I'm rusty with the blogging thing right now, and, even worse, I'm rusty with the whole remembering to take out my camera (or even my cellphone) thing. So the pictures I have of Mary's birthday festivities don't come close to documenting all the events, all the people we celebrated with, and all the joy we felt.
Thursday
On her birthday, October 17th, Mary woke up to a room full of balloons and birthday notes scattered all over the floor. She took pencils and glow bracelets to school to share with her class, and I remembered to include a special birthday note in her lunch. After school, she bounded off the bus to report that she'd been sung to three times: in class, in music, and on the bus! She also got to be the line leader at school!
That day I remembered a very important birthday detail. After Sara was born, the family of Mary's best friend Brooke gave us an adorable little outfit perfect for fall. Mary decreed that Sara would wear it on her (Mary's) birthday, and she's been reminding me almost daily for months now. Thankfully, all that reminding did the job and I didn't forget.
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| Mary and Sara, wearing the special outfit from bestie Brooke and fam |
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| What sweet girls |
And then David proceeded to steal Sara from Mary and teach her Taekwondo.
(See what I mean about having random pictures from Mary's birthday?)
Back to the Birthday Girl.
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| Me with the Birthday Girl and Baby Sister |
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| I love these girls. |
As soon as Daddy got home from work, we opened presents.
It was an explosion of Lego Friends! Hooray! Plus, the Big One ...
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| Mary and her American Girl doll, who she named Stacy |
Mary looks so much like a doll herself. Her and her doll look so similar, it's almost freaky! Mary loves her, of course.
After presents we went out to dinner, Mary's choice. If you know Mary at all, you know she is addicted to Culver's. Wisconsin can do that to you. Fortunately for her, there happens to be a Culver's in the next town. So that's where we had a happy birthday dinner.
After dinner and baths, it was a Lego Friends frenzy with her dad.
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| Mary and her dad build the Heartlake High School. Sara looks on from a safe distance. |
It was a very happy birthday. Mary loved, loved, loved her birthday. She felt special and happy. She didn't want the day to end. When I tucked her in, she was sad that the day was over. But I reminded her that we had lots of celebrating to come.
Friday
For Mary's birthday party we decided to rent a bouncy house. (Greg could get a great deal on one from base.) Her party was Saturday, but we wanted to get a lot of use out of the bouncy house. So we invited all the neighborhood kids over Friday after school to "test out the bouncy house." It was a glorious fall afternoon!
A few of the moms came to hang out too. Soon Aunt Leslie and the cousins showed up. David's new buddy Tyler from class came over too. The kids jumped in the bouncy house and ran free through the backyards, swinging and chasing and playing. The moms visited and passed out snacks and worked together watching out for all of the kids. It was wonderful.
Later, the neighborhood kids went home to dinner. But Leslie, Eliza, Luke, and Evan stayed. They brought Mary Hello Kitty birthday presents--hooray! We ate brats and hot dogs. Then Greg and Luke started a fire in the backyard, and we roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores. David's friend Tyler stayed for the evening too. Meanwhile, the kids put on glow bracelets and jumped some more in the dark.
It was such a fun, memorable afternoon and evening. (And I don't have a single picture.)
Saturday
Mary's birthday party was Saturday afternoon. There is such a great group of kids in the neighborhood. She invited all the girls at our bus stop, plus two girls from her class who also live in the neighborhood. It was such a great group. Fun, sweet, and kind.
It was cold and rainy (boo!), but the girls did a cute bracelet craft. (And awesome Eliza came to help!) Then we had snacks and cake. By then, the rain had stopped. So we set up the bouncy house (this time on the driveway to avoid the mud) and sent the girls out in the cold. They had a great time. But soon enough, they were ready to thaw out. So they cuddled under blankets in the living room while Mary opened presents. (So many fun gifts!) Then they ran around in the basement with glow bracelets and balloons. Then, finally, they ventured back out to the bouncy house. It was so fun. (And the timing worked out perfectly. Phew!)
We also had special visitors! Two weeks before we moved here, David's best friend Bailey found out he was moving to Ohio too! Just weeks after we got here, Bailey and his awesome family moved to the Columbus area. They drove down to celebrate Mary's birthday. David and Bailey were in heaven. (I think they played Minecraft the whole time--and they loved every second of it.) Meanwhile, it was so great to see Emily and Justin and little Vinny. It warmed my soul to be with familiar, good friends from Madison. They are such a great family. (And do you want to know what they got Mary for her birthday? A rainbow loom! If you know what I'm talking about, you understand the significance!)
Here are some pictures from the party.
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| Abbie, Rhys, Hannah, Samantha, Kinsey, Eden, Mary, and Maya. (Kiley and Kenzie weren't there yet.) What a great group of girls! |
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It was a great party.
Sunday
Mary received lots (and LOTS) of cute craft kits at her birthday party. Craft kits are not my thing. They pretty much stress me out. But the next thing I knew, Mary was pulling them all out of their boxes. Mary LOVES crafts and she couldn't wait to get started. But I was like YIKES!!
I convinced her to wait until Sunday afternoon when ... drum roll ...Eliza came to save the day! Eliza is so sweet about doing crafts with Mary. She came over and spent 2 hours working on three different sets. I love Eliza. She is my life saver.
I should have taken a picture of the cousins with their crafts. Instead I have this picture of them doing Playmobil together.
Anyway, crafting it up with Eliza was the perfect way for Mary to top off her birthday celebrations.
Happy Birthday, Mary!
P.S. I know blogs can seem so "la la la look at all this perfect happiness everything is great and wonderful." I just want to say that Mary's birthday really was great and wonderful. It wasn't stress-free. I had a contractor at my house ALL day Friday doing a job that was only supposed to take an hour or two. Ugh, so much for everything I'd planned to do Friday to get ready for the party. And then there was the worry about the weather. BUT it really did all turn out really, really happy. This move has been hard on me. And the fun, joyful weekend of Mary's birthday was like this big ball of shiny happiness in my life. It is good to have good times.
