Happy Birthday Kael!

I'm going to interrupt my regularly scheduled Thankful Thursday to fill you in on Kael's birthday, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in, it's going to be a lengthy post today. I've got lots to say about this special little boy's big day. :)

Well, it happened. I knew it would. I blinked and my little man grew up. Kael turned 6 yesterday! And judging from some of the Facebook messages I received, most of you can't believe it either.

I had several thoughts of what I wanted to post. Some of my favorite pictures of Kael in the last 6 years? A play-by-play of his celebrations? Gift ideas and links? A sentimental rambling of what I love most about him? Maybe all of the above? :)

Kael woke up (early, all kids do on their birthdays, right?) to his room filled with balloons. I guess this is sort of a tradition for his birthday, but I'm not entirely sure how or when it started. The night before his birthday, Kent asked, "So are we going to do the balloon thing again?" and I was glad he thought of it. We grabbed a bunch of balloons and started filling until Kael's bedroom floor was totally covered with balloons. I had also hung a Happy Birthday sign in the kitchen and when Kael came out of his room to eat I asked what he wanted for his birthday breakfast. Crispix. As in, cold cereal and a glass of OJ. He's so easy to please. :)

I snuck in and took a picture of him with all his balloons.

Kent was going in late to work, and it also happened to be a late start day for the kids. So, we had time before school to open some presents. I'll try to remember to post a list of some of his gifts another time.

Not quite awake yet. :)

We got to school early because he had brought cookies for his birthday treats and needed help carrying everything in. He was so excited and was telling everyone within earshot that it was his birthday. I was informed later that his name was broadcast over the loudspeaker for having a birthday, and he got to wear a birthday crown all day and he got a birthday pencil from the principal. I can just imagine the huge smile on his face and how important he must have felt.

I went home to begin work on this. I spotted this idea when Kael was 3 and it took me that many years to work up the courage to make it. By nature, I am not crafty. And I'm even less patient. I generally don't care for taking the time to read instructions/directions. Detail- oriented? Not this girl. I once thought it would be fun to make this for Kylee and if my sister had not been here helping me make it, I would have probably thrown the cake out the window. The first time it started tipping over I was ready to scrap it. She helped me salvage the cake, not to mention my dignity and Kylee still talks about how much she loved that cake. So worth it.

Back to my rock star's cake. I got to work- the biggest challenge was finding something to put it on! It was a very long cake so I ended up using the box from Kael's pogo stick he had unwrapped that morning and putting foil around it. I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the cake was. Imagine how well things turn out when you take your time and follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions. :) So, here are some pictures of the process, and my baking team.

Chocolate frosting. Yum.

It turned out so much better than I anticipated!

I took a break from decorating and went for lunch/recess with Kael at school. It was fun watching him shoot baskets with his buddies. When the big kids (3rd, 4th, 5th graders) came out for recess they all came up to him and said, "You must be Kael! We heard your name on the loudspeaker- Happy Birthday!" He beamed, "Yeah, that's me!" I am the luckiest mom in the world- so thankful that I am able to be there to witness these kinds of things as I'm sure he would have never told me about it later. Kylee and I stopped to get some balloons on our way to pick Kael up from school. Kylee stood outside the van holding them and yelled, "Happy Birthday Kael!" as soon as she spotted him. In a few short years I am sure this will be mortifying, but Kael just smiled his big smile. When we got home Kael saw the cake and said, "Nice work, Mom! It looks good!" Anyone with kids knows that those kind words don't flow freely and easily, especially a 6 year old boy.

I asked the kids to stand still for a nice birthday picture. Here's what I got.

