I feel terrible because I totally dropped the ball on Matthew's birthday this year. I woke up feeling terrible. Just achy and weak. I made him a number 5 pancake and he loved it! Since Jon was still home, we let him open one present to have to hold him over until after dinner when he could open the rest.
He got a little guitar and he was so excited!
We took Sean to school and then I set Matthew up with some shows and I went to bed. Jon came home a little before lunch and stayed home to play with Matthew. I was so glad he was able to do that. I stayed in bed until about 3:00.
I had plans to make a nice dinner for Matthew, but I just couldn't do it, so he and Jon went and got Wendy's for everyone. It was pretty dang perfect. Then we had some cake and he got the rest of his presents.
The day after his birthday I felt much better and he had a few friends over to have cupcakes with him. He didn't mind extending his birthday another day. :) Also, he really wanted to tell the Kindergarten teacher at school that he's five now. He's convinced that now he's in her class. Don't you remember that you can go to school when you're five?!
Jon took Matthew to see a couple fairly famous race cars in Tacoma.
He also got to sit in a F-SAE car. It must just be in the genes!
My mom and Grandpa came up the week before Christmas. Mom got to go to school with Sean all week and help in his classroom. She had a great time and really enjoyed being in a school again. Sean loved having his grandma with him there every day.
The last day of school there was a little bit of snow which caused a two-hour late start for the day. It was the perfect amount! Some teachers got to sleep in, but the class parties could still go on.
This was going to be our first year home for Christmas (which I was super excited about!) but we wanted to have a fun dinner before Mom and Grandpa left. We planned a Winter Solstice Party. We did it a day early, but that's ok. Mom took the boys to gather supplies to make a fairy house and park. They turned out so beautiful. Matthew loved adding all the red berries wherever he could.
The three artists with their fairy park. Complete with mushroom tables.
And the house:
They decorated the end of the table for our Solstice dinner.
Mom and the boys also helped make frozen centerpieces a few days earlier. We put branches, cranberries, and orange slices in water and froze them to make candle holders. They were fun to watch melt over the course of the night.
Matthew came up with a new super-hero: Orange Diamond. He made a mask and then Jon helped him with the armor and sword. We love Orange Diamond!
Christmas was beautiful and low-key and perfect! Jon and I woke up a little early, so we did some yoga together and then went and woke up the kids (it was 7:30 and they would have woken up on their own about then anyway). They were sleepy but excited. After breakfast we opened presents.
There were lots of exclamations of "This is the best Christmas!" and "What a great day!"
My favorite was seeing what the boys had made for each other. A couple weeks ago they took it upon themselves to make or find things and wrap them up. Sean gave Matthew a bag of cash, a puppet show he had made, and a collection of Kindergarten books. Matthew gave Sean a sand dollar that he got last year. Sean also gave each Jon and I a magic trick complete with instructions on how to perform them. The rest of the day was nice. We talked to a lot of our family. I got a nap in. We ate treats and played games and relaxed. I loved it so much!
One final picture to warm your heart!
