Some Very Special Birthday Celebrations In January

January isn't just "the month where we recover from Christmas" in our house. Some of my best friends have had January birthdays, including my best friend from high school and two of my closest college friends.

And then, of course, my beautiful and talented third daughter Aurora was born on January 15th, 2010. Now every January is a special time in our family, because our "baby" gets to celebrate her birthday with us. And this year saw possibly her biggest birthday celebration yet.

But before I get to that, a quick word on one of my college buddies, whom I was lucky enough to visit a few weeks ago! Kristina Brinton (maiden name Rickertsen) lived on the same dorm-room floor as myself our freshman year at BYU. We became friends that year, and remained friends all through our college years. We later shared an apartment together and had lots of fun times. Kristina has a great sense of humor and a lot of pop culture tastes that mirror my own, so I have always loved our conversations. She was also one of the women that prompted me to think about serving an LDS mission, a decision that changed much of my life for the better!

 

Luckily, Kristina and I have managed to stay in touch over the last twenty years (ugh, has it really been that long now? We're gettin' old!). Kristina lived in the Las Vegas area for a short time, but after she married her husband Ralph, she moved back to the East Coast (this was a year or two after Nathan and I moved to Arizona). Now she has three beautiful children and a happy life in North Carolina...which is sadly far away from me! Although we talk back and forth somewhat on Facebook, we haven't seen each other in several years (the last time we were face to face, Lorelai was still a baby!). Fortunately for me, though, Kristina has a large extended family, several of which live in Arizona. This year, she decided to take her kids and go on a long Christmas vacation, and spend much of that time in southeast Tucson.

Our schedules were tight (my parents were in town the same week Kristina was, plus she'd broken her leg recently and her mobility was limited), but we managed to arrange a short meeting at her sister's home in Rita Ranch, just a half-hour drive away.

It was so wonderful to see Kristina and her beautiful, sweet, well-behaved kids, even if it was only for a couple of hours. It felt like so little time had passed, and we could still talk about anything! I am so grateful to have truly awesome friends, whose affection for each other is something that distance and time cannot dim. I wish we could see each other way more frequently, but I will take whatever I can get! It was a great end to our winter break to catch up with a long-time friend. Thanks, Kristina!

Right after getting back into our "regular" schedule (school re-starting, all the kids back in their activities), I got to work planning Aurora's birthday party. But this party was a little different than all her parties so far; this time, she'd be doing a joint birthday party with her best friend Shelby, whose birthday falls just six days after Aurora's!

Aurora and Shelby have been pretty much inseparable for several years now. In fact, they have sometimes been mistaken for twins, especially from the back (it must be all that pretty blond hair). They never seem to run out of things to talk about, or run out of love for one another. Both girls have pretty strong personalities, which I have always thought would lead to disagreements and conflict...yet the two of them have never had a fight of which I'm aware. It's just smooth sailing all the time. Aurora and Shelby were overcome with joy when they learned they would be in the same kindergarten class at school. I was a little worried about that at first; I thought they'd talk too much and get into trouble. But thankfully, they have managed to remain good buddies while still behaving themselves (and taking the time to make new friends in class, besides).

I'd always planned on throwing Aurora a birthday party when she turned six; after all, I'd done it for my other two girls. However, I worried a bit about her party conflicting with a party thrown by Shelby; what if they tried to have a party on the same weekend? I didn't want to force kids and parents to choose between them. Then I had the thought, What if the girls held their party together? Maybe I have a psychic connection with Keri (Shelby's mom), because when I broached the idea to her, she immediately responded that she'd had the same thought.

But, she warned, there were certain conditions we'd have to follow in order to throw a joint party. First, Shelby insisted on having the party at her house. This was an easy term to agree to; I loved the idea of having my house pristine and undisturbed after a huge party! In addition, Keri warned, Shelby had a very particular theme in mind for her party. She only wanted to do a "puppy and kitty" party. I almost laughed aloud when I heard this; Aurora had been saying the exact same thing to me for weeks now! All she wanted was a "dog and cat/kitten" party! I suspect the girls had been colluding together at school, and we adults were slow on the uptake. Either way, we happily agreed to those terms, divided up the planning responsibilities, and got to work.

