Isaac's 4th Birthday!!

As of yesterday, Isaac is officially a four year old!!!! He is pretty proud of that fact and had a few "four year old entitlement" issues to work through yesterday. He thought he could do and have anything now that he is a "big boy"! HA - no worries we worked through this misunderstanding!!

The birthday festivities kicked off last Saturday with his "bug infested" birthday party. It was tons of fun!! Most of the kiddos came dressed up as a buggy creature and posed in front of a backdrop for a cute picture. Isaac was a grass hopper and Julia was a ladybug. Two of Isaac's friends came as a praying mantis and a love bug. SO CUTE!! And let's not forget, the aunts. Phyllis, Peggy, and Billy came in with bumble bee hats on their heads while waving bee wands. Isaac and Julia loved it and soon took over the bee hats! (well, I guess Gabe and I did as well) We started the party with the kids decorating a homemade bug keeper which immediately led to the sandbox for a bug hunt. (plastic bugs hidden in the sand) That was a huge hit!! The last activity was a balancing game. The kids had to balance a large plastic bug on a flyswatter, walk a few feet, then drop the bug in a bucket!! Easy success for all !! After gift opening, in which Isaac got some really neat books and science activities (and lots more), we did the birthday cake. It was appropriately named "backyard bugs". The cake looked like a mound of dirt with some plastic grass and bugs all over it. Easiest cake I have made yet and it looked and tasted great!! All had a wonderful time!

Yesterday morning ( the 14th, Isaac's birthday) Gabe and I woke Isaac up at 6:45 with a birthday muffin and candle while singing "Happy Birthday". He woke up, grinned, then grabbed the muffin and ate it in bed. Gabe also made Isaac pancakes for breakfast - one of his favorites. The rest of the day was spent at the park and lunch with Gabe at his office. For nap time, I let Isaac stay up . We made a pallet of blankets and pillows on the living room floor, popped popcorn, and watched a movie. His birthday ended with dinner and lots of fun and games at Chuck E. Cheese's. Phew - that was exhausting!! You would think our fun was over, but NO -- I took Isaac and Julia to the Children's Museum today. We usually do some sort of fun outing on the kids' birthday and this was Isaac's choice. Again, fun but exhausting!

Can you tell we LOVE to celebrate birthdays around here?! Isaac is worth celebrating. We have been blessed with four marvelous years with him. This birthday has been harder on me than most. Isaac is not my baby anymore. He is grown past the toddler stage and is going full speed into the "big" boy stage. I think at each milestone for our children, parents are forced to feel a bittersweet pain. It is fascinating and exciting to see our children grow and learn, but sad to see how fast time goes by. This may sound like a cliche, but it does feel like "it was just yesterday" when I was holding my sweet firstborn son in my arms. Gabe often quotes the song from the musical "Big" called "Stop, Time". This is exactly how I feel.....

Two months old, he looks up at you How his smile melts your heart You want to say, "Stop, time" Don't move on. Even as you watch that look is gone. Then he's two, such a little man. So alive and so smart. Again you say, "Stop, time" . Stay just this way,but the future comes and he can't stay. Nobody warns you of this parent's paradox. You want your kid to change and grow,but when he does, another child you've just begun to know leaves forever. Birthdays fly - 7, 8, 9, 10 . Every kid he becomes you clutch and say "Stop, time". Hold this one fast. But it's not supposed to last. And that time has come and passed for he's growing and he has to go.....

I LOVE YOU ISAAC! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!