The middle of Birthday Season

I was pondering tonight how we are nearly 1/2 done with birthdays - Rose #1 and H down, me and Roses #2 and 3 to go.  We have a LOT of birthdays in a row, and that means, well, sort of HIGH credit card bills!

We don't go overboard, really we don't.  But birthdays are kind of expensive.  Gifts, parties, etc.  All worth it, of course.  We don't do big flashy birthday parties, but we tend to do, well, BIG birthday parties.  You know.  Tons of kids.  Which I insist on hosting.  And we are doing it again on June 7 for Rose #2's birthday.

Next year, I think I will go for a shared birthday party between Rose #1 and #2.  Tonight - very cute - Rose #2 was recounting the mean behavior of a girl on her bus, and Rose #1 looked  really quite mad.  I asked her what was wrong, and she said "No one messes with my sister."  Then they hugged.

I bet if at that minute I told them they had to share a birthday party next year, Rose #1 would have called up the bully to give her the exact location of Rose #2's bed and a convenient time for her to visit.  Oh well...

Happy Birthday to H!!

It is H's birthday today! We went for a family bike ride, which involves two ridealong bikes and one burley.  We stopped at the end of Summit Avenue for a break and I took a quick picture:

Happy Birthday to you my dear husband.

The Big Birthday Party

Rose #1's big birthday party was yesterday at our house.  Here are a few tips for a 7-year-old birthday party:

1. 15 CHILDREN IS TOO MANY. 
   
2. THERE IS A REASON WHY THEY HAVE PARTY PLACES LIKE CHUCK E. CHEESE. 
3. BUY BIRTHDAY CANDLES so as to avoid the very wounded glance of the child for whom you planned, invited, coordinated, shopped, etc.

Anyway, here is the pre-arrival birthday scene.  Every guest had a Star Wars persona, as indicated by the index cards.  Rose #1 was Anakin (but of course, you are saying!).  The cake was courtesy of Aunt Charity.  And the Star Wars Lego guy arrangement was courtesy of H.  You can't see it but he decapitated some of the guys to indicate that the other guys were vigilant in guarding the cake. 

After all the guests had arrived and been counted (seriously, like day care or something), we went to the park to try to play Star Wars kickball.  Kickball was a mixed bag.  Some kids didn't know how to play; others didn't want to; others were REALLY enthusiastic.  

After kickball it was PINATA time.  Would you believe it - Rose #3 actually ended up breaking the pinata!  H said it ripped under the weight of the candy but I know better.
Immediate post-breakage, the following angry mob ensued.  Luckily, H had gotten PLENTY of candy for all:
Slightly out of sequence timewise, here is the shot of all of the party guests on the slide at the park:
Next year, no more than three party guests.  I am going to remember this and stick to my guns.  Er, my lightsabers.

Saturday Fun

"Summer" soccer started last Saturday, and I remember thinking it couldn't be ANY COLDER this Saturday than last.  Well, I was wrong.  It was about 40 degrees and 25 with the wind chill!  Brrrrr.  We all suited up and went for soccer anyway.  Here is Rose #2 showing off her dribbling skills.  

After soccer we came home to "chill" (pardon the pun) indoors.  The girls decided to dress up in their costumes.  The clone trooper costume was a gift to Rose #1, but the really good costume was the Anakin costume that Rose #1 was wearing.   (Thanks to my colleague for the loan!)
I have not spent much time thinking about being the mom of biracial kids.  It seems commonplace, now, and it is of course normal for our family.  But I am sometimes taken aback when I see pictures like this and observe just how little my kids resemble me.  They are my biological children - I have the scars and the post-baby body as proof.  But darn, they don't look like me at all!  Actually Rose #2 does, a teeny bit, but wouldn't you know that she's wearing the mask.  Sigh.

Happy Birthday To Rose #1!!

Today we are all wishing Rose #1 a very happy 7th birthday!  I wish I had a newborn photo of her on our computer but since the Apple laptop died an untimely death (please do not ever spill an entire bottle of lemonade into a laptop's keyboard), the photos of Rose #1 start at about age 2. 

Anyway, here she is in her darling messy state at age 2 or 2 1/2.  This was back in the day when Rose #1 would actually wear a dress.  (Rose #3 still wears this dress on occasion, BTW!)  This was also our old house:

And here she is in a very special Star Wars getup this morning.  Happy 7th birthday my darling tomboy Star Wars, Lego Loving, Reader Extraordinare, Rose #1!!!!

Edited to say:  No, that is not lipstick on her lips.  They are naturally that ruby red and beautiful!

OK, Make Fun If You Must

It KIND OF looks like the Death Star.  It has that concave circle thing-y, and the equator thing-y where Luke Skywalker flew his x-wing or whatever, and dropped the bomb into the circle without his radar.  Uuuuuuuussssse your feeeeeeeeeeeelings, Luuuuuuuuuke.

Anyway, this is the Death Star Pinata, and that's the end of the discussion.

