I'm home from work today, I generally always like to take the day after a holiday off as a "recover from the fun" day, although the best way to do it is to take the day before and the day after a holiday off (which I did this go around). Anyway, I went to pick Jake up from pre-school today, and when he got in the car he told me "I just turned 5, but I'm already smarter, Ms. Carrie said so". As my 39th birthday looms in the not so distant future, I think I'm going to go for the "already smarter" angle as well, as I'm already "old" enough, so look forward to January 10th when I will be already smarter than I am now.
I can't believe the holidays have flown by so quickly, we've packed an awful lot into the last two weeks around here. I worked 2 days last week, on Thursday and Friday; and then had another 5 day weekend which has been very nice. Friday night Jennie, a couple of her neighbors, and her sister Julie for a "girls night out". We grabbed a quick bite to eat and saw the movie "P.S. I Love You", which was a cute (if sad) chick flick. Hopefully more of the girls in the family can make some time, or plan in advance to attend the next girls night out, they definitely missed a fun time.
Saturday morning was Brenda's funeral, it is still hard to believe that someone so very alive and vibrant is gone at the early age of 43, but it was a nice funeral. I have been very blessed to work with many of the same people for the last 18 years, and develop some wonderfully enduring relationships over those years. There are some days that I probably spend more waking hours with my co-workers than I do my family, and it is so wonderful to remember what an amazing group of people have been part of my life during that time. It was a sad but good reminder of how important our relationships with people are. Brenda obviously touched many lives, both professionally and personally, and she will be so deeply missed, but she definitely packed a lot of living into her short 43 years.
I was suppose to go to a small memorial that was being done at the Marriott Downtown after the services, but about halfway there, I just realized that really wasn't what I felt I should do, so I turned around at Bountiful and headed home. Jake and Rob had just returned from seeing a movie and going to lunch. I ran and grabbed myself a quick bite, and then started getting a few things done for Jake's birthday party on Monday. I made 4 batches of large homemade lollipops for the table centerpiece for the party, which took quite awhile, and then we watched a movie, the one with Robin Williams running for president as a comedian, I can't remember what it was called; it was o.k. it just seemed like it couldn't decide what kind of movie to be, comedy or political thriller; so it was a bit all over the place. Then we all went to bed early.
Sunday morning, we all got up early, Rob went for a hike; and Jake and I started getting his cakes baked for his birthday cake. He wanted a Wonka hat, so I needed at least four layers to make a cake look like a top hat. I realized when I started to make cakes that in my food storage where I thought I had a bunch of cake mixes I actually had a bunch of brownie mixes. Luckily I had at least 3 cake mixes, but it was a pretty colorful cake, 2 layers chocolate, one 2 red velvet (I have no idea why I bought a red velvet cake mix), and then I did a pumpkin cake to dip in the chocolate fountain. Then off to church, where Rob had his first week with our Sunday School class, I taught this week, and will teach next week while Rob is in Reno; but he's on deck the week after. After church it was time to decorate the cake. This is the first time I have ever made, and tried to work with fondant on a cake. Jake wanted chocolate on the outside, and I used some melted chocolate to get flavor and color in the fondant which made it a little hard to work with, but otherwise with some practice, I think I can get the hang of the fondant, and it's definitely easier to decorate with than piping frosting. We got the cake done, and then Jake and I curled up in the chair and opened 5 pounds of Hershey's Kisses (one of my after Christmas sales) for the chocolate fountain.
Monday was the big day, Jake was so excited for his birthday, in fact he told me a bunch of times he was more excited for his Wonka party than he was for Christmas. Monday morning he decided he wanted to be dressed like Willie Wonka for the party, so we spend almost an hour trying to come up with a suitable outfit. He finally settled on a white shirt, blue pants, a green jacket, a top hat, ribbon bow tie, and a cane to walk with. He was bathed and ready for his party by 11:00, and he was so excited he was bouncing. I still had a few things to do before everyone came at 1:00, so I finally put in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for him to watch. We learned quite a bit Monday about part of the theory of relativity, for Jake that 2 hours was the longest of his life so far, for Mommy that 2 hours flew by, and I was still making frosting at 1:00 when Jakey Wonka was walking around outside waiting to greet his guests.
