A weekend with multiple personalities

What a weekend.  After the horrors of Ruben's birthday and the subsequent relief from the rescue brigade, I wasn't sure I was ready for the weekend we had planned.  Nana and Papa arrived Friday night, Kory and Cara were coming with the kids Saturday morning, Great Grandma Bev might show up Saturday afternoon, and then Saturday night we had invited nearly 20 people over for a big birthday bash. Oh yes, and then there was Sunday, where Karl preached and we had trick or treating and Bible Study. YIKES! All this on very little sleep.

Let's start at the top.  Friday night, we bit the bullet and let Ruben open all his gifts.  When I say we let Ruben open his gifts I do mean that June waited patiently for Ruben to open his gifts for about 15 seconds and then "helped" Ruben open "his" gifts.  Ruben was definitely more interested in the packaging than the presents in most cases, but June thought the gifts were awesome!

Then Nana and Papa showed up and then Nana and Mom left to go to Uncle Paul's concert while Papa and Dad stayed home to "babysit" (did I mention it was game seven of the World Series and Papa's team, the Cardinals were rallying for the win). The concert was great as expected, then the game was great because the Cardinals won and then sleep was great because I slept through the night (Ruben's 3:30 fussing was handled by the very light sleeping Nana - Thanks, Mom). Things were looking up.

Kory and Cara showed up with the kids and since it was shaping up to be a beautiful day outside we spent some time at the park and even managed to get a picture of all nine of us standing together. It's hard enough to just get a picture of the kids together much less try to find someone to take a picture of all of us!

We had a great time playing with the other Fays - now that everyone is getting older we're really starting to see some good interaction between the kids. June and Lucy are both two so it is hard for them to understand how to play with each other since they're both used to playing with siblings/friends who are 4-5. Each time we get together I see June have just a little more attachment to them as friends, not just family we pray for.

 

The guys (Papa, Dad, and Kory) went to a sports bar to watch a K-State Football game during nap.  I finally spent some time preparing for the impending party, but no fear, Super Nana was there to save the day.  She had already baked two batched of cupcakes, done two days worth of dishes, cleaned out the microwave - sorry about that one, it was gross, organized the toys in the living room, and generally turned the house into a hospitable space to throw a party. Thanks Mom!

Now it was time to party! Karl grilled chicken on the grill as everyone showed up.  The Schmitzers, Tuckers, Carol and Lee Lindquist, and Jan Willard all came. Even though the invitation said no gifts, not one person listened and Ruben ended up opening gifts toward the end of the party.  After some time to socialize and a delicious meal it was time for the cupcake bar.  I gave Ruben a mini cupcake with chocolate frosting.  I figured I'd give him another one if he liked it well enough.  Everyone gathered around to watch him tear into his cupcake...except there was no tearing into it.  We must not give Ruben enough food items larger than bite-size because he didn't know what to do with this huge food item.  We seriously sat there for at least five minutes watching him pick at this mini cupcake before someone finally broke it apart so he could eat it.  Even then, he wasn't exactly excited about the treat.   Oh well, more sugar for the rest of us.

On to Sunday! The morning was fairly normal with a Karl preaching but we were sleepy afterward. By four o'clock we were in costumes and headed over to Jan's house for our one neighborhood trick or treat foray. What do you think?  Are these two cute elephants?

Over to the Schmitzers for some more trick or treating.  Erika and David Bremer joined us for the trick or treating and then the Tuckers came after trick or treating for Bible Study.  It was fun to see everyone in their costumes.  However, it was fairly difficult to get them to hold still long enough to take a picture...I think the sugar high might have been the problem there.

What a fun birthday weekend! I imagine that we will have many more weekends like this since unlike my birthday and Thanksgiving, Ruben's birthday will always fall close to Halloween. I hope he likes dressing up for many more years.