We Do Hard Things: And we live to tell about it

Last week I was sitting on my bed just in awe over this battle that I had fought and won with the school to get Elijah a printer for his ipad. You would have thought it would be easy, but the amount of red tape I had to cut through was alarming and after 6 months, and weekly meetings he finally got that printer! It was a sweet victory and I was reflecting on that when Elijah walked in.

He said, "Mama, I'm sorry that you had to fight so hard and that it took so long just to get me a printer." I smiled at him and said, "Buddy that's okay, it was a hard fight but it was worth it and you got what you needed and do you know why?"

Elijah looked up at me and said, "Yeah mama, I do. It's because We Do Hard Things."

And just like that... my work was done.

Over the past weeks, as I've been sharing with you this family motto, I have been amazed at how many of you have been using it. You've told me about your little victories and your massive life struggles. You've laughed, you've cried, you've opened up your heart and you've done it all in the name of 4 powerful words.  These words are the battle cry I'm hearing as some of you are heading to the hospital or just simply making it through the day.They are the words that you whisper when you feel near defeat or that you scream when you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. It's not just what we say to ourselves, it's what we say to each other.

It came to me so clearly through a text message I sent to a friend of mine. I was telling her about having to put our beloved dog Sadie down. It was gut wrenching and terrible. And her response to me was "We Do Hard Things." I could just laugh and cry at the same time! When there is no right thing to say; what a response, what an encouragement.

And after that, I just knew I couldn't go another moment without it being on my wall for me to look at when I need it the most. A little 4 word pep talk on my wall. So I searched the internet over and came upon a lovely little etsy shop named RustiCreations owned by a doll of a woman named Laura. She made a custom, hand painted sign for me that I just absolutely love! Once she heard my story, OUR STORY really, she went even further and offered all of the warkymom followers an opportunity to get a custom made sign just like this one at HER SHOP.

Not only a custom sign, but also a 20% off coupon code for all you warkymom followers on ANY ORDERS in her shop. And guys, let me just tell you, there are some really amazing pieces in there!
She's a sweet mama from Nevada who's just doing hard things like the rest of us.
The coupon code for this amazing deal is: warkymomblog20 and it expires May 31, 2015 so if you need a little pep talk on your wall, now would be a good time to get one. P.s. Mother's Day is so close!

As you can see, I hung it up in a place of honor in my livingroom, where I fight my hardest battles and need the extra encouragement.

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you who have shared your battles with me. There are moments in every person's life when they are in the trenches and it's been amazing to see how many trench buddies I have and how many of them are carrying their flags to victory! You guys truly inspire me and I am in awe over your love. Keep fighting guys... We Do Hard Things... we just do.

WE DO HARD THINGS: You're Not A Bad Mom

I've recently listened to a podcast called Invisibillia. In an episode, it talked about a study on how blind children, if left to explore and were not coddled, could end up doing amazing things like climbing trees, riding bikes and basically..well basically everything. But because of the way the world sees blindness as a disability, we are programmed to help them, to do things for them. That made me think. A lot.

In my house, my kids do not naturally "try new things". In fact, most of the time, I have to drag them kicking and screaming.

One of the harder things I have to do right now, is to convince my son who has bilateral radial aplasia (both arms missing radius bones and fingers) that he is perfectly capable of putting on his jackets and buttoning up his pants. Fact: I am not totally convinced that he is perfectly capable of it. I have to teach myself not to say that to him. Part of my training, is to repeat over and over to him that he can do it. And then, the second part of my training (and by far the most painful part of it) is that I make myself stand there and watch him struggle. I encourage him. When he whimpers and whines and says "Mommy I can't do it. I tried but I can't." It makes me sick to my stomach, and with a lump in my throat I say "Yes you can baby. You can do it." I give him tips, I cheer him on, I ball my hands into fists and scrunch my toes and try with all my might to NOT do it for him. It's agony and each time we are finished with that terrible exercise, I usually go into another room and sob.

I would love to say that it is because my kid is "special" that makes my pain so much more tangible. That is FALSE. All parents go through challenging times in their kids lives. But it's so important for us to hold that line. I hate making him work so hard and hearing him so frustrated. But I know that the day that he learns to tie his shoes is going to be so much sweeter because we worked so hard to get there.

Last night, when I was being a "consistent parent" and making my daughter clean her room, she wailed so loudly that I said the typical thing that one says when they feel they are torturing their child. I said "I am SUCH a bad mom."

