June 26, 2008

Happy Birthday to my Bug!

I promise that's the last time I'll call him my bug, after all he did turn 9 a little over a week ago. It was quite the celebration. The Saturday before his birthday Ronnie and I did our best to entertain Ethan, Sophia, and 8 of Ethan’s friends. Luckily we had a plan and somehow, unlike every year before, I didn’t fell rushed or stressed out. We all had lunch, opened presents, had cake and ice cream, and then took them all to see Kung Fu Panda. This movie was so entertaining, but with an amazing cast of voices, including Jack Black, what else would you expect. Of course, since Ethan has been taking Kung Fu for almost two years, he was ecstatic when we agreed to take them all to see it. The plan was to drop all the kids off at their houses on the way home from the movie, but that isn’t what happened. All but one of the boys ended up coming back to our house to play. Ronnie ended up pulling the slip and slide out and they all had so much fun. It was interesting seeing Ethan with his friends, to see how they interact with each other, they were even great with Sophia tagging along. Ronnie was a big hit with the kids, of course. He hasn’t forgotten how to be a kid himself and they love that.
My Mom and Jess were out of town the day of Ethan’s birthday, so we decided to wait until they got back to have Ethan’s birthday dinner. We have this “tradition”, you get to choose where we go to dinner on your birthday, for weeks Ethan has been talking about going to Tepanyaki (Benihana type restaurant), it’s his favorite, but a little expensive for some. As the day got closer he started to change his mind, and it seemed he was swayed with every suggestion, Chili’s, Applebee’s, even Training Table, but this Sunday we ended up at Sizzler. The kid’s think the salad bar is fun, so as soon as anyone suggests it, that’s where they want to go and since it was his choice, that’s where we went. It was us, my Mom, Jess, JD and Kenna. There were a few people that couldn’t make it, and we missed having them there.
Ethan got some great presents; a remote control car, remote control truck, remote control boat, new riding gear, and lots of toys. But I think his favorite gift was from my brother J.D. and Kenna, somehow they manage to outdo the rest of us every gift giving holiday (not that it’s a contest or anything), but this occasion was no different. They bought Ethan a hat and a wallet, but not any wallet; it’s one of those wallets that have the chain that you hook to your belt loop. He thinks it’s the coolest thing ever!
Every once in a while the kids will do or say something that leave us in awe over how grown up they are and confirm that we are doing a good job raising them. The day before his birthday dinner Ethan said he was going to call Aunt Denise to invite them. He wanted to Monte, Denise, Ally, and Chandler to join his birthday dinner, and these are his words verbatim “they don’t have to bring me a present; I just want my family to be together for my birthday”. I almost cried, he’s such an amazing young man, I couldn’t be prouder! But I’m still having a hard time with how fast he’s growing up; I guess it’s a mom thing.

No comments: