Every parent who has a five year old has been to Pump It Up more times than they can count. And, if that five year old is a second child, you almost start to dread opening party invitations. But, kids never tire of this place, and they love it. Although Cole initially wanted to have his birthday party at home, with the number of kids he wanted to invite, I encouraged him to choose a destination, and he finally agreed. And, he was was so excited about his big day--he counted down the days every day for the last week! It turned out to be a really great party--I wouldn't change a thing, and I'm sure Cole wouldn't either!
There was only one theme that would do for Cole's birthday party this year: Angry Birds! Although his party was at Pump It Up, there was no way that we weren't going to do everything possible to make it as much about Angry Birds as we could. Auntie Noelle came through with one of her amazing cakes--it was nothing less than incredible! The kids really look forward to their birthday cakes, as they know they are very special. Auntie outdid herself this year, and Pump It Up chose it for their Cake Wall of Fame on Facebook! Although I do think Angry Birds is a silly game, Cole loves it, and this cake was super fun!
This morning, I took all the kids to church. It's a very special service--the cross, made with branches from the Christmas tree, is adorned with flowers. It's a very wonderful, beautiful tradition. Over her seven years, Franny has always placed flowers, sometimes with Grandma and sometimes with me. This year, she did it with Grandpa. It was lovely.
The service, is always a shortened service--there is no Sunday school, and the kids remain with the congregation. All three did amazingly well for not being regular church-goers. With the exception of Delaney asking Are we done? during one of quiet transitions, I think our presence went more or less unnoticed, which I think is more than I thought I could hope for. I know I exhaled a very strong sigh of relief when the pastor delivered the benediction!
Since the kids have been born, I have not attended church very frequently, and it is something that I really miss. I really enjoyed being there today with my three wonderful children, who attended because Sometimes we have to do things that Mom wants to do, as Cole so elegantly put it. I suppose it doesn't matter how we all got there, but just that we did.
Happy Easter, everyone!
It wasn't their first Easter egg hunt, but Franny and Cole loved their hunts, as well. I really enjoy our neighborhood Easter event--it's fun to go and be with the other families and feel the sense of community that is very strong, here. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful, so it was all very enjoyable--there were Krispy Kreme donuts and Starbucks coffee available, and the Easter Bunny was there to greet to the kids. Although Cole did say he didn't think this Easter Bunny was real because he was wearing tennis shoes. But, that didn't take away from the experience, and they all had a great time!
Young kids enhance holidays in so many ways. They unquestionably bring new life to them and make them more fun and meaningful. I have found this to be especially true when the kids really experience something for the first time. Delaney participated in the neighborhood egg hunt last year, but she didn't get much out of it. This year, however, Delaney had a great time looking for eggs with the other kids in her age group. Beyond the simple joy of it all, Delaney loves being able to do things that Franny and Cole do, especially when she can do it at her level, rather than trying to keep up with the big kids. This hunt was just for Delaney, and she knew it. It was great--I almost wish we could do it all over again!
Franny has been excited about Valentines Day for some time now--and even more so since she received her Valentines Day outfit from Auntie Noelle. Since I'm not able to go to her school party, I wanted to do something special for her. So, I made her a festive lunch of hearts. She loved it!
December was a challenging month for blogging. I had a dysfunctional camera (the worst), life was just super busy, and it was about then that my blogging burnout started to set in. Amidst all of that we had some fun things that were missed in the Trio blog.