At first, I was a little nervous at the size of the guest list; Shelby insisted on inviting close to forty kids! Normally, I tell my kids they can only invite up to a dozen kids or so to their parties. However, Shelby herself had missed out on a party invitation from a classmate recently, and she had felt overlooked and sad afterwards. She told her mother she didn't want anyone to feel left out, so they ended up inviting the whole kindergarten class, as well as her whole Sunday School age group. Even though there was a bit of overlap in those two guest lists, it still felt very overwhelming to me as I planned things.

Luckily, things ended up working out very well. Keri's house has a lot of large shared space, and she has a huge backyard, so we had more than enough room for all the attendees. Keri and I each planned one craft activity for the kids; I set up a station where everyone colored their own dog or cat mask, then assemble the mask to wear throughout the party. Keri went one step further; she manufactured more than thirty cardboard "pet houses," and had all the kids decorate the houses to their liking. Each child then received a small plush dog or cat toy, which was their pet that was to be "adopted" that day and live in the home that child had decorated. It was a terrific keepsake to send home!

One refreshing thing about having so many kids over is that you don't need to plan quite so many structured games or activities. Most of the day consisted of kids running from one friend to another, exploring in the large backyard, and jumping on the trampoline. I ended up making a bunch of simple party favors (featuring paw-print and bone motifs on stickers, erasers, pencils, stamps, etc.). There turned out to be just enough favors for all the visitors!

 

But at least we had plenty of food; there were far too many pizzas, and large heaping fruit and veggie trays. Many adults had stayed behind to help out, and as their reward they were able to eat pizza to their heart's content.

The most structured activity we attempted was breaking the pinatas. Shelby and Aurora had each been responsible for bringing one pinata with them to the party. We reasoned that it would take a really long time for everyone to break two pinatas.

Our optimism, though, was misplaced. Shelby's electric guitar didn't make it very far before being destroyed; a full third of the party-goers didn't get an opportunity to take so much as a swing. And then we pulled out Aurora's pinata...

...yes, I'm aware that by choosing a dog-shaped pinata, we are condoning the beating of animals. Oh dear, how awkward! And it was made even more awkward just moments later, when Aurora knocked the pinata to the ground with one mighty swing of her stick. Oddly enough, the pinata itself didn't break; it stubbornly refused to give up its candy! Rich, Shelby's father and the "pinata wrangler," managed to reassemble the pinata after it had been knocked silly, and then it was Shelby's turn.

With one more big whack, the pinata dog's body fell to the earth with a heavy crash...leaving its head floating by a string in midair. The kids were frantic for candy by now, so we hurried up and destroyed the rest of the pinata, so everyone could leap for the candy.

Some kids were frustrated that other kids picked up more candy than they did, but thankfully there were many kids who were willing to share. Overall, it was a disappointing experience with the pinatas; I sure hope we get a pinata that will hold together for longer than one or two whacks!

Shelby and Aurora also shared this big, delicious birthday cake from CostCo:

After dessert it was time to open presents...lots of presents. The girls took alternate turns of opening one at a time. The party-goers were constantly floating from one present pile to the other, watching one girl unwrap a gift, then "drift" over to the other girl's increasingly mountainous pile of birthday presents.

When all was said and done, both girls had a wonderful experience. They played very nicely with all their sweet guests. It was indeed a great party...plus we didn't have much else to do in the way of cleaning up; the tablecloths/silverware/decorations/etc. were almost all the cheap plastic kind that could be easily thrown out. Even so, after two straight hours of playing, I noticed that Aurora looked particularly glassy eyed. Fearing she was sad about something, I asked her if anything was wrong. She just answered, "I'm tired." That answer made sense; she'd never been to any birthday party this large, much less her own!

I am so lucky to have this beautiful girl in my life. Aurora oozes charm, both at home, at church, and in school. She is such an energetic kid, and loves to show off her prowess whenever possible. She is fiercely competitive, but she is also quick to reach out and comfort someone who is sad. Aurora has proven to be a wonderful student, racing far ahead of her class in reading comprehension and other subjects.

The birthday girl with Grandma

It seems that another day doesn't go by that I find myself surprised by Aurora and all her capabilities. I look forward to watching her closely over the next several years and seeing what other surprises she has in store for us! For now, though, I am glad she was able to have a big, fun birthday party, at the home of one of her dear friends.