eyes glazed over.

And long-sought-after prizes were won!


And although it's a little painful to see her branch off from me, it's also exciting. If I keep quiet, I learn more about her. Who she is inside. Her likes. Her dreams.


So I shush. And I observe. And I admire the precious girl God has placed in my care. From the top of her head, to the tips of her colorful toes.

happy happy day

The world is beautiful with you in it.

Happy birthday, Isabela. You are loved.

celebrating two

Birthdays of the past have always been a huge thing here. I'm not sure how that happened. They evolved over time.
Until some I had even started planning months in advance....remember Mary Poppins? go here...or Star Wars here or even last year's Curious George here.

And while I enjoyed every minute of hand painting decorations and googling games and activities that went with the theme of the party, I decided it was too much. And really, somehow we had stopped celebrating the person who was born that day, and instead celebrated how detailed decorations, food and activities stuck to the theme.

So this year, Juan Pablo and I agreed to do away with parties. Gasp!

And as the date for Diego's second birthday neared, I got a familiar pang of anxiety. I hadn't started planning decorations....and themes were slapping me in my face...like Peter Rabbit, Dr. Seuss, and spring gardens.

Maybe we should give him a party? Maybe it's unfair? Maybe he won't even feel special? My mind was racing with doubt.

His birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we headed off to church. There were the familiar grumbles, and others like "but it's Diego's birthday"....but I wanted to start it off right, so their complaints fell on deaf ears. And even after church, I still hadn't planned what to do. The tentative plan was eat, Rita's ices for free (first day of spring!), and a park.

We agreed on Panera Bread for lunch. The kids love their soup in a bread bowl (and so do I!). As we discussed which park to go to on the way over, I gazed at the gray, cloudy sky and wondered if the rain would decide our plans for us. Ideas were thrown out....Sunday Park. The Wishing Well. The backyard.

Then we thought of Maymont. It's always fun and there's so much to do there...someone voiced a concern that there was no playground, and I quickly replied, "Nature will be your playground." (That turned out to be much more truthful than I thought at the time.)

We ran home to change, grab snacks, and I snuck the wagon in the car while JP wasn't looking. (He never likes to take too much anywhere...doesn't like to carry it later.)

Rita's was surprisingly NOT crowded compared to Sweet Frog's the day before (yeah, we've been celebrating the whole weekend). Five regular ices for $0, can't beat that! We chilled for awhile on the bench, then decided to head on.



Diego caught a snooze on the way over.


When our eyes met the amazing blossoms on this cherry tree as we walked in, it took all of our breaths away. The kids immediately wanted to climb into it's branches, and Isabela eventually lost her fear of falling out as seen in that pained look on her face.


And this boy was unstoppable...now these are the bars of real monkeys.


The tulips were gorgeous in the Italian garden.


Joaquin, get down off of that sundial!


The wagon did present a bit of a challenge going down hills and stone steps. And while I grumbled and got a bit upset when I got stuck with it in the Japanese Gardens, we both agreed it's what made the day so enjoyable. The kids were able to sit and rest on the long hauls, and we could cart all the bags and coats that got flung off during our trek.


The amazing Japanese Gardens....bamboo and it's hidden trails lets the imaginations of kids, big and small, run wild...




...Where koi fish seem like giant sharks...


And there's even time for yoga....



or to take in the beauty of spring.





Joaquin was in his element on this real life rock wall. This is definitely why I limit his intake of movies like Spiderman.



And Karate Kid.


Wouldn't you know, there was even a slide.



And we stared in wonder and contemplation as the longest train in the world went by right when we were at the train tracks. Really, could I have planned a better party?


We passed the bears, the eagles, the children's farm, and the bison...I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, who once numbered 60 million roaming free....


But Diego was amazed.


That's the whole entire park...and the kids were still going strong. (thank you, wagon.)



And I believe I heard it said on the way home, "This was the best day of my life." Spoken for all of us.


Happy Birthday, Diego.

We love two.

We love you.