I wanted to throw him a "big" party since he rarely gets to celebrate in America. Actually, this was his first time getting to celebrate anywhere near his birthday in the States. But I had a problem: he has no friends here. Why would he? He's spent all but a few months of his little life on the other side of the world. Honestly, it made me a little sad. But not for long. I have plenty of friends with multiple kids, so I just invited them all! Then you add in his 10 cousins, and we were good to go. I'm sure their kids were like, "we're going to whose birthday party?!" haha...yeah, that kid from China, remember?
I planned to go to a local place called Kaleidoscope, which is a place that lets kids create and craft and discover..and it's free! Then, we would eat cupcakes outside. Except that's not what happened.
First, I have this bad tendency to leave a lot of things until the last minute. Especially when it comes to parties. For Malachi's 1st birthday party, I was an hour late. HA! Wow. This time, not quite that late, but I just crammed too many things to do into a short window. Bad Mommy.
So we get to the place, and a few friends had already arrived. And then they told me: Kaleidoscope was closed for the next month. To clean. I couldn't be mad at them..with the host of kids they bring in every day, they deserve to clean for a month! But I started to panic. 30+ people were on their way and I had no Plan B.
Thankfully, the Hallmark headquarters was right next door and there were 2 wonderfully nice ladies that pitied us and helped us as much as they could. They let us go through the Hallmark museum (mostly boring, except for the bow-making machine), gave each kid a craft goodie bag, and showed a short movie in their movie theater! They were great!
Then we discovered there was a Kids Art Fest going on around the corner. Thank you, Lord! We walked over there and the kids enjoyed making crafts, getting balloon animals, sidewalk chalking, and of course a cupcake. To top it all off, it was a beautiful day! I was so incredibly thankful God was looking out for us. I may have crumpled into a pile of Mommy failure had there not been other things to do.
Big 3 year old!
Semi-Cars themed. He didn't like his hat. But he liked the icing!
With his cousin, Jace, who is a few weeks younger...but waay bigger!
Goofy boys that I love to pieces.
Instead of toys, I asked people to bring gift cards. Loved this idea! We've gotten to go to some pretty fun places!
Earlier in the morning, they went with Papa and Daddy to Home Depot to make a bird house. I wonder who actually did most of the making...?
SO CUTE.
On his actual birthday, we celebrated with the family we're staying with. S'mores included!
Adorbs
How I created two super-clean boys, I surely don't know. We have to encourage them to lick their fingers...even if it is sticky, sugary goodness!
New (light-up!) shoes!
They're growing too fast.
Malachi, we love you! You're a spunky, goofy, adventurous little guy. Although you definitely like to be in the same 1 foot as Mommy most days, you have a part of you that loves to go off by yourself and explore. Particularly when we're in public. You love to be the center of attention, and if you can get people to laugh, you'll stay in the center. You make some of the best facial expressions I've ever seen. That's one reason you were encouraged to be a pirate for Halloween. :) You are currently giving us a run for our parenting title with all your antics, but I know deep inside there's an obedient heart. I just hope it will surface sooner rather than later. :)
