Phhhheeewwww....

I am writing again on a Sunday morning, when I should be leaving for church. Today is Ryan's turn for a morning off, so I am staying home with him while Mike takes a screaming Eric to Sunday School, then we'll switch at 10:30 in the parking lot so I can teach Sunday School and Mike can take Ryan to activity number 39943 of the weekend.

If you were watching this on tv, this would be the part where the screen gets all wiggly and the characters think back in time....

Friday was Ryan's 7th birthday. We began when he woke us up at 5:45 am to open his presents. He was, of course, delighted to receive his GameBoy Advance along with Super Mario World and Lego Star Wars. We also gave him Pirates of the Caribbean Battleship--a fateful mistake.

I then took Ryan to school with his birthday cupcakes and Eric and I went back home to have a typical Friday. Ryan was full of the birthday spirit and, without any prompting from me, told Eric he could play the new GameBoy while he was at school. Picked Ryan up from the bus and, at Ryan's request, we went to opening night (or rather afternoon) of Shrek the Third. Ryan has known for a few months now that Shrek the Third was opening on May 18th, his birthday. You would think Dreamworks planned this specifically for Ryan's birthday, the way he has been carrying on about it! Seeing Shrek the Third on May 18th was non-negotiable. At the movies Ryan wanted Sprite and buttered popcorn. Mike purchased a rather large bucket for the whole family to share. Another fateful move....And after the movie, again at Ryan's request, we went to McDonalds for dinner.

By the time we got home it was 7:30 and Ryan was exhausted. Eric wasn't much better. But Ryan really wanted to play his new Battleship game. Thinking this was just regular old Battleship with Jack Sparrow on the cover, I decided that one game wouldn't hurt. This thing had all kinds of fancy instructions, pieces to put together, cards to tear apart... and then I'm trying to read the special Pirates of the Caribbean rules to an extrememly tired and overwhelmed birthday boy. When his crying turned to hysterics I calmly explained that we just need to go to bed and, well, to make a long story short, Mike and I each had a screaming kid in their respective bedrooms and it took us about 45 minutes to calm them down.


The next morning, the day of the Harry Potter party, Ryan wakes up with a terrible stomach ache. What a surprise. And I'm in a panic because I don't know if he's sick or if this is just from all of the crap he ate the day before. My house is a disaster and I'm trying to clean, put up streamers, and deal with a moaning Ryan, while silently patting myself on the back for having the forsight to plan a 1:00 party rather than my usual 10:00. Around 9:30 Ryan actually throws up. And is instantly better. Feels great, able to leap tall buidings in a single bound, when is the party going to start! One thing you should know about me--I have a mortal fear of vomiting. When ever I am around anyone who throws up, has just thrown up, or is about to throw up, I instantly feel sick. It becomes all about me. Regardless of how ill my kids feel, all I can think about is now I'm going to get sick. So while the practical side of me knows that Ryan threw up because he ate an entire tub of movie popcorn and he is emotionally overwhelmed by all of the birthday attention, I can't help freaking out because he might have the stomach flu. And Mike is no help because he never freaks out about anything. So I called a few parents, who all laughed and assured me that yes, it was definitely the popcorn, and it was Game On.

I will say, for all of my worrying and complaining about this party, it was a great party. The kids all had a blast. We made robes out of large black t-shirts and the kids all made their own crests. They got Harry Potter wands, glasses, and scar tatoos. And they all wore them!! They looked absolutely adorable:









Mike was Mad-Eye Moody and taught a "potions class",which was a huge hit:















and then the kids played Quiddich.










Everyone had such a great time and I had my best friend, Leah, there to cheer me on and assure me that it truly was a fun party (now, if Leah could just show me how to deal with these pictures that always seem to take on a life of their own whenever I put them in my blog...)
After the party we let Ryan veg out and watch one of his new DVDs.

Today he has another birthday party and then I promised him a trip to Target so he can spend some of his birthday money. So this morning when he couldn't eat his breakfast and was lying on the couch under a blanket, I decided he should stay home from church and take a break. He's not sick, but since he is like his dear mother in every way, I understand that mentally, he's had it. His little 7 year old brain is overloaded and his emotional capacity has been stretched beyond it's limits. For introverts like Ryan and me, social gatherings and special occasions are exhausting and we can only take so much before we crack under the pressure. In 38 years I have not figured out how to balance this, but when I see it in Ryan I need to help him take a break. So that is what he's doing this morning.

And how much knitting have I done this weekend? Not much! Pretty darn unsatisfying. And I don't think today will be much better. But I am looking forward to shopping with Ryan and spending some one-on-one time with him. And I do love a good trip to Target!