We woke up on December 19th to a light and lovely snowfall for Soren's 6th birthday. I couldn't help but wonder if it was snowing on the day he was born. Six years is a long time and I find my memories of that "unforgettable" day are getting rather dim. This year, it really struck me that Soren's birthday (while on the surface is all about him) was for me the "anniversary" of me becoming a mother. As our family has grown, so have I but it all began on that (possibly snowy) morning: December 19, 2007.
This is what we did to celebrate:
1. Scott has been talking for a long time about purchasing the computer game Minecraft for Soren's birthday. So, the morning of, we downloaded it onto our computer so Soren could play. He didn't figure it out right away so we invited our neighbors up to help him get the hang of the game. But it
didn't take long for them to realize that his problem was not in playing the game but because he has absolutely no computer experience. So I spent some time on the morning of his birthday teaching him to use a mouse and the difference between "right-" and "left-clicking". The game was not really a huge hit on his birthday but it has gone up steadily in popularity with each day that passes. Yesterday, he told us that playing Minecraft was his favorite part of the day and that he wishes he could just play it all day long.
2. But back to the birthday ... Soren especially requested that I make a banner for his birthday, so I spent some time on that while he played with his brother. He requested that the banner read "6, 6, 6, 6, 6!" but in the end I put up "Happy 6th birthday!" And it looked quite festive, if I do say so myself.
3. My mom had been in town for a few weeks, visiting with us, my siblings at BYU, and my grandmother in Logan. She and my sister came up for Soren's birthday, just before their car trip home to Kentucky. They took us all out for lunch at McDonald's and the boys got happy meals.
3. My mom gave Soren a really nice magic set (with "secrets inside!"). He seemed pretty keen to figure it out until she suggested that he might become a magician. He quickly put her straight: "I am not going to be a magician! I am going to be a car manufacturer!"
4. The most awesome moment of Soren's birthday was the gift that my sister bought for him (although it was really my mom's idea). She got him a motorized hot wheels racing track. When he opened it up, he became very animated. He hugged her and told her, "You're the best aunt ever! This is exactly what I wanted! All of my dreams came true!" So he and Carl spent all of their free time after that sending cars along the race track.
5. That is, after my mom and I spent a good hour putting the thing together. The directions were nearly inscrutable!
6. In the afternoon, my neighbors and I took our kids outside to play in the snow. We tried to make a snowman but couldn't get the snow to roll. Our constructive play degenerated into a snowball fight. There was an attempt to make a snow fort as well but the wall never got above kid-knee height. When we were all cold and wet through, we came inside for hot cocoa.
7. I made a chicken pot pie for Soren's birthday dinner. (So I must really love him.) Afterwards, we had carrot cake. While eating cake, we all shared a birthday wish for Soren. Carl's was my favorite: "I wish that Soren's hot wheels track would never break and that we could play with it forever and Mom would never throw it away." Talk about pressure.
8. Before bed, I told Soren the birthday story. It is a story that I made up about him coming from heaven to be a part of our family, then it is about him growing up and the things he learned each year of his life. I like that story a lot and so does Soren. Telling it is a sweet way to share my love and relive the happy memories.
Happy Birthday, Soren!
This is what we did to celebrate:
1. Scott has been talking for a long time about purchasing the computer game Minecraft for Soren's birthday. So, the morning of, we downloaded it onto our computer so Soren could play. He didn't figure it out right away so we invited our neighbors up to help him get the hang of the game. But it
2. But back to the birthday ... Soren especially requested that I make a banner for his birthday, so I spent some time on that while he played with his brother. He requested that the banner read "6, 6, 6, 6, 6!" but in the end I put up "Happy 6th birthday!" And it looked quite festive, if I do say so myself.
3. My mom had been in town for a few weeks, visiting with us, my siblings at BYU, and my grandmother in Logan. She and my sister came up for Soren's birthday, just before their car trip home to Kentucky. They took us all out for lunch at McDonald's and the boys got happy meals.
3. My mom gave Soren a really nice magic set (with "secrets inside!"). He seemed pretty keen to figure it out until she suggested that he might become a magician. He quickly put her straight: "I am not going to be a magician! I am going to be a car manufacturer!"4. The most awesome moment of Soren's birthday was the gift that my sister bought for him (although it was really my mom's idea). She got him a motorized hot wheels racing track. When he opened it up, he became very animated. He hugged her and told her, "You're the best aunt ever! This is exactly what I wanted! All of my dreams came true!" So he and Carl spent all of their free time after that sending cars along the race track.
5. That is, after my mom and I spent a good hour putting the thing together. The directions were nearly inscrutable!
7. I made a chicken pot pie for Soren's birthday dinner. (So I must really love him.) Afterwards, we had carrot cake. While eating cake, we all shared a birthday wish for Soren. Carl's was my favorite: "I wish that Soren's hot wheels track would never break and that we could play with it forever and Mom would never throw it away." Talk about pressure.
8. Before bed, I told Soren the birthday story. It is a story that I made up about him coming from heaven to be a part of our family, then it is about him growing up and the things he learned each year of his life. I like that story a lot and so does Soren. Telling it is a sweet way to share my love and relive the happy memories.
Happy Birthday, Soren!
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