3 and 6

Our kids had birthdays again! Funny how that comes around every year, right?

It was Zuzu's turn for a friend bash and we settled on a "Minnie's Bowtique" theme. I think she loved every second of it.

The evening before and morning of her party we suddenly had people canceling right and left. It looked like only one friend was going to make it (we had invited 10 kids). I almost lost it and ended up calling my good friend and begging her to bring her daughter, volunteering to babysit, have her brother over, anything to make it work. She is a nice friend and instead of looking at me like a crazy person she brought Cora over. Luckily, a couple of other friends made it and we ended up having so much fun!

For her birthday, Zuzu started asking months ahead for a pair of "pink ice skates." I was kind of at a loss. Ice skates are very expensive, and the closest rink to us is about a 30 minute drive, and also very expensive!! Luckily, Amazon came to the rescue. Her pink princess roller blades were received very well, and we had a blast with them all summer long. Phew. My kids are always the ones with crazy gift requests!

3 definitely looks good on her. She's crazy girly (tights and fancy shoes are her love language), gives amazing hugs, and is fiercely independent. She's developed quite the attitude and "no" is a staple, but we wouldn't have her any other way.

Walter turned SIX. 6!! I can't believe it. He wasn't slated for a big party this year, but at the last minute I caved and told him he could have 2 friends over for a Nintendo night. We aren't sure if we'll be here next spring so this might have been his last opportunity to have a birthday with his buddies here.

I've got to tell you - this was the easiest plan of all time, and the kids LOVED it. It was a good reminder to me that all of the trimmings and cutesy, Pinteresty stuff is fun, and I think the kids do appreciate it, but it's not 100% necessary for a good time. Pizza, treats, Nintendo. Nothing else needed. :)

Walt didn't ask for much, but he did get Minecraft for his birthday, which he'd been wanting FOREVER.

His dad also hand-crafted an amazing master sword from the video game Zelda. It was pretty epic.

A funny memory from this birthday is that ALL Walt wanted to do was to go to Olive Garden. This is not because of the food, although spaghetti is his favorite - it's because we went there for my birthday, and they have these screens that you can pay to play games on. He really does have a one-track mind. But since it WAS his birthday and all, we decided to do it.

I don't regret it. :)

Walt is still the most kind-hearted kid I know. He hates to leave anyone out, is fiercely loyal to his family and friends, and has the biggest imagination of anyone I have ever met. I can't wait to see where life takes him!

KINDERGARTEN

What?! When did this little guy grow up?

Walt started Kindergarten this fall and hasn't looked back. He loves school (although, like his mom, he's not so great with mornings). His teacher this year is Ms. Oakley, who is great.

School came with more challenges than I had expected. It is great that he has an activity that takes up the bulk of his day (he was getting really bored and whiny towards the end of last spring), but it is difficult to plan Zuzu's naps around his school pick up schedule, hard to get him out of the door on time, and hard to fit in all of the volunteering and field trip chaperoning and a whole host of other things that came with school that I hadn't been 100% prepared for.

After a few months of school, two different teachers let us know that Walt was struggling with writing. He started the year not being able to write his own name or really form letters at all. I always chalked this up to a general disinterest in art and drawing, and figured it'd get better over time, but after multiple people brought it to my attention we decided to have him evaluated. The district occupational therapist told us that he was delayed in fine motor skills and gross motor planning, but since his reading and math skills are quite advanced, he doesn't qualify for any help through the school.

Strangely, as soon as his teacher mentioned the possibility of physical therapy, a lot of things fell into place in my mind. Walt has always been less "athletic" than his peers, but he's so imaginative and bright that it never occurred to me that these things constituted a delay of any kind. At the mention  of his struggles, I recalled his difficulty riding a bike at the same age as his friends, running slower than his soccer teammates, the hard time he had with teeball, etc. It just all started to make sense to me. Through a series of small miracles, we were able to visit an occupational therapist and a physical therapist who have given us a lot of ideas and have been helping us understand the best ways to help Walter thrive.

Now one of his favorite activities is to make "books," where he typically draws a bunch of pictures and then adds some descriptive words either outlining a video game idea he has or a story about church or our family. He is still a bit behind the writing skills of his classmates, but he has worked so hard and improved so much and I'm just grateful that we have been able to help him move forward so this won't be a stumbling block his whole life.

We love school, and we love our Kindergartener!

Preschool (Walter)

This just shows how far behind I am...Walter is halfway through Kindergarten now. But I couldn't let his year of preschool just blow past without recording some special memories.

To begin with, I do not know how we lucked out with our preschool group. For the two years before Walt started Kindergarten, we did a joy-school type co-op with a group of 5 other kids and their moms. It fluxuated a little bit (we swapped our good friend Charlee and her mom Katie for good friend Mili and her mom Emi), but this core group of kids stayed together through thick and thin and I am telling you - as long as I live I will love all of these moms. They have been my lifeline through so much. Lots of babies born, job changes, moving around the country, starting school, husbands finishing school, vacations, developmental milestones, and so much more. They are some of my best friends and the women who have helped parent my boy up to this point.