 But as I said it, my seven-year-old looked up at me and asked me why I thought that. I said that it was so hard sometimes to make your kids do things that are hard, especially when they cry. It makes me feel bad.

He looked right at me and without a pause said, "Mama, you are NOT a bad mom." I smiled and said thanks and then he said, "No mama, do you know that? Do you know that you are not a bad mom?"
As if that couldn't just melt you into a puddle, he was saying it while he was doing a chore. A CHORE people! I hadn't even bribed him.

Pushing my kids to do hard things might just be the toughest part of my job. It is tiring. It is ear piercing. It's unsettling. It's so so frustrating. And, if I do my job right, it will be totally thankless. But even though I push them, I know (if not gently reminded by my sweet little boy) that I am NOT a bad mom for doing that. Sure they may yell at me. They may scream and whine and bang on the wall. But making them do hard things doesn't make me a bad mom. We do Hard Things. And, with any luck, that will stick with them.

Do you struggle to hold a line? Do you feel discouraged about how hard it is? Do you feel like the bad guy? I'm telling you now... YOU ARE NOT A BAD MOM. You aren't.
Whatever battle you are fighting, whatever line you are holding, whatever hard thing you are making your kids do... know that these things don't make you a bad mom...they make you a good one.

How to say the right thing when there's no right way to say it.

I've been writing an article this week. In it, I decided to focus on amputees and veterans.When I got some feedback from my editor he said that he had never heard of the term "arm difference" before and could I change it? My mommy heart grew 3 sizes at that moment. I had never been in that kind of conflict between my career and my maternal instinct. How could anyone not have heard of that term before? I was, quite frankly, a little hurt. When I told my best friend this, she sheepishly admitted she hadn't heard of that term either. That's when I stopped and realized something.  The truth is, sometimes I just plain old forget that not everyone loves a little boy with a limb difference, or even knows what that term is.

I can remember when Elijah was a baby how much Tim and I stumbled over the words to describe it. People looked to us to know the right way to say things and we were just as clueless. We spent so long trying to come up with the right paragraph to answer when someone would say "What's wrong with his hands?" What we wanted to say is: "Nothing is wrong with his hands, what's wrong with your manners?"


Of course, we knew that it was just a way of asking us why our son looked different than others.
It took years of struggling through explaining something that was so personal to us, so sensitive. You could also see it in people's eyes when they would ask. They could see how hard it was for us to find the right words. We've watched as our families have tried to "say the right thing" and as our friends have struggled through it. We've heard words that make us embarrassed and words that make us angry. 

I think it's hard to be in this kind of position. On one hand, you want to educate, you want people to know how to address it.  On the other hand, you don't want to be that lady that gets up on her soapbox if you look at her wrong. You want people to treat you normally; to not stare at you when you're eating dinner at a restaurant. And you certainly don't want people to avoid you like a plague because they are afraid of offending you. I think sometimes there are people in this world who lack tact and ruin it for the rest of us but for the most part, we're not going to come out and attack you because you don't know the correct terminology.

This summer both of my boys were in a swim class together. I spent every day for two weeks sitting on a bench next to 2 other moms cheering on their kids. Each day they would ask me questions about my boys, getting to know them better. They would remark about how good of a swimmer each one was, or how similar they looked. They asked me about life with two boys, about what school they went to and if I liked it. Not once in 2 weeks did they ever ask about Elijah's hand difference. It's not that I would have minded if they did, in fact each morning as I took my seat on the bench I was waiting for it. But it never came. I loved that they saw me for me; my son for who he was.
Because the truth is, we're just like everybody else, we just do things a little bit differently.

So how do you say the right thing when there's no right way to say it?

Here are the things we say about our son. "He has a hand difference" "He has 2 lucky fins".  You can give him a high five, you can give him a thumbs up. You can point to things with your pointer finger. Just don't mind us, we will point with our pinky fingers most times.

What does Elijah think of all this? Well, he will be the first one to tell you "I have four fingers". That's his simple, easy, non-politically correct terminology and it suits him just fine. When asked the "why" question, his favored line is "Because that's just the way God made me."

It's never an easy thing to talk about, let alone blog about to the entire world. But I think it's important for people to know. And, as G.I. Joe put it, knowing is half the battle.

The passage of Time

                                                  Time. 

