The Jake Games - The Rest of the Story, The Rest of the Cupcakes, The Rest...Ahhhhh

OK.  Last birthday post.  I promise...at least until December when it's Delila's turn.  So, Jake's actual 'birthday party' took place on Friday, October 1st.  As you may recall from this post, we decided to go with a home party this year.  The guest list quickly ballooned. We panicked a little. We regrouped.  And we survived -- and even had some fun along the way.

At the final count, 27 kids showed up ready to party.  Fortunately for us, Mother Nature showed not just mercy, but extreme favor by providing us with an absolutely gorgeous evening for an outdoor party.  The only reason anyone needed to set foot inside the house was to use 'the facilities'.  All the fun, food and games took place in the front yard.  While we waited for all the guests to arrive, the kiddos entertained themselves on the seemingly endless supply of ride-on toys & sporting goods that have amassed in our garage since we moved in four years ago.  (Where on earth did all this stuff come from?!)  Duke had everything all set up in the driveway and the kids needed no coaxing to help themselves to the fun.  It was a little surprising when the sprinklers went off.  The kids found it hysterical and didn't seem to mind getting a little wet - especially since we'd prepared them in advance for a little messy fun.  We thought it was pretty funny too...until we couldn't manage to get the sprinklers to stay turned off.  Duke made sure the switch was in the off position, but 60 seconds later they were on again!  It happened a couple of times, and each instance was greeted with squeals of delight from the kids.  We're increasingly convinced that there are gremlins living in our garage.  Not only do the sprinklers turn on a will, our garage door seems to have a mind of it's own as well.  Very strange.

After all the guests arrived, the Garage Cafe opened for business.  The juice was flowing and the pizza was plentiful.  Maybe a little too plentiful.  **Note to self:  31 kids & a handful of parents will not eat 16 large pizzas.  **Another note to self:  No man, woman, child, nor combination of all three can live on pizza leftovers for more than 3 days without swearing off pizza for a long, LONG time.

After the kids were fueled up on pizza, it was time for The Jake Games to begin.  This was Duke's part of the party.  We divided the kiddos up into teams and then set them up with a series of sports challenges, including:  hockey, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, football (of course), and a relay race.  

The kids did great!  They followed the directions and worked together pretty well on their randomly generated teams.  I also have to give a shout out to the parents who helped keep the games moving along.  It would have been utter chaos without them. 

 

After the games were complete, it was time for another rousing rendition of that classic kid favorite, the Happy Birthday song!

Then the wish was made, the candles were blown out, and the kids dove in and devoured most of the 61 cupcakes I painstakingly baked and decorated.  I'd say that part took about...oh...60 seconds, maybe.

And then...the moment everyone had been waiting for.  The big finale.  The water balloon fight!!

Oh yes!  It was wet!  It was crazy!  Not everyone enjoyed it to its full potential (Delila).  But it was good clean fun.  And Mimi & Bubba get the credit for it.  They're the ones who spent the entire afternoon filling ~200 balloons...and popping a few too.  Poor Mimi got quite wet in the process, and I'm sure Bubba's hands cramp up just thinking about the experience - but they were really good sports about it, and it was without a doubt, the pinnacle of the party.  Well...

...Jake might argue that point a little.  After all, he's the kid that got to open all the presents.  That part was pretty fun too.

And that's it.  There is no more...at least not until next year.  Will there be a 2nd annual Jake Games?  I don't know.  This years games were pretty fun.  Maybe after a year's rest....

Jake Turns 6 in a BIG Way

Well, we had a birthday in our house recently.  Jake turned 6! And true to form, we celebrated in a BIG way.

The first fantastic thing that happened was that Mimi & Bubba flew in for the momentous occasion.  They got into town in time to greet Jake after school.

There was a big surprise waiting for Jake after school.  While he was busy learning stuff, all the grown ups were busy giving his room a new Big Boy look.

Think he liked it?  Judging by that grin on his face, I'd say it was a successful redo.

