Earlier this month we celebrated Abe’s 5th birthday. He’s generally an easy kid to please and his birthday was no exception. On his actual birthday, his dinner request was fried chicken and mashed potatos, which he got. As I was frying chicken that evening, I was tempted to lament over how long it was taking. Then I remembered that all he wanted for his birthday breakfast was a bowl of Cheerios with milk (which we were also able to get) and I decided not to complain about his dinner request.
All of my children had been allowed to have a “friend” party by their 4th birthday, except Abe. My mommy guilt meter told me that this year needed to be the one. He wanted to invite 2 friends for his party. One lives within walking distance. The other lives 4.5 hours away. Fortunately, the second one’s parents were ready for a break from their city and both guests were able to come.
We did an ocean theme, simply because on our trip to the capitol city a month earlier, we’d had about 3 boy themed choices of plates and he chose some ocean creature ones. I knew I could probably easily pull off an ocean party without a Target or a Michaels, so we went with it. It worked out well and I think he had a great time. The kids made oceans in a bottle, played sharks and minnows, and had a treasure hunt that took them all over the compound.
The only thing I wasn’t able to deliver on was his continual request for a light saber for his birthday. I thought I had it in the bag. I found a volunteer team coming into the country who was willing to carry it in and I just knew I was going to have one happy little boy. But then, the pesky Boko Haram began causing trouble in the area the team was set to go to and they had to delay their trip. So, the light saber is in some church office in TN and we’re hopeful that the team will get to come in November. Which means I’m not behind on birthday gifts, I’m just ahead on Christmas gifts, right? Thankfully, Ryan and I had filled a footlocker full of gifts on the crate to be used for various “somedays,” so he still had some goodies to unwrap.
It ended up that quite a few our our mission personnel were in town that weekend for a variety of reasons, so Abe had lots of mission family to celebrate with him too. That’s one thing that we continue to love and adjust to, the extended family of our mission family. Our kids have enjoyed having all of their mission “aunts and uncles” lavish them with love on their birthdays through text messages, gifts, and birthday cards with ice cream money tucked inside.
All in all, he seemed very happy with his birthday festivities. We’re very proud and thankful to be parents of such a fun-loving little guy!
The three middle kids created a birthday banner for Abe. This was their workshop sign. What can I say, I won't win any teacher of the year awards for spelling, but I have some loving kiddos!
Here is Abe in front of his birthday banner.
We made balloon fish and jelly fish to set the underwater scene for our carport where we had our party.
Here's my shark melon masterpiece. We just did simple cupcakes, but we had fancy fruit!
The birthday boy with his candle and cupcakes.
I'm not sure who is more excited at this moment, the gift giver or the gift recipient?
1 comment:
My friend, you can throw a party in any country! You just have "the touch"! Thanks for sharing. He sure is growing up. A year can make a big difference. Hugs from TN!
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