Happy Birthday to you and you and you....


Happy birthday to my little clan! Phew.....what a month. Here's a little recap.
Trains, Superheroes, Jungle animals and squirrels. that is how I spent the last couple of weeks. 



 All things Thomas

We kicked off pollito's birthday with a trip to the Botanical Gardens where we saw Thomas the Train.  He was so excited, he couldn't contain himself. He was star struck and wanted to get up on stage as soon as possible to take a picture with Thomas.  

Pollito Turns 3

 We celebrated his birthday later that week at home with family. The week before, he was very excited about picking out his theme decorations at Party City. He insisted on carrying the basket (more like dragging it) throughout the store.  Of course, it was all about Thomas again.  We spent some time carefully picking out items.  I picked out the blow outs and asked if we should get these and he said "Yes, mommy. Perfect." What 3 year old talks like that??? Mine does!



Superheroes 



Next was hubby and sister-in-law. Hubby has a thing for superheroes. A few years ago I commissioned a family portrait of us as superheroes from my friend Alex Correa (see left). While hubby was impressed with the portrait, he quickly pointed out that something wasn't quite right with the pic. 
What exactly was my faux pas? Mixing in a Marvel Comics character amongst fellow DC Comics (ladies, don't ever, EVER mix the Universes or you will never hear the end of it.) He still loves it though. 

 This year, I had to get creative again and come up with something cool that encompasses all of his favorite things. I am fortunate to know many creative individuals who can bring my ideas to life. This time I enlisted the help of my collegue's husband, Mike Clancey to create a poster with all of hubby's favorite things. I had the idea of having happy birthday written in graffiti from a spray can and having the logos of all of his favorite things (sports, superheroes, games, etc). Mike took my idea and breathed his magic into the design. The result was a really cool poster that will be framed and hung in the future Man Cave. 

 Sometimes I just have to step back and pat myself on the shoulders. I have fantastic ideas in this creative brain of mine. LOL. Money doesn't always make the gift. It's the thought behind it that counts. This picture is priceless if I do say so myself. 


Movie Party 

 Finally and certainly not least, we celebrated my big kid's birthday. My first born, my baby. The one who taught me how to be a mom, to fight for what's right and to never give up despite life's challenges. I've learned to make several recipes with the lemons life has thrown my way, not just lemonade. 

Big kid traditionally gets 2 birthday parties: one at school and one with the family/friends. Yes I spoil him. Don't judge me. Pollito will get the same once he starts school too. I love to see his face light up when he sees me at his school. I take the day off to see that beautiful smile on his face. I'm a sucker for it. Mama may work, but that day is my holiday.  

This year was a little different. Not only was it a milestone birthday (10), but it was at his new school with a new set of school mates, teachers and service providers.  I didn't know what to expect in his class. I met his "best friend" Amber and all the other boys and girl in his class. They were a trip! Sweet,  social and just full of fun.  The teacher played a couple of videos on the smart board, Justin Beiber's "Baby" and "What Does the Fox Say?". The kids broke out into song and dance and even gave us a performance! It was great. 


The family party took a little more creativity to celebrate. The thought of renting a venue for 5-6 hours and expect him to socialize all that time was not going to happen. I had to find a budget friendly option and more importantly, something that big kid would enjoy. Then it hit me.... A movie theater party! Big kid loves movies - he doesn't gave e to interact with anyone and Be in his own little world. We had a private party room at the theater for 1 hour to cut the cake, est pizza and sing happy birthday. Just enough socialization.  Big kid chose "The Nut Job".  He was laughing hysterically. I ordered a cake in shape if an acorn in tribute to the movie. After we sang Happy Birthday, big kid said "Thanks guys! This is the best birthday party ever!" That was all I needed to hear. He smiled, he laughed, he had a great time. I pray that I can continue to see that handsome smile year after year. 







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