There is a lot to be said about the passage of time. Hootie and the Blowfish (the great orators of our generation) once said "Time is wasted, time is walking  you ain't no friend of mine... I think I'm going out of my mind just thinking about time."

Time is so many things to so many people. I think that time is most evident in a mother's life.The days are long but the years are short. That's what they say about motherhood. I would have to agree. Time wasted worries you, time ahead fills you with anxiety, time behind you fills you with sadness. I  think of this time in my life with my children and I feel like it is slowly slipping through my fingers. This time is precious, and valuable and quickly moving and ever changing.

It is this time, this preciousness that propels me to take snapshots of my children so that I can look back and remember.

I can remember that moment when your two front teeth were missing. It was just 3 weeks of time before that front one grew in. It was your seventh birthday with that cake that took an army of hands to put together. And it was this cake that made you smile that gloriously magnificent tooth gapped smile that I will remember forever, but that only lasted for 3 short weeks.

I can remember that moment when I first brought you to this playground and it didn't look too big for you. It was just your size. And that knowing smile told me that you were ready for a phase of life that I wasn't ready for.

But that smile also told me that while you were a big boy now, playing with the other big boys, you weren't too big to stop holding my hand or giving me a big, sloppy, wet kiss as I said goodbye to you. You were telling me that it was going to be okay, even though you weren't exactly sure that it was. That was this moment.

And then there was this innocent split second when you were sitting on your Nana's lap and looking up into my eyes with such love; such tenderness. And it took my breath away that someone could look at me that way, that someone could love me in that way. And it was in that moment that I thought to myself "There has never been a more beautiful little girl in the history of forever." And you held my hand and wiggled into my lap and you put your face against mine. For that split second, for that moment we were connected. And I was your everything.



While I'm sad at the time that is already gone and am excited about the time that I won't have to potty train, or pick up the lego that seems to congregate down the edges of my hallway, I must for now live in the present in this fast moving and changing current of happenings that is my children's childhood. How I want it to stand still. I would gladly fill up sippy cups forever if I could just hold onto this moment.

This wonderful, beautiful moment of absolute chaotic, giggling mess.

Lessons from my 6-year-old or the day I failed as a parent

Let the record show, that I am an imperfect person. It's true. I don't like admitting it, but who does? Yesterday I had a major parenting fail. I like to think that I had the best of intentions, but the truth is, my 6-year-old absolutely schooled me.

Elijah was working on his homework, as he usually does most evenings. He had a homework packet sent home to him that he had completed, but his teacher wanted him to do it over. Now this happens frequently for lots of reasons. Most of the time it's because he's answered a question incorrectly. But on this night, he had a very large packet of homework sent home for him to re-do for a very different reason.

Let me back up, I have a mama warrior heart. I have spent a very long time, so many times, fighting very hard for this kid. It's not that I'm out there just raging on people, it's just that to get him all of the medical treatment, therapy and schooling he has needed it has been terribly challenging and I have stepped in as his advocate. I'm used to that role. It's comfortable, familiar and for a long time I was his only voice. So when things happen to him that I have deemed unfair I tend to get a little okay a whole lot red-faced, spitting mad, angry about it. Why do little things like this set me off? I think it goes back to the day that I first held him in my arms and had flashes of these types of experiences, what they would look like and how it would be over my dead, rotting corpse that I would let ANY injustice befall him. Perhaps, in this regard, I get a tad   incredibly overdramatic. On this day, Elijah called me on it.

Back to the homework packet: I noticed that it got sent back with giant lettering on every page that said "Color NEATLY"
Things that I said inside my head "Color neatly?? Color neatly? Let's see you effing color neatly when you have 4 fingers that don't bend." Also probably some other expletives.
Things that I said out loud: "Elijah who corrected this paper? Why do you think she wants you to erase it and color again? She will probably just send it back again."
Things that I mouthed silently across the room to my husband: "Are you KIDDING ME? Who says that to him? What does she expect????" <note it was totally silent>

By now I am fuming. I'm already in cleaning-the-kitchen-so-I-don't-do-something-stupid mode. I'm thinking of things to sarcastically write back on the homework packet and possibly more expletives. You see, I'm mama bear, I'm a prize fighter, I am here to fight all the injustices of this world, one homework packet at a time!

But then Elijah, after erasing his previous coloring venture, calmly began re-coloring his homework and casually said "She's not going to send it back again mama, she knows when I try hard. But I can work harder, there is always room for improvement."

