Happy Birthday, Alden!

On May 15th, 2008, Alden Jefferson Monday turned 6 years old. It's so hard to believe that six years ago Alden came into mine and Michael's life and changed it forever. He really is so special to me, and I love him so much. He makes me laugh. He has told everyone he sees that he is now six years old. "I used to be five," he says, " but on May 15th, I turned into six." It always makes me smile. This year to celebrate Alden's birthday, we had a party at gymnastics facility called Gym Stars here in Lima. I tried to talk Alden into something a little less expensive, but his friends Jack and Austin, had their parties at Gym Stars, so he really wanted his party to be there too. It was rather cute. Several weeks before his birthday, I made several other suggestions of places where we might have his party. He responded with a bit of sadness that he'd be happy to have his party at one of my suggestions. I then asked him, "Where do you really want to have your party?"

"At Gym Stars," he replied while looking at the floor.

Can you blame me for having it there? He really wants to make Michael and me happy, even if it means sacrificing something he really wants. He's such a good boy.




I'm really glad that we had the party where he wanted to have it. We had such a great time and so did the kids. The place was huge and had trampolines, balance beams, a bouncy floor to run and jump on, bars to hang from, and even a pit of foam balls that the kids could jump into. The party preparation and clean up was minimal. I even got very ambitious and made Spiderman cupcakes with spiders and spiderwebs (for those of you who know me well, you know that these cupcakes are a major accomplishment for me--usually when I try to decorate something with frosting it looks, well, kind of like Hyrum might have been trying to decorate them). We also bought a Spiderman pinata and had the kids break it. We had 22 kids total. It was crazy and a lot of fun. We invited all the kids from his school class (Alden said that all the kids were his friends and couldn't think of anyone that he wouldn't want to invite) and all the kids around his age from church (including a few friends in Bowling Green). Alden got more presents than any kid ever needs, but he loved every minute of it.





On his actual birthday, we also had a nice day. Alden got a Batman costume (he loves dressing up) and a Batman watch. He also got a lot of clothes, which he needed desperately. I made another batch of the cool Spiderman cupcakes and took them to Alden's school for everyone in his class and then that night we went up to Toledo to have dinner with Alden's birthday buddy--Abuelita. Alden was born on her 59th birthday. We were able to have dinner with all of Michael's uncles and his aunt on his dad's side as well as many of his cousins. It was a very fun and special night. I think Alden really loved being one of the guests of honor. Again, he announced to everyone that day that it was his birthday and that he was now six years old.





Alden & his Abuelita--Happy Birthday!











Grandpa Monday, Uncle John Czarnecki, Kathy, Uncle Wayne Monday, Cousin Nick Monday, & Aunt Elaine Czarnecki.









Uncle Ronald Monday with his daughters, Becky & Eva.











I just want to reiterate what a great blessing it is for me to be Alden's mom. I am truly grateful for him. He is truly one of the greatest blessings in my life.