Walter and his friend Christian also cemented a friendship through the process that is invaluable to him. They are best friends and we even fought to get them in the same Kindergarten class. They rarely argue and will play for hours and hours (and hours and hours!) when they are able. Christian's mom, Alaina, is one of my all-time favorite people on the planet, and I can never thank her enough for pulling Christian out of a second year of paid preschool and sticking with the co-op. I know that was a lot more work and stress for her, but the impact it had on Walt's life was huge. He wouldn't be the same kid without Christian's friendship and I'm just eternally grateful.

Walt learned a ton in preschool, mostly about being a friend, listening to a teacher, and valuing himself and his unique talents. He entered Kindergarten with some challenges, but ahead in reading and math and light years ahead in imagination. We could not have provided a traditional preschool experience for him (financially out of reach for us), and this co-op experience was an answer to prayer for us in so many different ways.

I guess I just wanted to remember that through some tough times there was this amazing light for us among an incredible group of people who are more like family to us now than anything else. I hope we will all keep in touch over the years, and I can't wait to see where these kids go with all of that potential!!

2 and 5

Having the kids' birthdays so close together is incredibly exhausting but it's also fun because neither one ever really feels left out. :)

This year we had a low-key family only hangout for our spunky 2-year-old. She loves Sofia the First so I made her a cake, we went swimming, opened gifts and had pizza. She was sweet about the whole thing and we had a lot of fun celebrating her!

It was Walt's year for a blowout friend party. And oh. MAN. It was definitely a blowout. Months before his birthday, I started asking him what kind of party he might like to have. He immediately said "Zelda," and I inwardly cringed. Not only would none of his friends have any idea what Zelda was, it would be so hard to plan because they don't exactly sell Link piñatas at the Party Store. I tried so hard to talk him into a Star Wars party or Ninja Turtle party. He agreed to a Star Wars party but he just wasn't that excited about it. One of my friends wisely said to me - "Who cares if no one knows what it is? It's a party, they'll all have fun, and Walt will love it." I thought this over and told Walt later that day that if Zelda was what he really wanted, then that's what we would do. I scored major mom points that day.

PS: It's hard to fill the same room with balloons twice in 10 days!

And actually, this party was so much fun to plan and host. We created a "game" the kids went through where they had to find pieces of the tri-force at the different sanctuaries.

First, they made shields for their quest:

They used keys to open a treasure chest in the Lost Woods...

And water "bombs" to defeat a bokoblin (or "Gobo" as Walter calls them)...

Finally, they had to cross the hot lava of Ganon's Tower to defeat Ganon himself with their master swords!! Our amazing friend Mike actually volunteered for this job. He was great and the kids got a serious kick out of it.

I integrated some other things from the game into our snack and the party favors.

I'm so glad I went with what Walt wanted. Most of the kids actually loved the whole thing-- and now they know what Zelda is!

This crazy Nintendo loving boy is such a hoot. We're so glad he is ours.

FOUR

Every time I turn around, this kid is bigger. Stronger. Smarter. Taller. Hungrier. Braver. More curious. More compassionate. More imaginative. More fun!

This is the fortune Walt got at PF Chang's just a few days before his 4th birthday.

Dead on.

He had his heart set on a Mario party. Done, kid.

This was a fun one to plan - and really simple! We had cousins over to Grandma's house, played "stomp the goombas" with balloons, and had a super fun cake. He was thrilled.

Walt is our pretender. Every day, all day, he puts on a variety of hats, capes, shoes, and whatever else he can find and becomes Robin Hood, Mario, Ammon, Anakin Skywalker, Gimli, Thumper, an astronaut, and explorer, a swordsman, Spiderman - you name it, we've dressed like it over here! My mom sometimes jokes, "Is he ever just Walter?"

He loves to play but generally wants company. He hates doing chores but likes to help. He is developing quite the social circle and loves to have play dates and go places with friends. He'll often ask me what we're doing that day, and if I don't have a good answer he sometimes says "plan something!" He adores his baby sister but hates being stuck at home (and exiled from his room) during naptimes. Every day he tells me he is "showy," which means he wants to watch more TV.

For primary they do a spotlight about the kids, here were his 4-year-old answers:

Name: Walter Burgener
Birthday: June 1st
Age: 4
Favorite color: Yellow
Favorite food: Spaghetti and meatballs
Favorite Primary song: I Know That My Savior Loves Me
Favorite thing to do: Play at the park with friends
What he/she wants to be when he/she grows up: "The good T-Rex from Jurassic Park"

We are incredibly lucky to have this kid in our family. He's such a good boy, and a great example to Zuzu. He's loving and silly and wonderful. Love you, Baby Bear!