I love birthdays. I think celebrating someone’s life is one of the greatest gifts ever. In my house growing up, birthdays were always a big deal. You felt loved and celebrated. I love passing this appreciation onto our kids.
We try very hard to live our lives for other people, but I never want my kids to go unnoticed or grow up feeling celebrated of the person God created them to be. The fact they are alive is a reason to celebrate.
This weekend my middle one turned 4. He requested a Batman party. His little sister turns 1 on Thursday so we combined parties…Batman meets Care bears. Yeah that’s right. Superheros unite. One that gets power from rainbows and the other by all the toys money can buy.
We had intended to play outside, but with cold and rainy weather, we invited 34 people into our little home. It was crowded and cozy and full of love.
We played “Pin the bat on Batman”, then we corralled all 15 kids into the Batcave (the kids bedroom) to read “The Care bears Easter Egg Hunt” while the adults hid all the eggs. We told the kids that The Penguin, one of Batman’s enemies had taken all their Easter eggs and they had to go get them back. My husband played the role of Penguin, (he likes doing those things) and all the kids took their freshly colored Easter bags and went hunting to save the eggs. (FYI, Penquin sports a suit and so does Bruce Waynes butler. Paul was a butler for the first half and then transformed into the evil villan. If you have a tux, might as well use it.) After the games we had a yummy lunch and then dove into cake and ice cream. Once the kids were sugared up, Caleb enjoyed opening his presents to which he got so many things he loved and wanted.
After all the kids went home, more adults showed up to celebrate and we cracked open the good cheese, hummus, coffee and liqueur. It was a splendid afternoon finished with coloring Easter eggs.
I love parties. I love gathering people I love and eating good food, listening to music and enjoying each others company. I enjoy the process of making food that my friends would enjoy to treat them to something nice and wonderful. The people that gathered for Caleb and Eleanor’s birthday are people we love and enjoy doing life with. As much as want to celebrate Caleb’s life, these people are a part of that, and in turn part of the celebration. We want to say Thank you to all of you who showed up.
Thank you for loving us, for walking with us through life, for investing in us and praying for us. We couldn’t survive without you.
And to my mom and dad, this party would not have happened without you. Thank you for all your help and love.