5 years

in january when we were talking about birthday parties and themes alaythia threw tons of ideas out. when we were done brainstorming she stopped, looked me in the eye and said, 'i want a surprise party! i want to walk in the door and have everyone yell surprise'. and so we quit talking about it. every once in a while i would ask her, 'well, if you had a party who would you invite?' or while at costco i would say, 'if you were going to have a birthday cake from costco, which one would you choose?' and for activities i would bring up some activities we could possibly play if she had a party and she would give the okay or the veto.

and will my gathered information i sent invites out and planned a surprise party for alaythia's 5th birthday.

i must admit, i was on edge the whole time. i REALLY wanted this party to happen. i wanted to celebrate her and celebrate her big. but with little ones you just never really know what life will bring at you. but the day came and matt and i put our plan into action.

matt had mentioned to her weeks earlier that he wanted to take her on a date for her birthday. she talked and looked forward to this from the moment he mentioned it. so about 2 o'clock, on her actual birthday, they headed out on their daddy-daughter date.

as soon as they left isaiah and i went into full swing getting the house ready. we decorated the house, got dinner ready,

set up, cake out and when the time came, the several families we invited, gathered in the living room to wait for her arrival.

when she got home i told her to come into the living room so we could talk about her date and when she rounded the corner she came to a screeching halt when everyone yelled 'surprise!' i thought she might cry, but she didn't. she held onto my leg a bit until she got her bearings and then she was ready to party!

we had dinner, destroyed yet another pinata,

watched a slide show of her first 5 years of life (seen a few posts back), and opened presents. we ended the night well into dark, with several of the kids outside twirling glowsticks in the night.

it was a perfect night to celebrate my alaythia and all of her 5 glorious years. she is so full of life, she is a deep (and random) thinker, she is nurturing, joyful, determined and oh-so-ready for kindergarten.

i know i've said it before on this blog, but still, even after 5 years of life with her, i find myself staring at her in wonder. wonder at the gift that she is and trying to wrap my head around the fact that she is my daughter. she surpasses any ideas i once had and is such a rare treasure.

7 years

i know that february is busy. i prepare mentally for it. but i must admit february of 2012 took everything out of me. we had a great valentine's day, but just a few days later we threw a spy party for isaiah.

here is matt with our trainees. he is explaining the obstacle course where we were testing their agility. my favorite part about this time was as matt was explaining this he told them that he would demonstrate because, 'he was the only one who was a super agent spy.' at this point, one of the party attenders piped up and said, 'well...and my dad too right?' this little guy's dad flies cobra helicopters in the military and actually led the initial push into fallujah. matt and i laughed hysterically when joshua said this...yes joshua, your daddy is for real.


when we were done testing them they were all given a sheet with pictures of objects in the neighborhood. as a spy they were supposed to always be aware of their surroundings. i meant this to be just a simple cool down as we headed back to the house. but they were so excited about this activity - working as a team they were done in minutes.


we came home to weapons training. they were paired up and shot nerf darts at the glass door with a target drawn on. we went several rounds in this as the boys could not get enough...until we were told a double agent had planted a bomb in the house that we had to shut down.


we told them they had 12 minutes to have the buzzer hit 8 times in order to turn the bomb off. we set the bomb in the back bedroom and put a taboo buzzer in front of it. each attendee had to get through the hall of lasers without being touched.


once the bomb was turned off we had to take it in the backyard to destroy it. this bomb however was filled with treats!


it was a lot of fun to celebrate isaiah and his turning 7. and he is worth the celebrating. his wit, his sensitivity, his leadership, his care for others, his love for Jesus, his endless amount of energy. as he continues to grow i continue to be overwhelmed with all that he is, and the joy and blessing it is to get to live life with him.