A Complete Cake Fail and A Pokemon Party

Well, it was bound to happen, I had a cake fall completely apart. After multiple poor choices, the planned cake was a total bomb and I had to salvage the parts that weren't a complete loss and call it good because by that time, I had less than an hour until the party would start. And even then, I realized I got the Pokeball wrong in a few places. It was just horribly, horribly wrong. I didn't plan it well enough and didn't prepare early enough, and so this is what you get. Sad, isn't it? But, at least it tasted good!

Anyway, let's start with 7am!

Cruise woke in the morning to Miles crying, and immediately said, "It's my birthday! I wonder what surprises they have for me!" Ha ha! This kid LOVES a good surprise. Dave and I put up a banner and some balloons the night before, as well as had his presents wrapped and sitting on the table for him to find.

So of course he had to open his presents immediately. We got him a Pokeball belt set and an Inventions book and kit. Pokemon and science: his two favorite things these days.

I've been putting together Cruise's Halloween costume (Ash from Pokemon) and so he grabbed everything he has so far and he and Jett played Pokemon for about an hour.

My mom came and picked Cruise & Jett up and took them to breakfast at Denny's. Then they went to the Boy Scouts office and she got Cruise his Boy Scout stuff! He is so excited to start next week! Then off they went to the toy store where Jett got his own Pokeball, and then to lunch at Wendy's. They had a blast! Grandma gave Cruise his present from she and Papa Greer: a 1998 Pokedex! (I told you he loves eBay). He was so excited!

Cruise came home and a package showed up from Grandma & Grandpa Ybarra! They sent him a Blast Pad, which is like a stomp rocket only better! He and Jett had a lot of fun playing with it together!

The party started at 4:30pm, after I endured the cake fail and cried like a baby in the kitchen. Luckily I was able pull out of it and remember my goal is for Cruise to have a good birthday, and so far he was all smiles. Last minute another thing went wrong, two of the four friends he invited couldn't make it. So his two friends, Tex and Claire, showed up and we played Twister first.

Next we played pin the tail on the Pikachu, which apparently I have no pictures of, but they loved it.

Then we did a Pokeball hunt. Earlier in the week I took all our Easter eggs and painted them red and white, and then Dave & I spent an hour drawing black bands around each one so they would look like Pokeballs. Then I ordered 48 1-inch Pokemons from Amazon for really cheap and filled the eggs with them. The boys' babysitter, Rani, and her boyfriend came for the party and hid all the eggs while the boys were playing the other games.

After all the balls were found, we had pizza! 

And then, the underwhelming cake:

Then they pulled out their Pokemon and played for a little while.

Then...presents!

Claire gave Cruise a slime science kit. She said, "Because we had so much fun playing science last time I came here!"

 Tex gave Cruise his very first set of Pokemon cards! He was so excited!!!

 And Rani and Bryce got Cruise another Pokeball and more Pokemons!

The kids each got a gift bag with a giant slappy hand, two Pokemon pencils, a pencil eraser, a nose pencil sharpener, Laffy Taffy, and a Pokemon glow stick. 

Rani & Bryce stayed afterwards and let Dave and I go on a date. When I kissed Cruise good-bye, I asked him if he had a good birthday and he said, "Oh yes!" 

My work here is done.

Last Game!

Summer baseball is finally done! It was awesome, fun, stressful, and irritatingly demanding. But it seems like most of the kids loved it.  So that's what matters.

We had to move the game to a different park because our field was overrun by footballers. So for our last game, one of the moms reserved their neighborhood park for that evening. I also had everyone bring a treat to share and I provided WAY too much soda than I should have. And I also arranged for Rowly, one of the mascots from the OWLZ, to come and play with the kids. 

The day had been going awesome; the weather was not too hot and a little overcast. I showed up a little early to the park to set up and a huge windstorm starts and doesn't let up the entire time. In fact, it got worse as the party went on. But the kids all had fun playing with Rowly, catching balls and taking pictures. We didn't get to really play a game since the wind was just too crazy, but I don't think the kids minded. Jett was really irritated by the wind and wouldn't get out of the car to take pictures with Rowly. Finally he came out in time for a big group picture, but of course he threw a fit afterwards that he didn't get a one-on-one pic with the mascot. Miles kept a safe distance from Rowly and made BFFs with my friend Aimee, one of the moms. He stuck with her while I took pictures and helped everyone.

Rowly eating my face. 

For the parents who wanted them, I ordered little medals for the kids. Jett felt better once he got his medal after the party. I have to say I'm relieved to be done with it and a little hesitant to do it again next year. Still trying to figure that out. 

A Couple Weeks Late, But...

Abby had her baby!!!

Welcome baby Liev Robert Wilson! Liev was born July 26th and is just perfect. He is so so adorable! I had the pleasure of visiting this guy multiple times his first week of life and I am so in love with this kid! His crazy Aunt Em will definitely be spoiling him.