Jake actually knew his room was getting painted.  He helped pick out the colors.  He wanted all the walls painted yellow - since that's his favorite color and all.  But, as our painter reminded us...a little yellow goes a long way.  It took a little convincing, but eventually Jake gave in to the idea of a nice sunshiney yellow behind his bed and a nice sky blue for the rest of the walls.

The walls were hung with art, shelves, & sports memorabilia of all kinds. No doubt about it, it's a boys room.

Of course, we had to include plenty of space for all of his trophies.

For his birthday dinner, Jake requested a "healthy meal" of tilapia and broccoli.  (Can I just say how proud I am of my  kid's fantastic relationship with healthy food?!)  This was followed by one of everybody's favorite desserts - Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie.  Mmmm, mmmm, GOOD!!  Actually, it's not one of Bubba's favorites, but he managed to choke down a piece anyway.  Thanks for making the sacrifice, Bubba.  I know it wasn't easy.

Then...finally...on to the moment he'd been waiting for all week.  The PRESENTS!!  Actually, he'd been patiently been waiting to open this particular gift for about a month.  The present in this picture is from Jake's best friend Lukas who lives in Germany.  His dad brought it over earlier in the month, and poor Jake had been staring at it for what I'm sure seemed like forever.

It's no surprise that it was the first one he went for.

Legos!!  A sure-fire hit!!

And a special surprise in the bottom of the bag...a new beer cap to add to his collection!

The rest of the presents from the family stuck to a familiar and favorite Jake theme...football.  A new University of Texas football jersey...

...a Jerome Bettis figure...

...and the piece de resistance...a Pittsburgh Steelers football field floor mat!  Oh!  Let me die and go to heaven right now!!  Could it possibly get any better than this?  Why yes it could, but you've got to come back tomorrow to see just how much better!

The Jake Games - or - What Were We Thinking?!

Just a quick post today.  We're in it up to our eyeballs over here at the Bond house.  Jake's birthday is this week and things have gotten...well...let's just say we have a lot to do.

We decided to do something we haven't done since Jake's 1st birthday -- we decided to throw a home party.  Jake wanted a pottery painting party.  You know what I'm talking about?  You go to a studio, paint clay bisque and they glaze & fire it for you.  About a week later, you return to the store to pick up the pot/plate/coffee cup/sad-eyed figurine you thought was going to be so cute and walk out with a hideous piece of OMG-what-was-I-thinking that will take up space you do not have in the back of some cupboard.  Yep, that's what Jake wanted to do for his birthday party this year.  Well, I wasn't totally convinced that this was enough fun for a group of 6 year old boys.  So, I found a pottery place that will let you do the painting at home.  GREAT!!  We can have a home party!  We can throw some raucous fun and games into the mix.  We don't have to worry about breaking anything in the shop.  PERFECT!!

We decided to host the party on a Friday night in lieu of the typical Saturday party.  It's fall sports season and let's face it, nobody needs to squeeze in a birthday party between soccer games.  At least we don't.  So we picked Friday.  Jake made the guest list.  He wanted 20 kids at his party. Sounded like a LOT of kids to me.  But it's a home party, so whatever, right?  It is kind of a weird time for Jake, friend-wise and we were having a tough time drawing a line.  He's got his Infinite Bounds friends, he's got his soccer friends, his baseball friends, his neighborhood friends, and his new Kindergarten friends.  So, we let Jake invite whomever he wanted.  Really, it's a home party, whatever.  The more the merrier...right?

We ended up with 23 on the guest list, which sounded  reasonable - on the big side, but not insane.  Well, then I accidentally invited a few more (long story).  Then invitees decided that the siblings would like to come too.  Actually, I'd already assumed/invited some siblings to join the fun.  However, I also assumed that there would be some kids who couldn't make it.  Well, I assumed incorrectly on that one.  There are still a few outstanding invitations, but the current number of confirmed guests stands at 31.  We've nixed the pottery painting idea because I only bought supplies for 25 kids.  (Hmmm...just what am I going to do with all this unpainted pottery?!)  Instead, we're hosting The Jake Games.  Our guests will be participating in a series of sporting contests in the front yard & driveway.  It's going to be crazy, but it's going to be fun. 

