Birthdays around our house are a pretty big deal, especially as starting in April, with Miss Kenna, we have one birthday every month through October. Each month is full of anticipation for the next celebration. Kenna started planning her special day at least 2 months ago. Her first idea, sincere and full of hope, was a trip home to celebrate with her best friend Miss H. I almost considered it, especially with those big blue eyes saying how important it was to her, AND we were all homesick at the time, AND her birthday would be during spring break, AND skiing in Idaho sounded fun. BUT, I also knew as a mom we should start making some roots here, and I honestly needed the break to recover a little bit from the move. I knew if we gave it some time, Kenna would make some friends here and would want to celebrate here. I encouraged her to start planning her party, in hopes it would take some of the sting away, and her grin gradually returned once ideas of pinatas and egg hunts were floating around in her head.
The next challenge was that Miss Kenna really wanted the party at our house. Normally that's not a problem, and my preference, but still being in a smaller rental, with little furniture and few belongings (ie: no party supplies and toys to keep kids occupied), I had to really hope we would have good weather so we could celebrate outside. The yard is great for a party, though, especially with the beautiful lake for a backdrop. So I went ahead and just hoped for good weather. We got it. We've been really lucky with the weather here so far, the sun truly seems a blessing just for us when we really need it. That sun made all the difference for a beautiful, fun day. But not quite as much as our amazing older girls who really helped pull everything together, genuinely happy to make Kenna feel great on her special day, help Kenna's friends all feel included, and help me when I needed it most. At the end of the day I felt so blessed to not only one little happy daughter to celebrate, but 5 terrific kiddos.
Kenna invited a few of her new friends from her class for an afternoon of egg hunting, piñata bursting, crafting and cake-eating. She was especially excited that her friend with autism made it. Kenna seems to have a special connection with her, whether that friend realizes it or not. Kenna doesn't say much around her, but for whatever reason Kenna just beams when she sees her and seems to feel genuinely warm inside whenever she sees that friend. I get it. The last few years Kenna spent a lot of time with her friend Miss H and Miss H's family as they worked through the diagnosis of autism for Miss H's sweet brother, Mr. H. Few things made me feel so good inside than when I'd see that little Mr. H greet me, clapping and marching in place as he'd burst out with, "it's Miss Meadow! It's Miss Meadow!" I think part of his draw is that he's just so genuinely honest, I sometimes feel like clapping and marching when I see people I love, too, I just don't. Makes me wonder how we'd all feel if we REALLy showed people how we felt (I guess that could go the other way, too....). Now Kenna didn't always feel so comfortable with Mr. H, gave him lots of strange looks, for sure, but she seems to have made some sort of connection that she brought with her here. One of many things I was touched to see in my kiddos on her special day.
We've kind of made treasure hunting of one sort or another a traditional part of every birthday. Sometimes it's to track down all the presents we've hid, other times it's to find the birthday cake, or in Kenna's case, with a birthday so close to Easter, has often included searching for eggs with pieces of a treasure map inside. This time Kenna drew the treasure map herself and Dad marked the spot where he and the big kids hid the pinata before cutting it up. That was one tough pinata! We filled it mostly with craft stuff, gumball bracelets and felted flower headbands, which the girls then put together with the help of the big girls. Thank goodness again for their help!
Cakes are another big deal here, and seem to become more creative every year. I am anything but an expert baker, food for me has more function than form, but I try. The kids are always very specific with some sort of scene they want depicted. I've done some great hamburgers, a snake, even a pirate ship (that did sink before it reached it's destination, but was still pretty cool), but lately the kids seem to want toys in certain spots, doing certain things, usually an idea from some picture they saw or drew. Now they take more of a lead in the decorating, and I just oversee the project to ensure they don't get too carried away. As long as they are happy....and get those ideas out in frosting and candy.
With a successful party behind us, the girls continued to go above and beyond and ALL play happily with Kenna. I love that I was able to catch this moment, may be one of the last...
Then we had a beautiful evening as a family with another birthday tradition of a dinner chosen by the birthday girl, or boy. This year: boxed Mac and cheese, broccoli and fresh pineapple. I threw in some broiled hot dogs (still no grill) for some extra substance. Mmm, mmm, mmm! (those mmms were mostly for Kenna and everyone else--I was happy with my gluten free spaghetti.)
We finished it off with a second round of birthday cake, but the real dessert was family present time. Our kids are amazing at putting all their love into the simplest gifts for each other, whether it's a hand-me-down toy, homemade craft, or even a special card, and even more amazing at truly feeling the love in receiving those simple gifts. Before dinner, the big kids snuck away into Taylor and Addy's room, obviously putting together something special. Kenna, of course, was curious and knocked on the door a few times, feeling left out, but had a big hunch they were doing something special for her, so for once didn't come crying to me about it. This was her surprise:
Little Kenna has truly become one of the big kids. Knowing that her big sisters and brother approve makes all the difference. Dad also gave her a special big girl gift, a real necklace with a heart charm. None of the other girls make a bee-line to the jewelry in a store like that girl, so wanting to give Kenna something special, Clint thought it was time to give her something that would last longer than a week, and for her to know how special she is. For a guy who isn't always the best at remembering things, or taking the initiative to buy gifts, anyway, he made the day all the more special.
Sidenote: lest I make it sound like the day was all peaches and cream, it wasn't, of course. We had our normal squabbles just like any other day. The difference was in all those little things put together, and the big kids really did do their best to make Kenna feel special, at all costs. Apparently, the next school day Mia titled her writing assignment: "Why I hate birthdays," then explained how hard it was to still be nice after the princess (or prince) for the day can have such a high and mighty attitude. Made me laugh, and brought me back to reality after what I thought was a "perfect" family weekend. I guess Mia's thought was really what made it perfect, and real.