Bam. Just like that. I got completely schooled by a 6-year-old. While I was so busy getting ready to pounce, I forgot that my little boy is growing up. He doesn't need me to fight every battle, just the important ones. And so, I failed as a parent that day because I forgot that I don't have to be his voice, he is his own. And maybe I don't have to get so hot under the collar at every little thing that happens to him. Maybe a little self-control is in order?

Yep, I'm human. Fortunately, my son loves me anyway. And I can try harder tomorrow.

How to deal with a bully: kill me with kindness

Lately in our house, we've been asking ourselves a very tough question:  
                            HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A BULLY?

2 months ago, Elijah came home after school crying. He told us that on the playground, a kid had been making fun of his hands and calling him "a very mean name" repeatedly. We talked it through and assured him he was much more than that name. And we thought we dealt with it. But he came home the next day, and the next week and the next 2 months after that saying the exact same thing.

We told him to tell a teacher, or the person on lunch duty. He did and still.... nothing changed. I read books, sought wise council and talked endlessly to my husband about how to deal with this bully. I mean, I know what I WANTED to do. I wanted to put my mama bear shoes on and have a meeting with everyone I could find about it. I wanted to walk right into the playground and give that kid a piece of my mind.

I wanted to storm in there and save the day because nothing, and I mean NOTHING gets me more angry-crazy-protective-kungfu-mama-mad than when someone has hurt my baby, especially someone who does it repeatedly.

It was agony listening to my sweet, caring little boy explain how he would tell the kid that these things hurt his feelings and how the kid just laughed at him. The thing that would just break me is when he would look up at me, tears welling in his eyes and say "Mama, I know if he just got to know me, he would like me." How do you console that kind of a broken heart? How do you send him off to school each day knowing he will continue to get knocked down?

If I had gone in there guns a blazing, with my angry face on causing a big stink, it might actually have worked. I might have gotten that kid to stop calling him a name, raise awareness about the bullying, and maybe even made my boy feel better. But the question I had to ask myself was
 
"But what would that teach him?"

The scary, sad, gut wrenching reality is: in my little boy's life, he will face a mountain of bullies. There will be the outright mean ones, there will be the relentless ones, there will even be the ones who mean well, but still somehow prevent him from doing things he dreams of simply because they will not think he is capable.

And facing that giant mountain of bullies, he will not always be able to rely on his mama bear to fight his battles for him, nor will he want it. No, these will be the battles that he will fight alone. But how can he fight them, if we do not equip him? How will he know how to handle things if we don't teach him that he IS capable?

So we made a very tough decision to not go in with canons lit. Instead we would pour into him what to say, who to talk to, how to handle things. He would ask questions and give us what if scenarios and we would answer his questions as best we could and let him know that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the way he looked, it was the kid who was wrong. Every morning on his way to school, his daddy would talk him through it, and everyday when I would pick him up I would hear how it went.

 Elijah went to school and talked to the lunch duty officer, he even worked up the courage to tell his principle about it. They all encouraged Elijah to ignore it. But, he simply couldn't. For 3 weeks, everyday he saw the kid he would come up to him and tell him that what he said hurt his feelings and asked him to apologize. He was relentless.

 Finally yesterday, Elijah came home grinning from ear to ear.  "Mama, guess what? The mean kid apologized to me!!" he said. I responded with an, "Oh my words Elijah that's awesome, how did you get him to do it?"

"I just went up to him and said what I say everyday, that what he said hurt my feelings and that he should apologize and not call me that name anymore. And the kid said 'okay! I will apologize and promise not to call you that name again if you will just please, please stop bothering me.' "

I had to laugh. He handled it, and he did it all on his own. He was persistent and in the end, it worked out for him. I don't know that every bully story will have a happy ending, but I saw the confidence and self worth radiating from my son and I knew that teaching a man to fish was far more rewarding than giving him a fish for a day. In his own way, he had defeated his bully by killing him with kindness.

Tales of a first grader: First Day of school

Dear Elijah:

When did you get to be so big? I feel like I have literally blinked and overnight you have become this thoughtful, intelligent conversationalist with opinions and feelings and the ability to express them. That is an amazing thing to me, an awe-inspiring thing. It's been a hard summer for you. You've learned a lot about yourself this year and this summer it all came to a head as you've been struggling with how to handle it. We talked a lot about it over hot summer days. You've shared how frustrated you get that you can't do things sometimes. You've talked about how it makes you feel when kid after kid after kid repeatedly asks you why you look so different. I've watched you handle it. And bud, you handle it so well. You just tell them plainly that you were born that way, and then you go on your merry way as if you were simply telling them why your eyes are blue. You are tough. But I know that it's still a hard thing to do. And it puts a lump in my throat everytime. 