Oh!  And as if planning a party for +30 kids wasn't enough of a challenge already, we decided that Jake's room needed an updated look.  So, on top of working out the logistics of The Jake Games, we're also installing bookshelves, painting & primping Jake's big boy bedroom.  Oh yeah!  It's madness around here!  What were we thinking?!?!

Soccer Delila Style -or- The Deal

 

Last winter, all Delila could talk about was, "when I have MY t-ball...", and, "when I have MY soccer...".  T-ball went fine, and Lila did quite well.  Soccer...well, it's a bit of a different story.  When we were putting the team together, she was very excited about it, but now that the season's actually begun...well, she's singing a different tune.  In spite of the pink shoe laces...

  

and the well-coordinated, hoochy practice attire, our sporty little lady has put up all kinds of resistance to actually playing the game.  Practices have been an exercise in public child abuse avoidance for me.  Exasperation doesn't even begin to sum it up.  Game day was not much different.  Her game was at 9:00.  Her insistence that she wasn't playing began around 7:30.  And, for the first time in my parenting experience, I resorted to outright bribery to get her to play.  "Delila, if you stop screaming, put on these clothes, go out an play without tears & tantrums, I will...."  ~sigh~  It doesn't make me proud, but, with a few gentle reminders, our Deal did the trick.

 

She was all pregame smiles for Daddy...

 

 ...and tickled pink with the tastefully understated game day hair accessory provided by Ms. Lisa.

 

In spite of it all, she was still a little trepidatious about going out on the field.  (When I asked her why, she said she was afraid she wouldn't be any good.  Ahhh...our little perfectionist.  Wonder where she gets that from.)

One more reminder of our Deal and she was ready to take the field...

 

...and ready to score some goals!

 

Unfortunately for Delila, so was Calder - who's a little bigger, a little faster, and a little more competitive.

 

Our poor little Ladybug ended the game with a broken heart. (A game which we won 4 - 2, according to Big Brother, Jake)

 

The tears quickly subsided once the Deal was honored:  a "Hannah M'Tana" CD to call her very own.  It made her very happy, and crowned me "The best Mommy in the whole world"...for about 15 minutes.  Totally worth it! Next week's game's at 10:00.  I'm hoping it'll go a little better.  I'm hoping I wont have to make any more deals and that Delila scores a goal.  Keep your fingers crossed...for both of us.

Left Behind (or Project Princess)

There's a little girl in our house who is a bit confused these days.  You see, for as long as she can remember, she's gone almost everywhere with her brother.  She's gone to school with him, to the kids club at the gym with him, to soccer practice, t-ball practice, birthday parties, etc...all with him.  Sure, every now and then she's gone to the store with 'just Daddy' or 'just Mommy', but for the most part she's spent all her time with her brother.  Well, all that's changed.  Now that Jake's in Kindergarten, Delila is...well...on her own.  She doesn't understand it at all.  Everyday when we drop Jake off at school she asks why we aren't staying.  She goes on and on about kindergarten, and seems to be making a point of learning as many names as she can.  The names of Jake's teachers and classmates, the school songs and motto, she's committing them all to memory.  She'll be well-prepared two years from now when it's her turn.  But in the meantime, I can't help but think she's feeling a little not-so-special these days. 

It's bad enough that Lila's being left out of the whole school thing, but to make matters worse, two weekends ago Jake attended a birthday party to which Delila was not invited.  She was really upset about it.  Fortunately, the next day she received an invitation to a Princess Party from one of her gymnastics friends.  She was quite pleased to learn that Jake was not invited.  She was also pleased with the whole "princess" aspect of the party, and informed me that she would need to wear a princess dress.  Oh! and that she wanted a princess hat to go with it!  You know, the pointy kind!  I told her that I'd be happy to make her a pointy princess hat...and a dress, if she wanted one.  And Project Princess was born.