The Birthdays Begin

Rose #1's birthday is on Saturday.  All of our birthdays are within a 6-week period:  Rose #1, then H, then me, then Rose #2, then Rose #3.  Rose #2 has it the hardest.  She is jealous, jealous, jealous of Rose #1.  Rose #1 does not remember that in a few short weeks it will be Rose #2's time in the spotlight- so Rose #1 doesn't share, isn't nice to Rose #2, and it is hard.

H and his brother are twins, so he never experienced birthday envy as a child.  I remember terrible wailing and gnashing of teeth, such that my parents bought us "sibling gifts."  Anything to get the poor sad birthday kid his or her 30 seconds in the spotlight.

I can kind of relate.  We have a big weekend coming up, with birthday celebrations over two days.  I hope Rose #2 can keep it together.

(By the way, Rose #1's party is going to be quite exciting and innovative.  A homemade Death Star pinata!  Really cool ideas for each kid to have a Star Wars persona!  Wait, do 7-year-olds know the word "persona"?)

Rose #3 Had No Nap Today

When I got home from work, Cynthia (our nanny) told me that Rose #3 had no nap today.  This is why she has been a little bit crabby.  She didn't want to sit still at dinner, and so she spilled her milk and I might mention that she spilled her Gogurt before dinner.  How do you spill a Gogurt, you might wonder.  I don't know, but I found Gogurt all over the floor.  I LOVE Gogurt, especially the way Rose #2 and Rose #3 can get them by themselves from the fridge and Rose #2 can even cut off the top her very own self.  That's just grand.

Rose #3 is sitting next to me as I type.  "What you doing, Mommy?" she wonders, and she gives me the cutest smile and look up through her eyelashes.  She is a charmer.

I remember the night Rose #3 was born.  It was 12:29 a.m. when she was FINALLY here, and she was a BIG baby.  8 lb, 11 oz.  The midwife (god bless her) said to me, "THAT'S a big baby," and sure enough when they put her on the scale I was surprised at her weight.  I also remember as soon as she was born, they had to bring her over to a separate table because there was meconium in her amniotic fluid.  I just wanted to hold her so bad as soon as she was born - I remember even after pushing out a huge baby who took her time getting here I looked at my sister and said, "That wasn't so bad, I would like to hold my baby now."  That was Rose #3.  I'll never forget the night she was born.  I love her 100 million times more now than I did then, and I loved her a googleplex then.

Soccer, and Mother's Day

This year both Rose #1 and Rose #2 are playing soccer.   Blackhawk Soccer is a good organization - more organized than community ed, but still all about having fun, learning the sport, and being team players.  Rose #2 played soccer for the very first time on Saturday!  Here she is trying to keep up with the action.

Rose #2 is the veteran of community ed soccer and Blackhawk soccer last summer.   I LOVE this shot.  Isn't it so cute - the little boy with his sunglasses on his nose, and Rose #1 with her foot perched nonchalantly on the soccer ball.  
I had a lovely mother's day.  I got flowers from the girls (to plant in our planters on the deck) and a nap this afternoon with Rose #3 who was a total basketcase.  We had a picnic at Aunt Boo's house for lunch and Ahma and Ahgong came over for dinner.  

Tomorrow:  Back to reality.

Maddie's Dance Recital

My darling niece, Maddie, was the star of her dance recital tonight. She was in two numbers - a ballet number featuring the Wiggles song "Rockabye Your Bear" and a tap number.  Here she is, rockabyeing her bear:

Maddie is always the kid at MND who is trying to organize her cousins into doing a "show."  (The grownups shamefully try to avoid attending the shows at all costs, but still.)  I think you can tell from this picture why that is:  the girl LOVES being on stage!  I love how straight and tall she is standing and how big her smile is:
During the tap number Maddie was RIGHT ON in her tap moves.  
(Not to be outdone, Rose #3 had to climb on the stage and pretend that she was a dancer in the show too.  Luckily this was during intermission.)
Good job Maddie!  Love your dancing!

A really nice weekend

Well, despite the look on Rose #1's fact, we did have a lovely weekend.  It was warm here in the great state of Minnesota, for the first time really this entire calendar year, and we had a good time doing some work outside and playing with the neighbors.  We got our junk pile/weed pile/garden cleaned up - a bit - and H got cedar mulch laid down in almost all the spots that need it.  We also got our annual hanging basket and got the hook up to hang it from.  We went to church and to Guppy's house to make pinatas (for upcoming birthday celebrations) and on Sunday afternoon spent nearly 4 hours playing outside.

Rose #1 really did have a good day, despite a small falling out with the neighbor boy at the very end of the long afternoon outdoors.  Here she is, (not) enjoying her ice cream bar:

Rose #2 had so much candy and sweets this weekend it was shameful.  Here she is smiling away because she is so happy she has an ice cream treat:
And Rose #3 found one of my old sunhats and put it on to ham it up for you:
I forgot to mention that we also hit a few garage sales on Saturday morning.  Here is the $25 pot rack H found!  Yay!  WTG H!  Now our under the counter cabinet space is much more useable - plus, how cool does it look (very cool...)?