We started the party with a little "welcome to my factory" speech Jake had worked on, and then we had all the kids sign a gold contract (like in the original Gene Wilder version of the movie) saying they promised to have fun at the party. The signed gold poster board will be Jake's keepsake from his party. After signing the contract we had the kids divide into 3 groups, for three "stations" (or rooms of the factory). The first was the game station where the kids played "pin the cane on Willie Wonka" (pinning candy canes on a poster of the new Johnny Depp version of the movie), then "find a everlasting Gob Stopper" (big bouncy balls that looked like jaw breakers) hidden around the room, and then they had a "fizzy lifting drink burping contest". The second station was the "craft" station where they could make snowflake frames, gingerbread men/women/houses ornaments, or snowmen candy canes (or all three if they wanted). The final station was the "treat" station where they could make a pizza out of round rice crispie treats, M&M's and frosting, while watching the Willie Wonka movie (we did the new one and some of the kids hadn't seen it, so that was good).
After all the kids had gone to all the stations it was time to sing Happy Birthday and have lunch. For lunch we had fluffernutter, and peanut butter/chocolate sandwiches (PB& Nutello), rainbow chedder fishes, a chocolate fountain, fizzy lifting drinks (Sprite), and cake. It was the first time it was actually quiet in the house, my favorite was Jackson deciding that chocolate peanut butter sandwiches weren't quite chocolatey enough and dipping all his sandwiches into the chocolate fountain (it was really good, I tried it). After lunch the kids gathered to watch Jakey open his presents. He got lots of fun stuff, thank you everyone for the great gifts!!! Then it was time for the pinata full of Wonka candies (laffy taffy, sweettarts, and nerds.) We finished up by letting everyone choose a little gift to take home from the gift table, and everyone got to have a bit lollipop from the centerpiece to take home. I think the Wonka party was a big success, I know Jake was very happy with his party.
Circe bravely volunteered to have all the sugar wired cousins at her house to extend the fun for a couple more hours. Then the Cranes spent an exiting New Years Eve going to bed early. I actually tried to stay up till midnight but only made it to 11:30. Rob was getting a cold, so he was down pretty early although he got up I think around midnight again, and Jake was out by 9:00.
I hope you had a happy day my little 5 year old, I told Jake Monday night when we sat in the rocking recliner talking about the day, that had I known 5 year olds were so extra special, I would have had a 5 year old all along.
Tuesday morning we got up, and Jake went out to try to see if he was big enough to ride his new skooter that Grandma & Grandpa had given him for his birthday. He picked it up easily and was skooting up and down the sidewalk in no time. I got some M&M's and sat down to do some reading with my Complete New Yorker I got for Christmas (thanks Ryan for the DVD drive, it works perfectly!!!). I started reading "In Cold Blood" which is one of my all time favorite books and was originally published as a series of articles in the New Yorker. Rob said this was probably the worst thing he ever got me, mostly because I could spend hours searching through this thing, 4000+ magazines is a lot to read. Rob was feeling pretty crappy, and was worried about being around any of the kids, so at 12:30 Jake and I headed to Mom and Dad's for New Years lunch. We had a great lunch, and Jake enjoyed spending the day with his cousins.
It's been a really wonderful holiday, a lot of work to get Christmas and a Birthday party together, but definitely worth every minute. The best part of being a mom, is being able to craft good, and magical memories for you kids. I remember how hard my mom worked to make sure all our holidays and birthday were special; and I'm so thankful she taught me how important those things are, holidays are just another day if you don't make them something special; and it's definitely worth it to make them special. I love this time of year to this day because my mom, and grandma made the holidays special.
Rob heads to Reno this weekend to see the kids before they move to St. Louis (which is a little further to go), he will be gone all weekend, and is taking Josh and Camille to dinner, and then he and Camille are going on a daddy/daughter date, Saturday night. Jakey got invited to go sledding Saturday with Milo's family, and my friend Wendy has invited Jake and I to her house Saturday night for dinner. So back to work tomorrow and then another busy weekend ahead.
And if anyone wants some candy, well this Wonka house has lots still so stop on by...