The truth is, you aren't different because of any physical difference. You're different than most kids because of your heart. It's truly a servants heart, a tender heart, a sweetheart....my sweetheart. Your generosity, your warmth, your willingness to help others is a gift Elijah; a gift. A gift that most people will never have the capacity to understand. But it also makes you a sensitive little soul. And that's what made walking into first grade this year tough.

This year, you knew what you were walking into. You knew that you would have to explain things all over again to 30 new people.You knew you would have to adjust to the ever-growing demands they place on 6-year-olds and that you would have to rise to the occasion. You knew that there would be things you have to do differently than others, and that made you nervous. I could feel your little heart fluttering as you sat down. And though we had rehearsed what you would do and say for months, the nervousness overwhelmed you and we both had a good cry at your desk. 

Gosh Elijah, I try to be tough for you and to show you that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to (which, by the way you totally are) but it is almost impossible to be strong when you look up at me with those beautiful turquoise eyes filled with tears. It's hard to let you go when I know you will face so many challenges I can't protect you from. I hate it I hate it I hate it! Why can't I? But it's not my job to shelter you from every question or comment that would reach your ears and I have to remind myself of that. It's my job to show you how to handle it with grace and sincerity and kindness and heart. 

And even though it was hard to walk out of that classroom and let you do things on your own, you did eventually work through it and the transition has been challenging but good for you. I'm proud of you my little first grader. You are truly a wonder to behold.

Love,

Mama

A STAR WARS party on a DOLLAR STORE budget

This weekend we just finished one of the most elaborate birthday parties I have ever thrown. For Elijah Cole. So.. how did I do it you ask? Well, Pinterest helped absolutely. A lot of my ideas aren't that original really. But I feel like I get a lot of moms saying "I just don't have the money to do something big like that."

Let me just tell you.... I am FAR FROM daddy warbucks. But I love to throw a good party for my kids. So I decided to challenge myself with this birthday party and only use items from the dollar store or that cost a dollar.

Food made cheap and easy: The first thing you should know about me is that I am NOT a cook. When parties come my way I break out into cold sweats just thinking about the food part of things. But this party made me get creative about the food (especially with the dollar store budget). Everyone of the food items I purchased at Walmart or the dollar store for, you guessed it, a dollar.

Yoda soda was Walmart punch mixed with Walmart brand sprite. Cheap and everyone loved it. I made the invitations and food tags myself on pixlr.com. But if you're interested in using the ones I made, I'm happy to share:

Instead of a cake, I opted to make cupcakes. I chose chocolate and vanilla as representatives of the darkside and the lightside and had each Padawan choose which side they would be on. I then headed on over to Meckmom who had some delightful free cupcake topper printables that helped make the cupcakes more festive. In the end, I made 36 cupcakes for $6 and the kids loved them (also the adults).

A Bit About Costumes: I'm not a sewer at all. But I wanted to make sure our family had costumes to help create the look and feel of the party. My Princess Leia hair was all sock buns. If you haven't tried them, you're missing out. Tim and I just used what was in our closets for clothes. As did Ms. Liv. But the boys needed a bigger element in order to help get them into the spirit of things. Both of my boys wanted to be Luke Skywalker. So what is a mom to do? I decided to make one a fighter pilot Luke, and the other a Jedi. For Elijah's costume I borrowed from a very talented friend of a friend. She made a fabulous Luke Skywalker costume, and if you are a sewer, she has a great step by step of it HERE.

For Noah's costume, I used an orange t-shirt (because it's super hot out) and boots we had to help make the fighter pilot attire. Any good fighter pilot knows, it's the helmet that makes the outfit. I found an amazing tutorial here  and ended up spending about $2 on it.