Delila and I went to the fabric store to pick out "princess fabric".  We came home with a small bag of really lovely and outrageously expensive snippets.  She was so excited about it, what was I supposed to do?  Say "Sorry, Ladybug" and head off to the Disney store?!  No way! 

Next up was the daunting task of getting our little girl with the kingdom-sized attitude to stand still long enough to get the critical measurements.  Since that wasn't going so well, I decided to make a mock-up out of muslin first. (There was no way I was coughing up more money on this crazy project because of miscalculations.)  Suffice to say, Her Little Royalness did not care for the ugly muslin "not a princess dress" at all!  But...

...once all the nipping and tucking were done and I started putting the real deal dress together, her attitude changed...just a bit...and only for a very little while.  (She really has a thing or two to learn if she's not going to be a 'ready-to-wear' kinda girl.) 

Yes, I had other things to do with my time and certainly more useful things to do with our money, but I'd say it was worth it.  After all, isn't it my job to make my little girl feel like a real-deal  Princess?  I'll admit that at times,  Project Princess left me feeling more minion than mommy, but that smile right there...well that makes me feel just a little like a real-deal Fairy Godmother.

Labor Day Hurricanes

It's Labor Day weekend and we've been working hard and playing hard.  I spent an entire day cleaning up the family room/kitchen - trying to get things under control.  Maintaining control of all the stuff that comes along with parenting is what I find to be the most challenging aspect of this job.  I can deal with the sibling spats and tantrums...as long as the house is in order.  I can deal with the rat race of getting kids dressed, fed and out the door to school/practices/parties...as long as the house is in order.  I can even deal with doing 7 loads of laundry every week...as long as the house is in order.   The problem is that as soon as I get one room tidied up...well, two little hurricanes are off in another room somewhere doing this!

I know, I know, at least they're not trying to kill each other...at the moment.  I should consider that a blessing.  But somehow at this moment, I'd rather have a clean house.

Well, I'd love to write more, but it looks like I have a little more cleaning up to do before the weekend's over.  Hmmm...do you think I could get some Federal Disaster Relief money?

Jake's 1st Week of School

The excitement actually started building around 4:00 PM the Friday before the official 1st day of school.  That was Meet The Teacher night.  Nervous kids & parents gathered outside locked doors at Anderson Elementary School.  They jockeyed for position in front of the library window, squinting at the 5 sheets of paper taped to it.  They were anxious to know which of the 5 kindergarten classes would be their child's class for the school year, and hoping there would be the name of at least one friend on that list as well.  But, nothing ever works smoothly for this family, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Jake's name wasn't on any of the lists.  Yep, that's right.  We hit our first snag before they even opened the doors!  That did not make me happy, and it didn't do anything to calm Jake's nerves.  As  you can imagine, by the time the doors opened, I was in full Mama Bear mode.  I marched into the front office, discontent painted all over my face.  I waited patiently for my turn to share a piece of my mind with the office staff.  And when some other mother decided she didn't have to wait her turn, well, never to be concerned about making a good 1st impression, I not-so-calmly blurted out that there were other people in line and she'd have to wait.  Oh yes, I definitely brought my A-game to Meet The Teacher night.   After the scuffle ended and some not-so-heart-felt apologies were exchanged, I learned the mix-up probably had something to do with Jake's immunization records.  So, I was off to meet Cindy Snyder, the school nurse.  She & I also went toe-to-toe before getting things sorted out.  Grrrrr!  Don't these people know how hard it is to be a 1st time Kindergarten Mom?  In the end, it all worked out, records were updated, boxes were checked, and I learned that Jake would be in Ms. Lyttle's class.  Pretty Ms. Lyttle.  Jake says she has a funny name...because Ms. Lyttle is actually quite tall, which as Jake pointed out, is NOT little.

Monday, August 23, 6:45 AM.  Rise & shine!!  Get up, get dressed, get fed, get out!  This is the new routine in our house.  6:45 is pretty early, but if we want to make it to school by 7:45, that's the way things have to be.