I can't believe the holidays have flown by so quickly, we've packed an awful lot into the last two weeks around here. I worked 2 days last week, on Thursday and Friday; and then had another 5 day weekend which has been very nice. Friday night Jennie, a couple of her neighbors, and her sister Julie for a "girls night out". We grabbed a quick bite to eat and saw the movie "P.S. I Love You", which was a cute (if sad) chick flick. Hopefully more of the girls in the family can make some time, or plan in advance to attend the next girls night out, they definitely missed a fun time.
Saturday morning was Brenda's funeral, it is still hard to believe that someone so very alive and vibrant is gone at the early age of 43, but it was a nice funeral. I have been very blessed to work with many of the same people for the last 18 years, and develop some wonderfully enduring relationships over those years. There are some days that I probably spend more waking hours with my co-workers than I do my family, and it is so wonderful to remember what an amazing group of people have been part of my life during that time. It was a sad but good reminder of how important our relationships with people are. Brenda obviously touched many lives, both professionally and personally, and she will be so deeply missed, but she definitely packed a lot of living into her short 43 years.
I was suppose to go to a small memorial that was being done at the Marriott Downtown after the services, but about halfway there, I just realized that really wasn't what I felt I should do, so I turned around at Bountiful and headed home. Jake and Rob had just returned from seeing a movie and going to lunch. I ran and grabbed myself a quick bite, and then started getting a few things done for Jake's birthday party on Monday. I made 4 batches of large homemade lollipops for the table centerpiece for the party, which took quite awhile, and then we watched a movie, the one with Robin Williams running for president as a comedian, I can't remember what it was called; it was o.k. it just seemed like it couldn't decide what kind of movie to be, comedy or political thriller; so it was a bit all over the place. Then we all went to bed early.
Sunday morning, we all got up early, Rob went for a hike; and Jake and I started getting his cakes baked for his birthday cake. He wanted a Wonka hat, so I needed at least four layers to make a cake look like a top hat. I realized when I started to make cakes that in my food storage where I thought I had a bunch of cake mixes I actually had a bunch of brownie mixes. Luckily I had at least 3 cake mixes, but it was a pretty colorful cake, 2 layers chocolate, one 2 red velvet (I have no idea why I bought a red velvet cake mix), and then I did a pumpkin cake to dip in the chocolate fountain. Then off to church, where Rob had his first week with our Sunday School class, I taught this week, and will teach next week while Rob is in Reno; but he's on deck the week after. After church it was time to decorate the cake. This is the first time I have ever made, and tried to work with fondant on a cake. Jake wanted chocolate on the outside, and I used some melted chocolate to get flavor and color in the fondant which made it a little hard to work with, but otherwise with some practice, I think I can get the hang of the fondant, and it's definitely easier to decorate with than piping frosting. We got the cake done, and then Jake and I curled up in the chair and opened 5 pounds of Hershey's Kisses (one of my after Christmas sales) for the chocolate fountain.
Monday was the big day, Jake was so excited for his birthday, in fact he told me a bunch of times he was more excited for his Wonka party than he was for Christmas. Monday morning he decided he wanted to be dressed like Willie Wonka for the party, so we spend almost an hour trying to come up with a suitable outfit. He finally settled on a white shirt, blue pants, a green jacket, a top hat, ribbon bow tie, and a cane to walk with. He was bathed and ready for his party by 11:00, and he was so excited he was bouncing. I still had a few things to do before everyone came at 1:00, so I finally put in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for him to watch. We learned quite a bit Monday about part of the theory of relativity, for Jake that 2 hours was the longest of his life so far, for Mommy that 2 hours flew by, and I was still making frosting at 1:00 when Jakey Wonka was walking around outside waiting to greet his guests.
