How she got a carnival with pony rides for her 4th birthday

How she got a carnival with pony rides for her 4th birthday

Motherhood can pack a walloping dose of guilt at times, especially when your 4-year-old’s birthday lands at a particularly inconvenient moment with regards to time, money, health, energy, or even a working phone. This sense of guilt can then be further intensified when she patiently and politely reminds you 2 months later that you promised her a birthday party with cake and presents and friends.

Ouch.

So I had to come up with something fast, and just Mommy and Daddy around the dinner table with a cupcake wasn’t going to cut it. There had to be a party. And there had to be kids.

So now what?

Then my cousin, Amanda, came up with the most brilliant idea ever: her daughter’s school was having a spring carnival – we could meet up there, and then have cake and presents after.

So Gem and I baked brownies for her cake, and then we bought a bunch of frosting and decorations, and we put the girls to work decorating her birthday cake.  This was a job they took very seriously.

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Doesn’t that just look delicious?

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Yes, of course the grownups all politely made yummy faces as we each dutifully ate a piece.  🙂

And then there was the carnival.

There was a climbing wall: That’s my baby, waaaaaaaaay up there.

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And pony rides!

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A hug for the pony.

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Face painting, temporary tattoos, and her bestest friend.

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She got her big day, and she didn’t need to know this entire carnival was not just for her birthday.  Let’s keep that between us, ok? 😉

Dinosaur Ballerina Birthday Party

Dinosaur Ballerina Birthday Party

I posted on Facebook that Gem wants to be a dinosaur ballerina when she grows up, and our my cousins responded with shock. The shock, it turns out, was appropriate. Unbeknownst to us, they were in the midst of planning a dinosaur ballerina birthday party for their soon-to-be 3-year-old. Their little girl is even more crazy about dinosaurs than Gem, and knows ALL the dinosaurs.

This should be cute, I thought.

I had no idea.

When we arrived at the birthday party, Gem was helped into a dinosaur tail and tutu.

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My happy little girl was giddy. Dinosaur Ballerina!

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birthday party

The birthday girl’s grandma handmade dinosaur tails for all the kids, and coordinating tutus for the girls.

dinosaur tail

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The weight of the tail dragging behind them cause the kids, especially the littlest ones, to exaggerate their waddle as they walked.

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Cuteness overload

dinosaur ballerina birthday party

The lawn covered with littles followed by their tails.

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A back yard dinosaur dig

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Dinosaur ballerinas discussing books and their favorite dinosaurs

dinosaur ballerina birthday party

dinosaur ballerina birthday party

Even the birthday girl’s daddy had a tail.

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Happy birthday, Isabella. Here’s to many, many more.

dinosaur birthday party

Wouldn’t you like to be a dinosaur ballerina, too?

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Three

Three

Yesterday, my little girl turned three (yes, she shares a birthday with William Shatner). Today, I’m making calls trying to find a venue for her birthday party.

I’m that on top of things.

How important is it to throw a party anyway? I didn’t even think it was on her radar, but then a few weeks ago, as my daughter was explaining to a random cafe customer that she’s almost three and going to have a birthday party with a cake and presents and candles and new dress and and and [deep breath] and and and and – it occurred to me that I do have responsibilities in this department – and apparently, this year, she has expectations.

I was in the same boat last year with school, and fatigue, and bills, and everything-all-at-once. I even wrote about my frustration in deciding to postpone her birthday party till April last year, because I just couldn’t do it in March. And then the birthday party never happened. Too much everything. I can’t let that happen twice in a row.

And, I know this is a taboo topic but, I don’t know how many birthdays I will have with her. I can’t promise her I will always be here for her. I’m not planning on going anywhere, of course, but I got a big wake-up call with this cancer diagnosis. I need to cherish every moment I have with her. I can’t promise tomorrow, but I can give her today.

So what about school and everything else? I can’t count how many times a day I ask myself what the right thing to do is, and I don’t know the answer. In the moment, when she’s desperate for my attention, I want to say forget school. So what if that paper is due in 4 hours? When I sit back and look at the big picture, school is just so important. Hopefully it will help increase my earning ability, but more importantly, it’s an education. An education is so much more than just vocational school, and the more classes I take, the more I understand this. It’s critical. And I want my daughter to see that, come hell or high water (and I feel like I’ve seen both recently), I got an education. But attendance in school isn’t just about an education, either. We depend on my student loans to pay the rent. As much as it’s digging us deeper into debt, it’s also my way of helping to keep us housed and fed. Hopefully, someday it will pay off by leading to a decent paycheck.

But, I also want her to understand how important she is to me.  When I hear her say phrases like “I’m trying to get this done,” “I have work to do,” and “In a minute,” my heart breaks a little bit because I know exactly where she’s getting them.

So I’m going to throw her a birthday party. I know it wont make up for all that time with my nose in a book, but it’s important. It’s important to her, and it’s important to me. It won’t happen till April, but this time, I’ll make sure it happens.

And the gift? One of our little traditions is right before bed she picks out what she wants to dream about; we can get quite fanciful, because amazing things can happen in dreams and anything is possible. More often than not, her choice of dreams involves dancing, and several times she has chosen to go dancing in an orange dress, and holding orange flowers. (Before this, I had no idea she even liked orange, but I think it’s becoming a favorite color). The other day we were at the store and she ran right up to an orange dress and said “I danced in this dress in my dream.”  I think I need to find her an orange dress.

Also, is orange the big color this year? I seem to be seeing it everywhere.

You can learn more about my cancer story here:

my cancer story | Judy Schwartz Haley

Party like a Pirate

Saturday night we celebrated Captain RedBeard’s birthday. By Captain RedBeard, I mean my little brother, Timmy (Pronounced timMAY! a la South Park).

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We celebrated with a pirate themed pub crawl through some of Seattle’s finest drinking establishments, led by the soon-to-be Mrs. RedBeard, Mel.

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Mr. H and I dressed the part as well.

What? You’ve never seen a pirate wearing an argyle sweater?

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Yar!

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Then Grandma called to say Gem was missing me, and I did my best not to drive like a bat out of hell all the way home. This was the first time we’d left her to go out and play.