Birthdays, Parties & Presents

Yesterday was a fairly eventful day. For me, it started at 7 a.m. :(, I can't stand early morning meetings. Honestly, what makes those people think that anybody's going to retain all the droning of boring information at that time in the morning?! Anyway, at around 9:30 I got home & got Desiree & Benjamin's presents 'wrapped' (I actually put them in bags because I'm being a little lazy & cutting corners where I can), checked my email, & fell asleep on the couch (purely by accident, I assure you). I was awakened by Desiree asking me to wake up because she was hungry. So, I had a nice little power nap before we had to head to Brad & Tarylyn's. After Desiree ate breakfast we decided to get dressed & start getting ready to go. Well, Desiree didn't want to do that, so she ran away from both of us & yelled & screamed when I caught her & put her shirt on...she did that over & over again until she was completely dressed. Finally it came time to get her hair brushed so she looked nice for the party, but she wasn't having that! She was being very rotten (Miss I'm Always Right), so I finally had to put her in the bedroom for a timeout. She didn't like that at all, she started screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs & beating on the door. I finally had to go in there & make her sit on the bed & behave for 5 minutes before I could brush her hair. All in all, this entire ordeal took us a few hours, so by the time I was completely ready & so was Desiree, it was time to go.

We finally got to leave, & our first stop was Albertson's to pick up her cake. I ordered a Disney Princess cake, I picked a good one if I do say so myself!

After Albertsons, we finally got on our way to Brad & Tarylyns. We inevitably arrived to the party a little late. But once we got there, things were great (& Desiree was being a good girl). Ben's cake was open & ready to be cut when it was time for cake, & all the presents were on the kitchen table; Desiree's on the left & Ben's on the right.

Before we got started with the cake cutting & opening of presents, we talked for a little bit & the kids played & sat with Grandma. They looked so cute in their little party hats. Oh, & so everybody knows, Saria was in trouble, so she isn't in any of the pictures.

After a few pictures the kids decided it was time to cut the cakes & open presents. Brad lit the candles on the cakes, & we all gathered around Ben's cake. We sang 'Happy Birthday to You' & then he blew out the candles (well, Tarylyn actually did, but we'll let him think he did it :)). He looked so cute trying to blow the candles out, he didn't have enough force to blow them out by himself.

Next came Desiree's turn. We sang 'Happy Birthday to You' to her & then it was her turn to blow out her candle. That one was fun. She was trying so hard to blow the candle out but it just wasn't working, so Nick was trying to help her without letting her know. That still didn't work, so I jumped in & helped, finally the candle got blown out. After that, it was time to open presents. "Oh joy!!" Just what the kids had been waiting for. That was a lot of fun, Sam wanted to sit with Desiree, I thought he just wanted to sit with her, but then his real intentions came out, he wanted to open some of the presents. The kitchen ended up a little messy during the present tearing, but it was so much fun to watch the kids' faces light up.

Haha. Got love my little ham's 'smiles'! She's so funny. I tell her to smile (for the camera) & those are the kind of faces she makes. Catching her off guard gives me a more traditional smile. Our kid's are some real characters! I'm sure all of you will agree.

After the present opening it was time for cake. The cake yummy! We had icecream with the cake & each of the kids had a piece of each cake.

We all hung out & talked for a little while longer, while the kids played. Yesterday was a really fun day, & the kids had a blast. Desiree & Sam are partners in crime! They are so funny to watch together. We left around 5:30 because Desiree really needed a nap. But before we left, we had to get one last picture with all of us together.