The "Celebration"

And so ends the month long birthday extravaganza for a newly 5-year old Jonah. And so begins a really extensive record of said events. Notes to self for next year: 1) At the end of the month long birthday extravaganza your child will become a spoiled, self-entitled brat; 2) The reason you don't throw a kid birthday party for your child every year is because it makes you want to kill yourself.

The birthday madness began when the boys and I traveled to Salt Lake during Jonah's Spring Break for school (it was that or Cancun, but we thought we'd save that until next year). Spring Break in Utah was snowy and cold, but we still managed to throw in not one but two birthday celebrations. The first one took place at Fat Cats, where the family bowled and ate pizza and, typical to character, I forgot my camera.

The second celebration was held at my parents' home on Sunday, again with the family. Early in the day, we decorated for the Star Wars themed event. It was several hours before the party started, so Jonah took advantage of the excess time to sit at the decorated table and hum the Star Wars theme.

Several months ago, when Jonah's Star Wars obsession first began, we pulled out the old VHS tapes of the trilogy. I had to reference the dates on the back of the tapes to figure out which one to play first. It was then that I believe my husband started to love me a little less. So I obviously don't understand his predilection for all things Star Wars, but I'm happy to have a theme to follow when planning a party(s) and purchasing gifts.



And to end the party, the first of three birthday cake-like items. In this case, Boston Creme filled cupcakes made by my culinarily-gifted aunt. Topped off with several Star Wars play characters. To say all were in heaven is a bit of an understatement. I dream about those cupcakes. And FYI, I spent 30 minutes that evening cleaning frosting off his new Darth Vader costume.
Fast forward two weeks. On April 13th, his actual birthday, we celebrated together as a family. And by "celebrated," I mean "tolerated each other. . .barely." The day began with breakfast in bed. The rule in the house is that when it is your birthday, you get to choose everything we eat for the day and everything we do. Upon seeing me served breakfast in bed for my birthday, Jonah decided he wanted the same. He requested a grilled cheese sandwich. At 7:45 in the morning. He needed to be at preschool that morning by 8:30, so I dragged myself out of bed early to make his breakfast. We entered his room, breakfast tray in hand, singing "Happy Birthday!" Our 3 year-old son screamed at us to stop and Jonah put the blanket over his head and went back to sleep. Things we should remember about Jonah's birthday breakfast in bed: 1) Jonah doesn't eat breakfast before 10 AM and 2) Jonah's a grump in the morning. So it sat untouched as we tried to rouse him from the sleep of the dead.


When I picked him up from preschool that day, I entertained the kids while Josh worked (I think it involved McDonalds) and then the real celebration began (and when I say "real celebration," I mean period of time when we all screamed and yelled at each other, ate dinner, and opened some disappointing presents.) Jonah chose Noodles for dinner, and then, upon opening his presents, said with tears in his eyes, "These are ALL of my presents?!?"

Perhaps the highlight of the evening, if there was one, was Josh's birthday cake creation #1: Dinosaur Scene. I believe the only requirement was "hot lava," so. . .done and done!


The following Saturday was the piece de resistance -- the kid party. Jonah hosted five of his friends for a Star Wars themed-party. We started with a little pizza and Capri Suns and those annoying noise makers that I insist on buying and then curse myself every. single. year.

We then went outside to begin our Jedi Training. We did a Star Wars search for candy asteroids in the yard, followed by a grueling obstacle course. The hit, of course, was the aqua noodle/lightsabers which provided the main activity for a good portion of the two hours -- beating each other with said noodles.


We returned inside for a rousing game of Star Wars Bingo.

And a piece of Josh's masterpiece of an R2D2 cake.

It was awesome. And yes he did that freehand in about 20 minutes. That cake would've pushed me over the edge, so thank goodness for a talented husband!

We sent the boys home with gift bags and lightsaber in hand, just to ensure that none of our friends will ever want to speak to us again after they experience the "fun" for themselves.

So that was it. And thank goodness it's over. The evening ended with a tantrum to end all tantrums from my 5-year old ingrate demon child. Mission accomplished.

I suppose I should end this entry with a list of things I love about Jonah and, in all honesty, there's much to love.
1) He's sweet and responsible and tries hard to do the right things (Up until a few weeks ago, when he decided to ignore everything I say or do. . .which has to be a phase, right? heh heh)
2) He's wack-a-doodle imaginative and loves to draw or act out all of his crazy scenarios. (Remember Danes, his imaginary friend who looked like Eddie Murphy? Well, now we've moved onto Ken, his alter-ego, who appears very frequently. I believe it's to torture us. He bares no resemblance to our lovely, hilarious, much-adored friend Ken. Everytime he "appears," we mutter under our breath, "that damn Ken".)
3) His smile can light up a room, but he's not giving it away for free, folks! I spend much of my life trying to get him to smile, because it makes the rest of it worth it.
4) He's super-active and self-entertaining. He'll take a break and watch a "show" if you make him, but he'd rather do something else.
5) He makes friends with everyone. He starts a Star Wars reenactment with a random group of kids wherever we go. That sounds SUPER nerdy. I hope this does not indicate a future of "reenactments" with his friends.
6) He's cool. He doesn't try to be. He just is.

And so ends the Jonah tribute. I love you, Jonah! One day, when you read this, you'll realize that, in fact, I tried. And if you only remember being sent to bed in tears, I'll read this blog to you again and again until you resent me even more than you did before.

As if this blog isn't long enough, I thought I'd post a recent picture from General Conference weekend. It's proof that anyone that tells me that "I don't look pregnant" is truly insane and also, could I LOOK more tired?


And just a casual picture of Josh drinking a Diet Coke at the BBQ (and by "casual," I mean Josh made me retake this picture 3 times until he felt he'd sucked in his stomach an appropriate amount for it to be published). He did not offer me the same luxury.