Congratulations Abby & Casey!

Today You Are Eight

Dear Cruise,

I don't know when it happened, but I blinked and you became an 8 year old.

Cruise, where do I begin? I have spent the past week reminiscing and reflecting on the great blessing you have been to our family. I can't imagine my life without your boisterous, passionate, comical self.  You possess the energy of an entire football team and have more persistence than an army of ants. You have more passion for life than anyone I have ever known. I try, but I can never keep up with you! Every single day, without fail, you have big ideas and aspirations that have equally big expectations. As much as you hate not seeing your inventions complete and working, you never give up. And that, my dear son, is what makes you remarkable.

Cruise, you are curious, imaginative and creative. You want to know so much and yet retain so much information already in that amazing brain of yours. You always want to go on adventure and discover everything. You see things so differently than the rest of us and find beauty and meaning in some of the smallest, seemingly unremarkable things: a pebble, a weed, a piece of wire, broken sunglasses. You also fill your pockets with these things and with each load of laundry, I am reminded at just how differently you experience and see the world around you. And that is beautiful. You are beautiful.

All the things you struggle with are small in comparison to all the wonderful things you excel at. I love how friendly you are to everyone. You are so happy and forgiving. You always tell the truth and try so hard to follow the rules. You are witty and funny, and have such a great sense of humor. You love your brothers unconditionally, even when they really tick you off. You forgive me when I'm not having the best of days, you compliment me when I've done something so ordinary, and you let me kiss you goodnight.

This is a big birthday for you! You will soon be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is a big decision for you to make. One that I know is the right decision, but it is yours to make and I am so proud of you. I know that your Heavenly Father sees you and knows your struggles. He knows that those Sunday clothes are really really uncomfortable and that it's so hard sitting for 3 hours every Sunday! But I know that He knows your heart and He knows how special and strong your spirit is, and I know that you are one of His favorites. Continue to make good choices, Cruise, and do those things that the Lord asks of you, even when they are hard or uncomfortable, and I know He will bless you ten-fold.

Cruise, my dear sweet boy, although it's hard to see you grow so fast, it is also incredibly exciting and gratifying. You make my heart so happy and I am filled with so much gratitude every day to be your mom. I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for being such a wonderful son; I don't know what I did to deserve such a remarkable little boy, but I definitely think the Lord gave me more than I deserved.

Happy Birthday, Cruise! I love you forever.

Love,

Mom

An Update on the Firstborn...

This summer has been up and down for Cruise. He is most happy if he is doing something Pokemon, invention, or exploration related. So usually he's doing one of the three all day.

Cruise has been doing well on his medication. The only problem is if I forget a dose, he and the rest of us pay for it the next day or two as he gets very emotional. So we are usually really good at remembering. He has to take it twice a day, so it can get tricky if we go somewhere and forget his meds. 

Attention-wise he is doing better. He has been a little more focused when it comes to things I need him to do and following directions. It's really nice. 

Cruise invents every day. Whether or not it actually works how he wants it to is a another story, but he still tries, which I'm very happy about. I have to remind him that he's only seven and that he has many many years to invent things that will actually work and not be made out of paper. I go through so many paper cups every day because he uses them when he invents. But I'd rather have him using and destroying cups than other household items, so I don't complain about it anymore.

This summer has been slightly heartbreaking for me. Cruise has given up trying to be social, and that is a problem. He has been shut down so much and he notices that he struggles getting along with others, that he just doesn't try anymore. Some days I tell Jett that he can't play unless Cruise can play with him and his friends just so I can get Cruise out and interacting with his peers. Some days are better than others. But I have to have conversations with Cruise to remind him why it's important to practice playing with friends. He still thinks it's stupid, but he humors me and tries.

The other day I had to bribe him with a cookie to get him to practice some social skills with me. We wanted him to practice talking to people and asking them questions about themselves rather than talking at people about Pokemon the whole time. So first Dave and I had a conversation and showed him how to do it. Then Cruise and I practiced. We had to prompt him or just tell him what to ask because he had a hard time thinking of questions that tied into the conversation we were having. It's going to take a lot of practice, but I can see him getting it one of these days. I kind of can empathize with him since I myself have trouble doing this, but practice is the best way to learn!

 Cruise is excited about his birthday this week and especially excited about getting Pokemon presents! eBay is his favorite store right now. Ha ha! Unless I find something for him to do outside of the house, he won't leave. I am constantly wracking my brain trying to think of something he could do outside instead of sitting inside obsessing about his latest invention or watching Pokemon. I don't know what I'd do without Dave during the day. I am really grateful he is home a large portion of the day because we are able to go do things away from the house with the boys.

Overall, he's been his happy, passionate self most of the time. Can't believe he's going to be 8!