Birthday Celebrations

Sam's birthday was a nice day.  I got the kids off to school and then put my "Sam's songs" playlist on the radio and turned it up to listen to as I worked.  The boys were both absolute gems.  I haven't gotten that much accomplished in an hour's time in weeks.  It was so nice.  Every once in a while, I could hear Nate's soft singing voice trying to sing along with some of the songs he knows.  He listens to a cd of Primary songs each night, so he knows a few. 
Jason didn't try to head for the stairs or climb up my leg and cry to be held (like he usually does), so I was able to get the breakfast mess cleaned up before lunch.  That's a big deal around here.

Anyway, we waited for the other kids to get home and then we had a party.  We got pizza for dinner and then went up to the gravel pit and let the kids play a bit.  Then we came home to draw pictures for Sam and send them up in balloons.  That's about when the chaos set in.  Jason was tired and hungry, so he was reaching for everything and screaming out his little squeals.  Allie and Jake were pretty good, but Allie kept needing sharpened pencils and other stuff.
Nate saw the balloons and helium tank and that was the end of his patience.  He wanted a balloon and he wanted it now.  I tied it to his pants so it wouldn't float away, but that was making him angry, so I just handed it to him and then, as you can imagine, there were tears because it floated away.
I probably shouldn't take pictures when we are trying to do things like this, because it just adds to the chaos because I am snapping away at one child while the other is pulling a helium tank over and onto another kid's head...
On the other hand, the chaos is over now, the house is quiet...and I'm glad I have pictures of it all now.  So here they are...

 This dirt pile is different every time we go up there.  This time, it was steeper than usual and I used the sport mode on my camera to get some sequence pictures.  Pretty fun, but you don't need to see a million pictures of them jumping off a dirt pile.

Mike gave each of them a wild ride spinning cookies.

Sad, sad Nate after his first balloon floated away...

This is Jake's note.  "Happy Birthday Sam" with lots of balloons and notes tied to them.

 Allie asked me over and over what I thought Sam's favorite color was, or what he looks like.  After a few crumbled up papers, she finally said "I'll just draw me, because I know what I look like."

I loved Mike's drawing.  It says "roar your engine" on it.  He always says that to the kids.  This is also one of the standard drawings that get drawn as a kid is sitting on his lap at church.

Nate's is a bunch of scribbles.

 I was surprised that Nate let go of his balloon willingly.  It was fun to watch them float up.  The sky was so clear, we could see them for a long time.

Then it was time for frosting covered brownies.
We also got a new Piggie and Gerald (by Mo Willems) book for our collection.  I still highly recommend those books for any of you who are reading this and haven't read them yet.  I never get tired of reading those books to the kids.

I think it was a really nice day.  We had fun together as a family and that's what I wanted most for the day.  Does it matter that I got annoyed with the kids for their bed time chaos?  I hope not.  I hope they remember that I love them all very much and my love is deeper because their brother Sam came into my life and taught me to cherish every day with them.

Happy Birthday Sam boy!