We started the party with a little "welcome to my factory" speech Jake had worked on, and then we had all the kids sign a gold contract (like in the original Gene Wilder version of the movie) saying they promised to have fun at the party. The signed gold poster board will be Jake's keepsake from his party. After signing the contract we had the kids divide into 3 groups, for three "stations" (or rooms of the factory). The first was the game station where the kids played "pin the cane on Willie Wonka" (pinning candy canes on a poster of the new Johnny Depp version of the movie), then "find a everlasting Gob Stopper" (big bouncy balls that looked like jaw breakers) hidden around the room, and then they had a "fizzy lifting drink burping contest". The second station was the "craft" station where they could make snowflake frames, gingerbread men/women/houses ornaments, or snowmen candy canes (or all three if they wanted). The final station was the "treat" station where they could make a pizza out of round rice crispie treats, M&M's and frosting, while watching the Willie Wonka movie (we did the new one and some of the kids hadn't seen it, so that was good).
After all the kids had gone to all the stations it was time to sing Happy Birthday and have lunch. For lunch we had fluffernutter, and peanut butter/chocolate sandwiches (PB& Nutello), rainbow chedder fishes, a chocolate fountain, fizzy lifting drinks (Sprite), and cake. It was the first time it was actually quiet in the house, my favorite was Jackson deciding that chocolate peanut butter sandwiches weren't quite chocolatey enough and dipping all his sandwiches into the chocolate fountain (it was really good, I tried it). After lunch the kids gathered to watch Jakey open his presents. He got lots of fun stuff, thank you everyone for the great gifts!!! Then it was time for the pinata full of Wonka candies (laffy taffy, sweettarts, and nerds.) We finished up by letting everyone choose a little gift to take home from the gift table, and everyone got to have a bit lollipop from the centerpiece to take home. I think the Wonka party was a big success, I know Jake was very happy with his party.
Circe bravely volunteered to have all the sugar wired cousins at her house to extend the fun for a couple more hours. Then the Cranes spent an exiting New Years Eve going to bed early. I actually tried to stay up till midnight but only made it to 11:30. Rob was getting a cold, so he was down pretty early although he got up I think around midnight again, and Jake was out by 9:00.
I hope you had a happy day my little 5 year old, I told Jake Monday night when we sat in the rocking recliner talking about the day, that had I known 5 year olds were so extra special, I would have had a 5 year old all along.
Tuesday morning we got up, and Jake went out to try to see if he was big enough to ride his new skooter that Grandma & Grandpa had given him for his birthday. He picked it up easily and was skooting up and down the sidewalk in no time. I got some M&M's and sat down to do some reading with my Complete New Yorker I got for Christmas (thanks Ryan for the DVD drive, it works perfectly!!!). I started reading "In Cold Blood" which is one of my all time favorite books and was originally published as a series of articles in the New Yorker. Rob said this was probably the worst thing he ever got me, mostly because I could spend hours searching through this thing, 4000+ magazines is a lot to read. Rob was feeling pretty crappy, and was worried about being around any of the kids, so at 12:30 Jake and I headed to Mom and Dad's for New Years lunch. We had a great lunch, and Jake enjoyed spending the day with his cousins.
It's been a really wonderful holiday, a lot of work to get Christmas and a Birthday party together, but definitely worth every minute. The best part of being a mom, is being able to craft good, and magical memories for you kids. I remember how hard my mom worked to make sure all our holidays and birthday were special; and I'm so thankful she taught me how important those things are, holidays are just another day if you don't make them something special; and it's definitely worth it to make them special. I love this time of year to this day because my mom, and grandma made the holidays special.
Rob heads to Reno this weekend to see the kids before they move to St. Louis (which is a little further to go), he will be gone all weekend, and is taking Josh and Camille to dinner, and then he and Camille are going on a daddy/daughter date, Saturday night. Jakey got invited to go sledding Saturday with Milo's family, and my friend Wendy has invited Jake and I to her house Saturday night for dinner. So back to work tomorrow and then another busy weekend ahead.
And if anyone wants some candy, well this Wonka house has lots still so stop on by...
3 comments:
The party was great. Thank you for being such a great aunt and sister. We love you. Happy b-day Jake.
The Wonka party was a party that will go down in history! I am so glad I married into a family that values the milestones of life so much. It's a great legacy that Grandma Hill left, and that Mom and all her kids continue. Christmas, like the NBA Draft, :) can bring tears to Scott's eyes, thinking about the importance of making it memorable. Michelle, I can think of lots of important times when you knew just what to do to increase the magic!
Jake this was the best birthday party we have ever been to. Thanks for inviting us.
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