Birthday Bash

Today’s party for Max and Clair went very well. It started out with a little bit of rain and we were worried would happen. But the rain passed, and while it rained thankfully there was no thunder, so the kids swim. The adults hung out under the umbrella and chatted.

It was about a three hour party. It was a lot of swimming. There was a shark piñata. There was decorating your piñata bags. And there was playing with water toys. There were also plenty of junk food snacks and two types of cupcakes. Max and Clair each got to invite three friends. My mom dad and Tyler came. A couple moms hung out which I was really grateful for. And Robert and Colleen came with the kids. It was a really great mix.

Everybody got at least one attempt to hit the piñata. That shark lasted a long time because when he busted out but only a little bit of candy would fall out. That meant they kept getting a chance to hit it.  

Preparing for the birthday bash

Tomorrow we celebrate Max and Clair’s Birthday with a joint birthday pool party in the afternoon. The kids are looking forward to it. 

Today I had three great helpers. I had a really bad ans busy workday. I asked Ellie to help with the cupcakes and she made two full batches for us. She even made icing and decorated the rainbow cake. She’s a great baker ans really helpful in the kitchen. 

After dinner Max and Clair helped by cleaning up and preparing the shark piñata. They both stayed the course and did all that we needed. 

I was so grateful for all the help they put in ans that they all did it with joy and happiness in their hearts. It was awesome. 

The school year comes to an end

Today was the last day of school. Ellie completed seventh grade, Max completed fifth grade and elementary school, and Clair completed second grade.

As is typical, they are all feeling good about having completed the school year and looking forward to their summer break. The younger two asked me to promise I wouldn’t wake them up in the morning so they could sleep in. We are definitely night time people not morning people. Although, in reality, Max really isn’t. He likes to go to bed early and get up early.

This summer will be the first summer without a nanny. I am going to try working from home and keeping them somewhat productive. Summertime break is only eight weeks long this year. This is a result of the shift in the way they’re doing the school seasons. It’s a shame.

Each child did well this year. Each faces their own challenges. The changing covid schedules was painful. Clair wanted to go back to school all year long. Max was mixed but once he got there he really enjoyed being back in person. Ellie wanted to stay home. She loves virtual school because she could sleep in and stay in her little world. All return to school full time this fall. 

There was talk of them getting a yes day if they all got straight As in Q4. Unfortunately, max got one B so they missed it. That was, however, how absolute best effort with grades I’ve seen. So David and I do need to talk about this. 

Final noteworthy discussion is the fact that Max completed his elementary school career in a rather unceremonious way. I really wish that the school would’ve done something to celebrate these kids. He received his congratulations you graduated from fifth grade certificate in an envelope with his report card. There was a little cheering on the playground when they walked outside. But that was it. Miss Lisa gathered a small group for some pictures.

Last day of school pictures here. 

Maximilian turns 11!

Today, bright and early, at 7:29 am (I think), Max turned 11 years old. I can remember the day he was born like it was last week. I was so excited to meet him. Once I had him, they swiftly took him to the nursery and I didn’t get to see him from the early two hours. Those were some of the longest two hours of my life. I have one of the sun for my whole life. I am so lucky to have Max.

Max was up early for a snuggle in bed to celebrate his birth moment. Claire was all about celebrating Max‘s birthday as she was up and ready to go too.  She wanted her brother to get proper recognition and celebration for his big day.

They had their last day of home, virtual, school today. Tomorrow is the last day of school. So far in life Max pride to himself I’m not having had to go into the school building on his actual birthday, ever. It drives her sisters nuts.

After school, he got to open his presents. I think he got everything he could’ve imagined. He guessed at most presents and didn’t get too many right. But he was still very pleasantly surprised about all his gifts. The list includes an 8 x 8 rubic cube, wooden gun that he hast to build, he wouldn’t say that he hast to build, Electronic set from Grannie, a shark pool float ie from Gramma, some new comfortable clothes that he was very happy about, a water gun, a physics kit and rollerblades. He seemed quite pleased with his take. He spent the afternoon digging into the electronics set  first. He was able to create something that would play happy birthday to him when he turned it on.

Max says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up or he wants to own his own tech company. Both things show his love of science. So that was the focus of his birthday. There are lots of things for him to figure out and build over the summer. 

In the afternoon she had some friends over to swim for a bit. After that grandma came by for a visit. Then we had Max his requested dinner of burgers and apple pie. Finally we talked the evening off by watching back to the future with the kids. They all really enjoyed the movie. Max did a lot of giggling. David was thrilled to watch this 80s movie “classic” as he says, with the kids. He is such an 80s kid.

I think Max had a good day.

Ellie’s first 15 u rec season

Today was the last game for our spring season. We played in the gold bracket tournament game one against the fourth Place team. We played in Middletown on a hot Saturday afternoon. The game has been rescheduled due to storms earlier in the week and we were two girls down. Sadly, one of the primary infield girls wasn’t able to make it. I think this really hurt us. 

The game started out well and we held them to a tide one - one game until the third inning. In the third inning they got fired and open the game up for themselves with a good lead. In the fifth inning we lost two girls to heat. After that, there wasn’t much opportunity for rebound. We just couldn’t get our bats going today. We ended up losing 10 to 3. Ellie was our only picture and pitch the full game. The first five innings she really did an awesome job. Once the heat started to get to her and her headache set in, it started to get hard to keep her focus. I totally understand. Eli and heat don’t mix.

We played this season in Arbana because liberty couldn’t get enough girls together for 15 you team. I didn’t have a whole lot of expectations for the season. I’m quite pleased with where we ended up at the fifth Place out of 10 teams. I think almost every girl learn something new and really improve during the season. I had some great assistant coaches. Most excitingly, I think Ellie really made some good friends on the team this season. I’m really happy and how much she enjoyed the camaraderie of some new girls on her team this year. I hope they’re able to keep in touch and keep their friendship up.