Super Heros for Roko

My daughter, Kelly planned the most awesome 4th birthday party for Roko this past Saturday. It was so fun! And the kids loved it!

I've always been a fan of at home birthday parties (well mostly, when I'm feeling especially Super Mom-ish). Ya know, before McDonalds and Chuck E Cheese all birthday parties were held at home. I remember a great dance party I went to as a kid right after Chubby Checker invented the "twist". And then there's the famous unbirthday party of my cousin Barbara where we invited all the neighborhood kids and then told Aunt Joan (who came through with cupcakes). And of course, I've planned a few fun ones myself. There was a Gem party for Kelly, a Tea Party for Sabrina, the super Hot Wheels and great Nerf party for Harry.

But none have compared to Roko's SUPER HERO birthday.

There were HEROS:

Kelly made capes for everyone and they decorated their own masks.

They each had their own Trading Cards:

There was a VILLIAN:

They eventually apprehended him using Super String.

They trained by:

Diffusing bombs...

Scaling tall buildings...

Driving super fast...

Disposing of Kryptonite...

And traversing laser beams.

They were rewarded:

They ate "hero" sandwiches with "power" punch.

Kelly made an array of Super Hero cupcakes.

Oh and there were presents:

Roko received lots of super hero presents, but his favorite was the Captain America helmet and shield from Gramma Ashurst.

And when it was over, some people were REALLY tired.

Thank you Kelly for such a great party, for being such an awesome mom, and O yeah, for having such a Super Hero son!

Harry's Birthday

We had an early Birthday Party today for Harry who is turning 19 on the 1st. He'll be in San Diego that day.

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we decided to have a summer time BBQ. We have them often in the summer and Harry will miss them and we will miss him this summer. And it was a great party.

Roko played in the water. Sandy accidentally knocked him in, but he was OK and climbed right out and kept playing.

Dave got a chance to ride his Harley that he's been rebuilding. It started out a very "un" Harley purple. Dave took it apart, repainted it, got new tires and a retro seat, and had the logo painted on it. And he even got it all put back together correctly.

It is very cool.

The kid's table.

When the grown up dinner was ready everyone was so starved they rushed to the table.

But getting these 3 men in my life to come to the table is really torturous. Mark was already eating.

We were too busy eating and sharing favorite stories about Harry to take pictures at the grown up's table.

We laughed about the time Sandi locked him and the keys in the car while it was still running.

Dave had a garage band when Harry was little. He was their groupy and so they named the band Harrald for him.

Harry always wanted to be part of Kelly's backyard slumber parties. So after all the girls were in the tent and it would be just a little dark, he would sneak out to the tent and the girls would be scared by the noise he made. And he would say, "It's just me, Haaarry". When he was little we called him Haaarry.

Nancee told us he was the first person to make her feel really welcome in our family when at dinner he sat by her and leaned against her, put his hand up her sleeve and leaned his head on her arm. She also liked the way he would give her birthday presents that were things he liked such as a Rescue Hero or a Hotwheel, secretly hoping she would give it back.

So that leaves mine and Rich's memories. I remember bringing him home from the hospital after he was born and tucking him in bed between me and rich and looking at his sweet face.

Rich remembers showing him how to play on the computer "How Many How Many How Many Bugs in the Box. He was two.

Oh Yeah, Harry's favorite memory? Dave locking him in his room with the light turned off.

From then until he was about 12 he slept with a light on.

Then it was time for presents. Kelly and Roko were in charge.

They presented and unwrapped.

A beautiful spinner CTR ring and an oil vial (it's a church thing).

Non "skinny" jeans.

A camera to take on his mission. Complete with funky bendy tri pod, and case.

And what could be cooler than a new white shirt and two new cool ties and 10 pairs of black socks with a different color stripe at the top so he could pair them easily.

We sang and Roko and Kelly helped him blow out the candles.

All of our parties are a little crazy and chaotic, but they

are also fun and entertaing and we are

all together tickling littles kids, kissing babies,

and trying to get the "tweens" to participate.

It's loud. And we love every moment!

A Shared Birthday

I have 2 granddaughters. Sabrina and Kelly. They were both born on the same day...9 years apart. Today is their birthday. Kelly is 3 and Sabrina is 12. Each year since Kelly was born they have their picture taken together in matching outfits and they go out to dinner together (This year it was Kelly's turn to choose. She chose Chuck E Cheese.). Then they have separate parties at some point. This year, Sabrina's is a swim party tomorrow and Kelly is having pink cupcakes at her house tomorrow night at 7. They are such good friends (of course being the only girls helps). They love to shop and dance. Sabrina will occasionally play Barbies with Kelly and Kelly will sometimes let Sabrina hold her on a floaty in the pool.
I hope Kelly and Sabrina always have fun sharing their birthday. I think it's great


PS. Ya know what's really strange? My sister and I (we're twins) share our birthday with our cousin, Anita. And we are 9 years apart.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

It Was My Birthday!

Thursday was my birthday! Having a birthday in December can sometimes be a little disappointing, having to compete with Christmas. But mine is a whole 2 weeks before, so instead of competing, it kind of heralds in the season. A lot of my favorite Christmas decorations came to me as birthday gifts.

I'm not shy about my birthday. I want it remembered. This year I turned 58. 58! What a shock! As I was doing the math, more than once out of disbelief, my granddaughter asked if I was going to die soon. I reassured her that I am planning to be around for a long, long time.

I refuse to be old and have decided that 58 is the new 28. When I look in the mirror I never expect to see the wrinkled, tired, and a tad saggy face that stares back at me. In my head my face is young and thin, with only the happiest laugh lines around my eyes.

And no old lady gifts for me! No night gowns, no bottles of lotion, or silly sweaters (ok, sometimes I like a good, old lady, over-embellished sweater). This year my grandchildren gave me the Rex walking dinosaur from Toy Story (the only thing on my birthday list). He joins the rest of my collection of dinosaurs. They gave me a new snowman book to read to them and a picture with Santa. And as I'm writing this, I'm wearing the cutest slippers that Kelly knit and felted for me.

But the funnest present; the one that made me realize I am not an old lady, was the Red Wii. What a gift! What fun! What laughter! I completely forgot that I'm not supposed to be silly. I danced to the Just Dance 2 game (scoring 8,000- far more than anyone else). I hooped and hollered at Nate while trying to shoot ducks. I totally felt like the 28 year old I am in my head.

All in all it was the best birthday ever- Well, until next year anyway.

All About Harry

Monday was Harry's 17th birthday! Wow!
How time does march on!

We filled his room with balloons and streamers.
David helped us choose and order the bass guitar he wanted.

No matter how hard I've tried to keep him a little boy, he just keeps growing up.

Harry is the baby . We waited a long time for him to come to our family. 13 years to be exact. After Kelly (our third) was born, we considered that maybe our family was complete. But one night, I had a dream. I saw a cute little red headed boy standing and waiting. I knew he was meant for us. So we waited... and waited...and waited.

Soon I began to think that maybe he was a "some day" son-in-law or a boy I would teach in Primary or maybe h e was just a dream. When Sandi was a senior and Dave was 16 and Kelly 13, I found myself pregnant. I was 40. What a surprise.

Harry has been our entertainment, joy, and reason for getting up in the mornings for the past 17 years. He came to us late but at exactly the right time.

So...I thought I'd throw up some pictures and drawings "all about Harry":

Ever photogenic!

He's been rockin out with Dave practically since the day he was born.

He's always been cool.

The infamous buzz haircut while Mom was gone.

He has been my model for drawings many times.

Harry is my hero.
No matter how old he gets.