While a lot of moms spend a great deal of time on decore and food at parties, I prefer to have a good program. I mean, what good is a beautiful setting with tasty food if you didn't have any fun? Program is key in my book, and it's what I spent the most time on. I decided to do a theme of Padawan Training. I love to use my little guy's imagination and really get into things. So the first thing I wanted to create to kind of introduce the idea to everyone is by using an opening training video. I noticed there weren't really any videos like that on youtube, so I had to make one myself. It's not specific to Elijah, so if you want to use it, you are welcome to it:

http://vimeo.com/72022941

After the video, we went outside to the official "Training Academy". The first thing we did was take the Padawan oath. To serve and protect the galaxy and to not let the darkside of the force cloud our judgement.

At this time, I started playing a series of star wars themes to help create an atmosphere of imagination. It really made each obstacle much more real and alive.

Next was the lazer beam obstacle course. We took the dog run on the side of our house and transformed it with $1 yarn from Walmart, duct tape and tacks. The kids loved it and kept going through with more and more special "tricks". It became a contest of who could do it with the most style. And they loved at the end of the party attacking it with their lightsabers.

Next was the lava pit. Simple dollar store sidewalk chalk guided our younglings on a course through hot lava. They loved seeing how fast they could get through the pits without getting burned.

After the obstacles were thoroughly played through, I then chose to break out the lightsabers.        

Note: the key strategy is to wait on the lightsabers as late as possible in the training, so there are less blows to the head while waiting their turn in line.

I made the lightsabers, like many other pinterest moms out there, by using dollar store pool noodles cut in half. Other tools of the trade were duct tape and electrical tape to make the buttons and knobs and to make each lightsaber unique to the kids. I made 12 lightsabers that cost me $8 total.

 

"Lightsabers UP!" I began going through a series of excercises with them, carefully making sure they were standing in a line so as to avoid bops to the opponent's head. When that was finished, I unleashed the storm trooper balloons I made. 

The balloons were a fun idea, but a great example of how even the best laid plans don't always work out. Because it was outside, the balloons quickly popped and a game that was designed to be 8 minutes long, lasted about a minute and a half and ended up with some of the children in tears who were so upset their balloons popped.

I had to do something, and I had to do it fast. So I had them assemble back on the line and went through another "training excercise" where Tim and I fought each child and had them use their newfound skills.

 

This turned out to be a huge success, and prepared them for THE BIG SURPRISE.

Note: when throwing a budget birthday party it is important to use what is available to you. Borrowing and asking for help are key to making a budget birthday a success.

Which brings me to the major reason why I chose the Padawan training. I had a wonderful friend who happened to be related to some pretty spectacular men who owned storm trooper costumes and a Darth Maul full costume. They kindly agreed to visit the children and be the big finale to the training. Naturally, this could also be accomplished by buying a mask and having a family member come out in a black cape (or a dollar store table cover). But we enjoyed the authenticity and theatrical surprise these delightful characters brought to the birthday.

When I had finished battling the younglings, I had them line up and told them that I felt they were ready for their last test of the darkside. I asked them if they felt ready, and waited until they all excitedly screamed.  

The Darth Maul theme played, and out from the side of our house came Darth Maul and two storm troopers.

 It's important to note that some of the younger children got pretty frightened. But I felt that this was a 6-year-old's birthday party and what better way to make it real than to have a duel with the actual characters? As you can see, the kids got really into it. And Darth Maul and the Storm Troopers were so very kind to have taken so many vigorous hits by pool noodles.

In the end, the Padawans successfully defeated the darkside and raised their lightsabers in celebration. They recieved Training Academy certificates and were brought back into the house to cool off. and to have the opportunity to take some pictures with the darkside.

I mean really? What kid wouldn't love this photo op? They posed so well and allowed each kid to come and take a photo with them.  It was something even the parents excitedly got into. (Oh Uncle Jason).

The backdrop for the pictures was made from 2 dollar store black table cloths, some tacks, dollar store star stickers and Cardstock board from, you guessed it, the dollar store.

Of course, these kind hearted characters didn't just stop at posing for pictures, they even delivered presents for the birthday boy.

They showed him kindness and love and I absolutely broke down crying when I saw this scene. They really ARE nice guys :)

Ofcouse the party wouldn't be complete without one of Uncle Jason's now world famous pinatas. This one was a death star and a very special lightsaber (wooden dowel rod, carefully painted) to hit it with. It was just big enough for Elijah to hold and it was so much fun to Destroy the Deathstar!







And there you have it. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was definitely memorable and fun, and in the end, isn't that what every kid wants for their birthday? I hope it encourages you that you really can throw an incredibly fun birthday party on a dollar store budget!