September 1st is Christian's birthday and he turned five years old! His sweet sister got him this white mouse beanie baby weeks before because her little Buddy begged for it...
I made his favorite breakfast: bacon and eggs. (He wouldn't mind if I held the eggs, actually.)
He'd gotten a card from Toys 'R Us that had a $3 coupon and an invitation to be their special birthday boy, so we went by. They gave him a crown, balloon, and announced his special day over the intercom! He selected a tube of candy that had a magnetic fishing game on the top and a can of playdough so the total was barely over $3. I was in such a generous mood that I let him get a 50¢ necklace (he was so excited that he got the bone shape he wanted) out of the bubble gum machine!
We would be celebrating his birthday at the grandparents' on Sunday, but my mom wanted him to be able to open some gifts from her on his big day. She brought out two presents and they were Pirates of the Caribbean Lego sets!
He picked out a fancy scooter for us to give him and I'm surprised I don't have a picture of it. To this day both kids are constantly riding that thing around the house! I just did his favorite dinner (spaghetti) and a simple cake (chocolate with chocolate mousse on top instead of frosting) for that night.
On the 3rd we went to Alaura's baptism. She looked so beautiful! It was very special and afterward we ate together at their stake center's bowery.
On the 4th we made Christian's fancy birthday cake. Here is an artist's (Faith's) rendering of the cake plans (dictated by Buddy):
And here is what we came up with:
I baked the cakes and put together the brownie ship, but the kids did most of the frosting and all of the decorating! (This was another reason my mom gifted the Lego sets on his actual birthday.)
Here is a video of them describing all the features:
First we went to my mom & dad's.
Then over to Braegger's. Check out that pirate ship balloon!
He had an amazing birthday!!
Tony was home on the 5th for Labor Day, so we went to Lagoon.
Buddy was finally tall enough for the big bumper cars!
Christian asked me to take a picture of this on the 6th. Yet another installment in my series "keeping it real."
On the 8th we discovered that Day Farm has pick-your-own raspberries for only a few dollars per large carton. It was a huge pain, very slow going, I got completely scratched up, and there were billions of bees and wasps that scared off the kids, but it was still somehow cathartic about the experience for me. And the high I get from getting something for cheap! We ate some and made the rest into raspberry-peach freezer jam with peaches fresh from Willard.
On the 10th the kids made a police car at Lowes,
and Buddy found a friend while I was mowing the lawn.
On the 13th Brandt was born! We were so excited to meet this little guy!!
Unfortunately, Joy had to have a c-section because he was breech so we didn't get to do our hypnobirthing, but at least the little guy was here safely. Joy, on the other hand, has had nothing but multiple infections from a few weeks before he came to now (mid-December) :(
The 15th was a very, very sad day. We had to say goodbye to our beloved Crumpet. She had been going downhill healthwise for several months, and then, a few days before, started throwing up. It completely broke our hearts, but we wanted to let her go before she really started suffering. Faith stayed home from school to love on her Dumpet.
We made Sculpy clay hearts and pressed her little paw print onto them as a memento.
Then took her into the vet office.
Christian had seemed pretty okay up to this point, I guess the gravity of the situation hadn't really sunk in yet even though he knew what was going on. Right after the fatal injection, he completely lost it and became inconsolable. He needed me to take this final photo of her, just after she passed.
Faith had the idea that we needed a luncheon afterward since we had the vet cremate her body instead of bury it, and you always need to eat at a funeral. I bought the kids happy meals (irony) and we went to Barnes Park.
Christian finally settled down enough to eat and then we played at the playground while talking about all the fun times with our doggie. I know we were so lucky to have more than sixteen years with her and, other than her deafness and the final few months, she was healthy and spry as a youngster all that time.
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