After the Party

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August 27

It's been a fun and busy weekend. Friday was Aurora's first and Gideon's third birthday and it was both joyous and messy. I decided to make a special breakfast of pancakes and bacon (as opposed to the usual frozen waffles). It was great until Gideon gagged on some bacon and then threw up all over the floor. That evening while I was cooking dinner, Aurora had a HUGE diaper blowout so we ended up doing a quick bathtime before finally sitting down to a feast of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots. I even made red Kool-Aid to celebrate the special day! Unfortunately, Gideon ended our meal by gagging on a carrot and throwing up all over the kitchen...again. Ethan started to gag on one of his carrots too, but he immediately got such a look of death from me (down on the floor wrist deep in regurgitated red Kool-Aid) that he miraculously managed to swallow the offending vegetable. After another quick bathtime for Gideon, we sat down to a fun evening of cake and presents sans puke and poop. We blew out the candles, ate some cake, and then tore into presents. By the time we were done, it had gotten pretty late and the kids were all exhausted.

What's the best part about the day after your birthday? Cake for breakfast! Saturday was party day, so I spent most of the day cleaning up our house. I'm actually amazed at the amount of stuff I got done. Of course, it helped that Aurora took a four hour nap. I finished up the cleaning and decorating just minutes before relatives started showing up . Let the Party commence! We donned our party hats and had a really nice time. I bought pizza for everyone and then we ate cake (yes, another cake) and ice cream. Cousins ran and screamed happily together and the adults had a nice time chatting it up in the living room. By the time everyone left we were wiped out, but it had really been fun.

Today was our day to relax and recover, after church that is. Andrew had to attend a PEC meeting since the entire Elder's Quorum presidency was on vacation today, so he had to be at the church by 7 am. Too early considering the late hour we went to bed. I was actually able to get the rest of us fed and dressed on time this morning. We didn't have to sneak into Sacrament Meeting avoiding eye contact because we were late for a change! We always walk to church since it's only maybe a quarter mile away from our house and it was such a lovely day today. On the way home, Aurora wanted to walk home for the first time. She isn't really fond of the outdoors and normally she wants to be carried every where when are outside. But this morning, she held Daddy's hand and walked almost the entire way like a big girl! I got some cute pictures of her and Daddy walking together and some of Ethan in his "Just Escaped from Church" mode. His nice little outfit that he looks so handsome and put together in before church tends to sort of explode sometime during the two hours of primary (that must be when it happens because after Sacrament Meeting, he still looks neat and tidy). I wonder what they do in there...

After we got home, I got everyone fed and we all took a nice long nap. Ethan was the only one who stayed up, but he's perfectly content to sit quietly and play video games all on his own. I was able to sleep for about 3 hours! It was heaven! I was so worn out that I did NOT want to wake up. If I could have slept all the way through to the next morning, I would have done it! We also spent our waking hours this afternoon in party hats. Because you don't need a reason to wear a pointy paper hat.

After supper, we let the kids stay up late again because we knew they would have a tough time sleeping after having taken such long naps. They had popcorn and watched Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons. Ethan kept leaning over to Gideon and saying things like, "Oooooooo, I'm a dost!" in his best spooky voice. Aurora happily chirped and squealed as she walked back and forth across the room, munching on popcorn and repeatedly bringing me a pair of denim panties that match one of her little dresses for me to put on her head like a tiny denim beret...but with leg holes. We batted balloons around the living room, and then finally began to crash. One by one, our little ones passed out on the couch, and one by one we carried them upstairs to their beds.

Now the balloons have been corralled, the crepe paper has been torn down and thrown away, and tomorrow we must return to our daily routines. The house needs to be cleaned, homework needs to be done, school needs to be held, and doctor appointments need to be attended. It was a hectic, but nice weekend and for the first time in a long while, we have almost nothing on our schedule for this week. I think maybe I'll try to fit in a extra exercise session or two and maybe get caught up on my ironing. Of course, I'll still be wearing my party hat while I do it.