I woke up Friday morning feeling a little nostalgic. This past week I’ve been catching up on a lot of things. But one task was to go through all the kids clothes and figure out what was needed for school. It starts in a little over 2 weeks and this year I vowed to not do everything last minute. As I was putting away clothes that were too small and getting out other clothes from the bins, I realized that my youngest was now wearing 4T clothing. I was shocked to see t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts that Riley, my middle child, was wearing at the beginning of last year (1st grade). Granted Riley is shorter and smaller than my other two kids, but it made me realize that I don’t have any more babies, at home, they’re all little boys, and I need to savor this time because too soon, I won’t have little boys at home anymore, but teenagers and pre teens. So in my nostalgic state, I went back to my old family blog that I never update anymore, and watched all the video clips of my kids from 3 years ago. I watched, Kasen giggling while I said “goo goo gaga”, I watched his first steps walking, and I watched little Braedon and Riley playing flag football and their first day at swimming lessons.
Then I started getting ready for this guys birthday party!
Yep, Riley turned 7 this week! SEVEN! He chose to invite 5 friends over for a sleepover. It was “supposed” to be a camp out sleepover, with the tent put up in the backyard, ghost stories and movies with popcorn, but as is typical with Washington weather, we had to improvise. We woke up to rainy drizzle and 50 degree weather- IN AUGUST! It was COLD, wet and rainy and stayed that way all day long. So the camp out moved indoors
First we started off with Pizza…
Then presents….Riley only wanted gift cards this year. He thinks they’re the coolest things around. If I would let him, he would take his OWN money to buy a gift card- I don’t think he got the concept of money being put on the gift card to buy something and I’m positive after he uses all the gift cards he got, he’ll keep every one as a memento in his wallet. Singing birthday cards were also the theme of the day. One was “Shake Your Booty”, “Schools Out For Summer”, and “Happy Birthday” done on a rock and roll guitar.
Yeah. See the cake below? I may have many talents, but baking is NOT one of them. TRUST ME! Yep, Nate made that cupcake cake! He baked the marbeled yellow and chocolate cake and cupcakes, arranged them, frosted the whole thing, put the candles on and everything. Riley pretty much thought it was the coolest thing around, and the “trick” candles were a hit with everyone
ahhh, then the time came to bite into that first cupcake. He told me he was waiting all day for the moment to take his first bite.
and some of his friends had fun with the frosting too. What is it about little boys and chocolate frosting? They all enjoyed every bite!
Finally it was time for the camp out in the living room. Everyone staked out a spot for them and settled in to watch…..Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Didn’t you know? It’s ALL THE RAGE with the kids these days, especially the boys. While they were watching the credits, I went to get the popcorn and flashlights….
and the popcorn was a hit too. What’s watching a movie without popcorn? After the movie, they told ghost stories, but not TOO scary, and then quickly fell asleep.
Dear 7 year old Riley,
I hope your birthday was everything you wanted it to be. You are so full of adventure and life I almost can’t take it some days. I love watching your eyes light up when you see someone do a trick on a skateboard or bike at the skateboard park and I see your brain working on how you’re going to do that someday. I love how giving you are and that you always think of other people and what they would like. You buy your brothers ice cream from the ice cream truck when you’re the only one who has money and no one else does. My heart still feels like it’s going to burst when you come in all sweaty and dirty from playing outside, with a little white daisy and give it to me and tell me you love me. And I love when you come into my room in the early morning and snuggle with me under the down comforter. You have a little bad boy streak in you that I hope never goes away, with rocking out on your drums, guitar, and microphone or doing tricks on your bike or scooter. I adore that you’d rather be outside than doing anything else in life, even when it’s rainy and cold. You love math, and recess and gym at school, and you’ve got rhythm boy! It cracks me up seeing you do the robot with your friends. I love you so much, and just love watching you grow up….always keep your independent, fiesty spirit, even when it drives me a little crazy. You’re a special individual that fits perfectly into our family. Happy birthday Riley! I love you!
Love Mommy
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