Another Birthday

So Chris kind of gets jipped for his birthday.  It's two days after Christopher's.  Even if it's not the biggest celebration, we still go out to dinner for him and most years we have another cake. 

Because you can never have too much cake.  And baking it is a good homeschooling lesson for the kids.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful, cute, smart, hardworking hubby.  I love you Chris!

And yes, the cake does have pink icing and little bunnies on it.  Hey, I just used what I had on hand.  And it's the thought that counts, right?

And this is the third and last time I can make fun of him for being an old man in his 30s. No offense to anyone else in their 30s. I'll be joining you this fall.  Not that the 30s are even as old as I joke it is.  I'll just shut my mouth now.  :oP

A Mommy for a Decade

Ten years ago, this sweet baby boy turned me into a mommy. 

6 weeks old

I can't believe it's been so long since that morning that he was born.  I was 19 and had no idea what I was in for, but somehow I knew it was all good. 

My relationship with God then wasn't even very close, but he still gave me comfort throughout my pregnancy and I didn't feel apprehensive or fearful or anything like I would expect a newly married teenager with a newborn to feel.  I felt like a mother and knew that this was meant to be.  It just felt natural.

God planned it an eternity ago.  It may have come about in a way that wasn't how he planned for babies to come, but he knew it would happen.

I can't imagine my children becoming parents so soon in their life, but now I can't imagine me not becoming a mom when I was so young.  There's nothing in my life I would enjoy more, at this moment, than being a mom to my children, raising them, training them up, spending so much of our lives together, having such a close relationship. 

And it all started with this little blessing.

Me, 20 years old & Christopher, 12 months

It probably helped that God brought me together with the greatest guy to be a dad to our child.  I don't know exactly what Chris was thinking when we found out we were expecting, but for me, he was a rock.  He was never not calm about it. He was 21 and it was the summer before his senior year in college.  I was really scared when we first found out, I was still 18, but that really didn't last that long and Chris was awesome then, and he has been such a great dad and husband ever since.

I look at my first born, my sweet son, and while I know that he must go through trials to grow into a godly man, I pray that he will be strong and faithful like his dad.  He's already on his way there.

Christopher, 3 years old

Christopher, 4 years old

Christopher, 5 years old

So we celebrated my sweet boy on his special day.

Starting with birthday balloons outside his bedroom door when he woke up.

And then birthday donuts!

And that evening we went out for dinner and dessert at the places of his choice...Denny's for dinner and Rainforest Cafe for dessert.

And then we headed home to open a couple of presents. 

And this sweet boy let his sister help him open his gifts!

Happy Birthday to the boy who made me a mommy.  I love you Christopher James!

My Ten Year Old Scientist

So maybe not quite ten yet.  But we celebrated my smart not-so-little guy with lots of some of his favorite things to do...science stuff, with some of his favorite friends.

Some of the decorations to turn our home into a science lab.

Brain cupcakes for our smart not-so-little boy.

Basically, we just did a bunch of science experiments for the whole party. 

First, we did the Mentos-in-Diet-Coke geysers.  The boys all had their own two liter along with a pack of Mentos and they took turns making them explode.

Next, we tried an experiment called "elephant toothpaste".  It's supposed to foam up out of the bottle and keep the form of the bottle opening, looking like large toothpaste.  "Supposed to" being the key words.  It didn't work, so we quickly moved on.

Next we used our 'tried and true' volcano since we knew it would work.  The boys took turns making baking soda and vinegar lava come out of the volcano.

The next experiment was called "geological cupcakes".  I made two layered cupcakes (brown and white), added some sprinkles for a third layer, and then frosted them for the fourth layer.  The boys stuck a clear straw down through the cupcake and when they lifted it up, they could see the different layers of the cupcake.  They thought it was neat and enjoyed eating the cupcakes when they were done.



The biggest hit of the evening was probably making the tornadoes..two two-liter bottles, some water, and a bottle connector bought from Oriental Trading Company.  The boys kept coming back to these for the rest of the night to start up the tornadoes again.

Our next experiment was technically a flop as well, but the kids still enjoyed doing it.  And for the record, you can not use washable glue for the Borax/glue slime recipe.  The solution was really watery and lumpy when the kids mixed it at the party, but once it sat overnight, it was a rubbery solid substance that my kids ended up playing with for a while, so I guess it wasn't a total bust!

The last science activity we did was to make snow.  Really, we just mixed some "Instant Snow" particles with water and they swelled up and looked like snow.  We mixed them in test tubes and let the boys take their "snow" home.

When it was time for Christopher to open gifts, I put a chair in the middle of the room for Christopher and Leah pulled up a chair and sat next to him.  It was so cute.

Cake time!

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!