We're very excited to be able to ride out bikes to school every morning.  We were hoping to have a posse of neighborhood kids to join us, but so far it's just the Bond gang.

We started training for the event a couple of weeks ago so we'd know just how long it would take us to get there.  Lila's been doing really well riding the "afterburner", but she's looking forward to the day she can ride her own bike.  (I shudder to think how early we'd have to get up for that ride!)  Our ride is 1 mile long and it took us about 18 minutes on the first day.

Nerves & getting used to the new bike accounted for a longer commute time on the first day.  By the end of the week, we'd cut our time down by about 5 minutes.  Not bad.

Lila was all ready to start school, and was actually quite pissed off once it finally sunk in that she wasn't starting Kindergarten.  Jake, on the other hand, would have preferred to go back to Infinite Bounds.  He'd been acting strangely in the weeks leading up to the big day.  Quiet, irritable, sassy, mean...things that Jake usually isn't.  I knew he was a little sad to be leaving his friends at IB, but it wasn't until he nearly lost his breakfast that I realized how nervous he actually was about the whole thing.

But he put on his best fake smile, and walked into the Kindergarten Pod.  "The Pod".  Who decided to call it "The Pod"?  Sending my boy into The Pod sounds just a little scary...like I'm sending him into a shuttle craft that's waiting to whisk my kid away to the mother ship where aliens will poke and prod him, suck his brains out, reprogram him and return him to me as some kind of inter-galactic weapon.  The Pod.  Couldn't they just call it The Hall or The Wing?  Seriously?  The Pod?

They put a big red K over the door.  I guess that's supposed to make us parents feel better about abandoning our kiddos at the doors to The Pod.  Parents aren't allowed in The Pod.  They say dropping your kids off at the doors promotes independence and a sense of empowerment, but I know they just don't want us to see all the extraterrestrial goings-on beyond those doors.

I did manage to sneak in and take a peek.  There was pretty, not-so-little Ms. Lyttle...and Jake, still looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Then it was off to the cafeteria for Good Morning Anderson!  GMA takes place every Monday & Friday. 

The kids file in and find a place to sit on the floor.  They go over the school motto:  Believe, Achieve, Succeed!  They state their attendance goal:  On time, every day, every day, on time!  They pledge allegiance to the US Flag  - yes, we can still do that here in Lone Star State, and yes, the 'one nation under God' part is still in there.  Then they pledge allegiance to the Texas flag:  "I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible".  Those sneaky Texans - you might be able to get prayer out of the schools, but you ain't gonna get God outta Texas public schools! And speaking of prayer, since it's only acceptable to pray before rodeos & football games these days, GMA observes a moment of silence instead.

They also sing songs, recognize birthdays, celebrate the Firecrackers of the Week (more about that some other time.)  It really is quite a production, and pretty overwhelming at first.  When I spotted Jake, he looked pretty comfortable and relaxed.  Once it's over, everyone is dismissed to their classes and the day begins.

The day begins at 7:45, the day ends at 3:00.  A long day for a little kid if you ask me.  But Jake did just fine. School is dismissed in stages.  The first kids released are those going on to after-care programs.  Then the "car riders" are release.  Then the "walkers/bike riders" emerge from The Pod.  Jake was the doorman on the first day, and seemed pleased with that status.  The kids all line up and sit down on the grass just outside the pod doors.  When they see their parent/guardian, they raise their hand to let the teachers know, they they're released.  Fortunately, the process doesn't take too long.  It was 107 degrees at release time on the first day of school.  That's hot even for us Texans.  As soon as we were released, we headed to the pool with a bunch of friends for a little after-school swim party.  It was so hot, even the pool water wasn't all that refreshing. But it was fun hanging out with friends and rinsing off the stress of the first day.

The rest of the week went very smoothly.  We rode our bikes every day except Wednesday (it was raining).  Jake's learning the names of his classmates and making friends.  And if you ask him what the best part of the week was, he'd probably tell you playing on the playground and finding two silly bands on the floor in the hall.  Infinite Bounds is a tough act to follow, but I think he's settling in pretty well.