A couple weeks before Serena's birthday, the kids and I spent a long weekend at Mom's. While we were there, we made a big ol' fresh fruit cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Serena. She was very reserved in front of all the attention (totally typical for her), but her big eyes belied her enjoyment of being showered with so much love.
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| Serena and her birthday fruit cake. I'm not sure if the kids love putting it together more or eating it more! Serena & Keira stuck a LOT of blueberries with toothpicks for me! Bret stuck a lot of them, too, but his usually went straight from the toothpick into his mouth. I have to wonder if it ever crossed his mind to wonder why I wanted him to put the blueberries on toothpicks? ;) |
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| Serena loves her sweet cousin Keira! |
Serena's birthday morning, I blew up several "Happy Birthday" balloons (the kids loved that the balloons had writing on them!), and shoved them into their room ahead of me as I came in to get them up. The festivities started immediately! It never fails: kids + balloons = spontaneous jumping and giggling. ;)
We then did the ceremonious weighing and measuring of the Birthday Child. Serena had grown 3" and 4 lbs since last year! (42.25" [57%] and 40.8 lbs [44%]).
To make Serena's birthday even more special, Grandma and Auntie Anna were here visiting! So, our next activity was to open a couple of presents from them. Here is where we ran into a little problem I had not really considered. Bret. Yes, our dear sweet little Bretster-boy who loves presents. I mean, Grandpa gave him a clothespin...a Cuh-lothes-pin...and Bret keeps it on his dresser and reminisces about how Grandpa gave it to him and it's HIS. He might be a bit of a typical second-born looking to claim ownership of some things. ;) Anyway, he really wanted a present to open too! And where's Grandma's present for him? To make matters worse, Serena didn't go for his suggestion that she open one present and he open the other. Haha! Well, we reasoned Bret to the point where he quietly (I did not say happily) watched Serena open a present from Auntie Anna, an adorable Hello Kitty top that she could hardly wait to get on! Serena felt very beautiful all day wearing her new shirt! From Grandma and Grandpa was a beautiful Bitty Baby doll that Grandma had rescued and restored. She was laying in a basket, wrapped in a little afghan, and on her head was...drumroll, please...a nightcap! Serena has been "needing" a nightcap for her baby ever since she herself received one for Christmas. Serena was enthralled with this baby, whose eyes open and shut, by the way (This is a very big deal because Serena's beloved baby Olie does not have eyes that open and shut.) Serena immediately named her Beauty.
At this point, my plan had been to move on to breakfast, but Bret began whining again. Then, I suddenly had a rare stroke of genius. We'd already tried to remind him of his own birthday, but I suddenly remembered I had a video of him opening presents on his birthday! I pulled it up on the computer, and we all watched Bret's birthday. It turned out to be the perfect remedy for him! He was a very happy birthday supporting actor for the rest of the day! Crisis averted.
We had our special treat of two-ingredient pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast.
And then, we got everyone loaded into Grandma's "Party Van" (the name we had given her van when the kids mentioned how bumpy the ride was, hahaha!) and ready to go to Bay Beach for the day!! It was our second time this summer, and the kids were so excited and had such an awesome time! Anna and I got to do the roller coaster again, and we were much braver than last time! (Or at least, I was. I kept my eyes open! She stepped on my foot.) ;) The kids went on a bunch of rides, then we all went on the Ferris Wheel. Even Cody! He did great for the ride, but he did not do so great during the wait. It was lunchtime and it was getting hot. Bret and Serena loved it, and Grandma even had them putting their hands up in the air! After that, we ate our picnic lunch and Bret chased enormous, cranky seagulls around the park. Then the kids went swimming for a while, and Serena made friends with a little girl wearing the same swimsuit as her. ;) The pool was fairly crowded, and when I told Serena it was time to go, she turned and waved to all the children splashing and playing (and generally unaware of her presence), "Goodbye, kids!" she shouted happily! After drying off, we rode the train and then drove the Party Van back home.
Serena's birthday meal choice was Chicken Fried Rice.
After supper, we had Serena open presents from Daddy and Mommy. We had gotten her a "grown-up" Bible. Up to this point, she'd only had storybook Bibles, which definitely serve a purpose, and have been greatly used and loved in our family; but she'd noticed that Mommy read from a different kind of Bible, and it seemed like a good time to get her one. We chose the Seek and Find Bible, and we're really happy with it! There are still some pictures (which are beautiful, by the way) and simplified retellings in it, but all the words are in there, along with study helps and explanations. She was in awe! I also had gone through my tub of toys Mom had saved for me and pulled out a Barbie family to give to Serena (she already had a Barbie-sized Cinderella doll Aunt Jessica had given her for Christmas). It was precious watching her open them! The first one she pulled out happened to be a Ken doll (Cinderella's Prince Charming from 1990-something, to be exact). She gasped a little and then whispered, "It's a Daddy!" One of the best parts of the present-opening this time around was Bret's commentary, "It's a box! It's a book! It's a book, Mom!" "Box in there, Mom! There's tape on it still, Mom." "Woah! Look at that! Hey! There's some more! Woah! There's some more!" Needless to say, he was a different boy now that he knew he'd had a birthday once, too. ;)
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| Reading her Birthday card |
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| So happy with her little family of dolls. She named them all after the All-of-a-Kind Family characters. |
Serena opening presents
When Serena had opened her presents, Bret realized that there was something for him, after all! The empty box! He used it to make a present for himself, putting his water bottle into it (which I didn't think anything about at first, until Kari reminded me that his water bottle had been one of the presents he'd opened in his birthday video, haha!).
Bret's Birthday Shenanigans
After presents, it was time for some cupcakes!!! The cupcakes were not my best work, unfortunately. But, not giving your children sweets has some not-so-obvious advantages...like their being really easy to please when they do get sweets! They thought the cupcakes were perfection. So, of course, they were.
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| I have been a little surprised just how fun it is for me to have my dolls out again and to watch Serena play with them and to play with them with her! My sisters and I spent so many hours playing with our Barbie dolls! I think they were by far our most-played-with toys. Mine are mostly still in great shape, and Serena is loving them! I am secretly wishing my sisters would come over with their dolls and we could make houses and plan balls and arrange marriages again! ;) |
Thanks for helping me make that Bible, honey!!! ;)
And, of course, a Birthday post would not be complete without an interview with the Birthday child:
Serena's 5th Birthday Interview
1 comment:
I loved it - - especially the interview! <3
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