This past week was filled with anticipation and excitement as Alora and Elam's birthday approached. We managed to get through our school work and housework amid the chaos. Wednesday evening, we had the pleasure of having our pastor and his wife over for dinner and enjoyed the time together, even if our children forgot their manners and had Daddy and Mommy a bit embarrassed a time or two.
Friday began the big birthday preparations. Once we got through school, we started in on the baking! The girls were excited to help and Mommy was glad to have them involved, we had 2 cakes and Rice Krispy Treats to make.
Elam was more interested in how he could get on top of the table, through the basement gate or out the back door...
Once the baking was complete, the girls headed outside to burn some energy. Elam and I followed soon after and enjoyed the mild winter day for a few moments. He was thrilled to spend some time in the swing!
The girls had a great time exploring the snow hill
And then also found their way back to the swings.
Friday evening, the birthday kids got gifts from Jay & Becci, and Alora was thrilled to get a new movie - Spirit!
Elam got some Thomas friend trains that were just his size.
Saturday found us running errands in the morning and then later in the afternoon it was time to get the cakes decorated. This year, Alora wanted a sunshine cake
And since Elam wasn't old enough to make requests yet, he got a blue cake with sprinkles
They turned out pretty great!
Ezri was hard at work all Saturday afternoon making a gift for Alora. She sewed a dress, making her own dress form from toys in the house.
Sunday was the big day! Elam decided 2am was a good time to start celebrating, so he and Mommy sat up for two hours until he decided to sleep again. In that time, Alora woke around 3 and was trying to wake her sisters. We managed to get some sleep before the kids were all awake before 7, anxious to get the birthday celebration started. First order of business, the bow hunt! Alora was generous and willing to share the bows and money attached with Elam, even though he had no understanding of the process.
Though he did appreciate throwing them around a bit.
The "birthday twins" were awfully cute together!
We allowed the kids to open their gifts from us before church. Elam, starting to catch on to gift opening, was more interested in the paper and boxes than the actual gifts for the most part.
That is, until he opened the balls that he loves to play with at church!
Alora was excited to open a sewing kit
Which her big sister was full of advice about.
Her favorite gift was a remote control car!
Ezri was very proud to present her dress to Alora
Elam was just pleased to get his hands on a balloon.
After a morning at church, we returned home for lunch with grandparents. Grandpa, Grandma, Opa and Oma joined us for the meal of Alora's choice: Hot dogs and brats, Grandma's macaroni and cheese, baked beans, fruit (especially blueberries and strawberries for Ezri), chips, and lemonade. Elam had fallen asleep on the ride home from church and napped until nearly 3pm, so during that time we ate and allowed Alora to open her gifts.
Shortly after Alora finished opening her gifts, her Birthday Twin awoke, so once his tummy was happy, he opened his gifts too.
And then it was time for cake!
Alora was thrilled with her sunshine cake, which she chose because her favorite song to have Daddy or Mommy sing is "You Are My Sunshine".
Elam had no opinion on the cake as it was his first experience, but he sure was ready to ham it up and be silly for the camera.
Perhaps just a small taste...
Alora didn't need an invitation to dig into her cake, though!
While Elam didn't smash or crumble up his cake or make much of a mess of it, he hardly ate any, he managed to get some on his cut little face and that was fun in itself.
While they weren't the centers of attention this day, Tierney and Ezri found their ways to enjoy the festivities as well. Tierney was all about the food and cake, her "num num button" was at full power!
Ezri was excited to get into Alora's new "5000 Awesome Facts" book, more interested in consuming that than food.
What a whirlwind of a day! It was a lot of fun celebrating our little blessings, though admittedly a bit emotional to think our baby is now 1 and his sister is now 6! As the birthday season has begun, well I guess it's half over now, we have many opportunities to reflect on how quickly the time does fly and how important it is to cherish those moments, make the best of every day and just take pleasure in who these children are at this time.
