Gabe & Ari’s Movie Night Birthday Party

I tell my friends and family every year that this will be the year that I scale back on the birthday party.  Now, I am by no means a pro at this, BUT I have to admit do get a little out of hand with the idea that everything should be made by hand and from scratch.  I have this idea that I want to stick within a budget and, at the same time, invite every friend that my child requests to be there.  In Ari’s case, the list is a combination of the kids her aide at school tells me are extra awesome with her and the kids that I know Ari loves and that have loved Ari for years.  So, if I am to invite 50 (yes fifty) kids to a birthday party for the twins, it demands a little creativity.

Birthdays are a special time for me as a mom.  They are a time to take pause and reflect on the years that have passed – always too quickly – and be thankful for all the time with my children and the memories that we’ve made together.  It serves as a reminder that their childhoods are so fleeting and to enjoy every precious moment that I can with them.  Their parties are also a time when I make up for lost time.  Life gets to be so busy and the weeks are jam packed with soccer and tennis and therapies and cheer and riding and swim and homework and dinner that we don’t get to spend as much time having as many play dates as we would like to have sometimes.  Over years of birthday parties – ours and those of other kids’ – we have had the amazing opportunity to get to know so many people in our school community very well.  At the parties, we parents meet, we reconnect, we laugh and bond and watch our kids play.  I get to know each child more each time and get to know a side of them that they don’t let out at school.  I know this is called community, but even the word community doesn’t seem to cover it.  It sounds too formal and not warm enough.  For us, we are extending our family. 

So, even though I may not get any sleep in the nights leading up to the party; at the conclusion of the event, I am always left with a blissful and satisfied feeling.  A glow even.  As I am cleaning up and feeling almost too exhausted to take one more step, my heart is swelling and as I reflect on some beautiful interaction that I witnessed as the kids played.  I am remembering how Ari took off in her power chair alongside her friends without even a backwards glance in my direction.  I am remembering how my kids and their friends laughed and smiled their wide-mouthed smiles the whole evening. I feel gladness remembering a heart-to-heart I had with some other parents.  I feel overwhelmed with such deep gratitude for the children that are growing up alongside my children and for the people who are raising them.  It is so good for the soul, I am telling you.  For Jake and I, birthday parties do that and more.

So, for me, it was well worth it to go balls to the wall with the cupcakes and bake five dozen of them from scratch and decorate them to look like movie theater popcorn.  I’ll make the soft pretzels from scratch while I’m at it and not read the directions when I start at 11 pm and it requires 3 hours of rising/baking time.  Why not use the abundant lemons on our tree to make fresh squeezed lemonade in the middle of the night too?  You see where I’m going with this.  It’s a flipping TON of work, and thankfully, I have had my sister to help me, because she knows me too well and she takes pity on me in my hour of weakness while I’m separating tissue paper poms and whatnot.  I can also thank a few friends for volunteering their time to snipping five hundred mini marshmallows three times each or dipping magic pretzel wands in two-toned melted white chocolate (the year before).  I am reluctant to accept help, so if I did accept your help, it is because I love you and I know you won’t judge me too harshly for asking you to tediously make food look like other objects.  Also, thank you to Harkins Theaters for donating the movie trays, because they rocked, and the kids loved them because they were authentic and I loved them because it made clean-up so much easier!

 

I served hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, soft pretzels, fresh popped popcorn, veggie cups, nachos, lemonade, hot cocoa, movie theater candy, and of course, cupcakes.

  

Harkins donated the trays, which was amazing because the cup holders held two drinks, and each kid got to have their lemonade/hot cocoa/water bottle and their food all in one place.  I used color-coded tickets to represent each item that they could “buy” by trading in their tickets.  For example, red for hot dog, orange for nachos, yellow for lemonade, etc etc.).  There were ten tickets given to every kid.  Ten different colors.  It was kind of cray cray of me to do that, but the reactions from the kids made it so worth it!  They took that ticket system super seriously and darn near would not accept food or drink without “paying” first!