Now to the party. This is Kael's first "outside the home, friends only" type birthday party. We/he carefully and thoughtfully chose here for the venue. Kael had kind of wanted to go back to the "waterpark hotel" with friends but I wasn't up for watching a bunch of 5/6 year old boys in the swimming pool. I told him we could think about that for next year and he seemed happy with The Playground. I sent out invitations a couple weeks before. This was tricky for me beause it's hard to tell who Kael's friends are at school. They change daily. And sometimes when I ask him who he plays with at recess he literally lists the whole entire class. Several times he has said things like, "Well, so-and-so is my best lady friend". Help! Do kindergarteners do co-ed birthday parties? I'm new at this and am not afraid to admit my incompetence in this area. We brainstormed, scaled the list down, talked with teachers about who Kael really plays with (I realize this is starting to sound over the top, but keep Kael's diagnosis in mind here- I could write another entire post about the difficulties of social situations, especially those that include minimal "rules" and maximum sugar like birthday parties tend to). I really wanted to keep Kael at the center of all of this and not do what the typical kindergarten mom might do but more importantly do what Kael would enjoy the most. We invited 7 kids (so, potentially 9 kids there counting Kael and Kylee) and the RSVP date on the invitation was the 9th. By that afternoon, I had heard from NO ONE. My heart sank. We had taken a shot in the dark by throwing the party on a school night, and a church night for some of the kids. Was everyone really that busy? Or worse, did the kids not want to come? My mind raced. I started texting some of the moms. We got several yes responses. Then, out of the blue, Kael's teacher called and told me about another boy (who is in a different class) that Kael really gets along with and that maybe I should think about inviting him. So not only could everyone make it to the party, more kids were hearing about the party and wanting to come! And, that boy has a birthday today and has invited Kael to his party on Saturday! I couldn't have been happier for Kael. So, we load up the cake, presents, balloons, party bags, cameras, kids (two of the kids were riding with us to the party) in the van and were ready to head out. Kent turned the key and......nothing. It was 5:27; The Playground is a good fifteen minute drive from our house and we were supposed to be there at 5:45. My instinct was to FREAK OUT. Kent said, "Give me two minutes to jump it." "We barely have two spare minutes!" I replied, but we gave it a shot. Still nothing. The van was truly dead. I faked a calm smile and said, "Ok guys, let's all hop in the car." I called my dad and said,"YouhavetocomepickKentandallthestuffupbecauseourvanisdeadandI'malmostlatefortheparty" Rush hour traffic was not in our favor. But, I knew if I seemed hurried/stressed then the kids would get that way too. Last minute changing of plans usually does not bode well for us, but Kael was unbelievably understanding. He said, "I've never seen the van not work before! That was kinda wacky!" I went with it. The whole way to the party the kids talked about anything and everything "wacky" that had happened to them that day. They thought it was hilarious that it happened on a Wednesday and kept talking about how it was such a "Wacky Wednesday". We arrived at the party almost right on time. Whew. The kids got wristbands, checked out the party room and off they went to play. We had decided against renting out the entire place to ourselves, which was fairly spendy. I'm on The Playground's e-mail list so we had also used a coupon. As luck would have it, there was no one else there to play besides our party. So, we had the whole entire place to ourselves, complete with a party room, lemonade, plates, napkins, etc. all for $99! I love a good deal. All I had to bring was the cake. We also brought some party bags for the kids filled with mini Oreos, water guns, bouncy balls, little plastic bugs and army guys. Kael felt pretty important sitting in his big chair opening presents from all of his friends. He even offered to let the kids sitting close to him help blow out his candles and help open presents. Kael has SUCH a big heart. I'm definitely not a party planner, nor am I interested in throwing the perfect party. I wasn't worried about the cutest party bags or the most matchy-matchy plates, cups and napkins beacuse I know that stuff doesn't matter to Kael. But I do know that years from now, Kael will look back and think, "Wow, that was a great party" and that's what matters to me.

A party room with his name on it!

Fit for a king.

Happy, sweaty and ready to dig in.

We look like normal parents, right?

Guess again. Kent has commented before that he can't wait for us to be those "embarassing parents". News flash: We already are. And I love it. I wasn't going to miss out on the dancing!

Bubble time!

Kylee was so tired that she actually just laid on the ground like this for awhile. Kael later reported that "his head was wet from all that running around". Sooo sweaty.

Here's a picture of some of his gifts and cards. Kael you are so loved! Happy Birthday!