 

We watched Nacho Libre, because my kids requested it, and it’s hilarious.  It’s also only PG, which was a pleasant surprise when I saw it again.

We let the kids run amok until the sun set.  Before the movie started, we showed a slideshow of the twins as babies :).

 

I’m sure that we broke some trampoline safety regulations.

I have a saying that I made up.  It’s “full backyard, full heart.”  It’s true for me, and that’s all I can say. 

I am not always sappy and sentimental.  Sometimes, I can even be quite the opposite.  But birthday parties and times like these, I let it show… let it show… can’t hold it back anymoooore.

 

Sedona Getaway

In July, Jake and I took our first mini-vacay without our kids, and do you know what?  It was awesome.  In October, we had the opportunity to do it again when a couple of our dearest friends tied the knot in Sedona at L’Auberge.  And although we may have had literally only a couple of hours to burn for ourselves, you would be amazed at what a couple of hours feels like when you’re in an autumnal utopia and the only noise that surrounds you is soft babbling of the creek, the chirping of the birds, and the wind rustling through the trees.

We went for a hike fairly close to the famed West Fork Trail, which is known for its vibrant colored autumn leaves.  It was spectacular even though it was early in the season, and the leaves had just begun to change color.

 

Sunlight through trees is my second favorite kind of light with moonlight still holding on to the position of first favorite light.  But, it just makes you sigh so hard doesn’t it?

 

Some professional landscape photographers were nice enough to take our picture for us and teach me how to photograph a waterfall and capture that milky water effect that you sometimes see in the magazines (see below). 

Bella’s Luau

This wonderful girl just turned six years of age.  Six suits her.  It’s innocent yet surprisingly wise.  It’s curious yet responsible.  She still looks at me with the same adoration that she did when she was a baby, yet there’s something about her spirit that seems like its already grown, and I can see more of a young woman in her every day.

I threw a birthday luau for my hula girl.  Have you seen this girl hula hoop?  She can do things with a hula hoop that I can’t even do without a hula hoop. I had every intention of letting them hula hoop at the party and I even bought color coordinating hula hoops for just this reason – since it was the inspiration for the party and all – but I got so distracted by all the other fun that was going on and the ominous clouds that were threatening to monsoon us right out of there that I totally forgot all about hula hoops.  The luau was a hit even without them, and Bella reassured me that she didn’t miss it at all, so all is well that ends well.

  

My sisters and I worked hard to make the table look as cute as possible, considering the hurricane-like winds blowing around that day.

I was pretty proud of our homemade tiki island cake.  By no means professional, but made from scratch and by the loving hands of her mom, dad, and aunt Marci.

I love throwing birthday parties for my kids.  I love making their simple wishes come to life.  They don’t ask for anything extravagant, and I don’t ever feel too overwhelmed or that I spend too much.  Everything from the food to the decorations is handmade in the nights leading up the their day.  I get to spend time with my sisters, Jake, my friends, and anyone else who wants to help me put my vision together.  And maybe it never comes together quite like I had it in my head, but it comes close enough, and I think my kids love it just the way it happens. 

On the menu:  Tropical Fruit, Ocean Water, Hawaiian Punch, Hawaiian Pizza, Luau Meatballs, and Tiki Island Cake and Cupcakes.

  

The girls all eagerly awaited the arrival of two gorgeous mini ponies, Lilly and Lola, dressed in high heels, bikinis, and grass skirts, thanks to Storybook Ponies!

They got to brush and cuddle and do the ponies’ hair till their heart’s content.

   

The girls also played on the slip ‘n slide and the trampoline.  We had intended to swim, but we had lightning and ultimately a downpour.  Initially, the kids danced in the pouring rain and wanted us to turn up the music… but then the rain turned into the flood scene from the movie Noah so we booked it into the house to open gifts under roof.

Although it didn’t go entirely as planned, it turned out to be a great day for Bella and everyone who Bellabrated with us.  With all the wind and water and cake and high heeled ponies, I’m sure it won’t be a day that we will soon forget.