Happy Birthday Raymond!

I asked my students this morning if their parents told them all about what happened the day they were born...they looked at me like I was a little crazy, so apparently it is just something that my family does :)  Every year on my birthday, (well, not in recent years, but definitely the whole time I was growing up!) my mother  would tell me what her day was like, the day I was born.  Now, I do the same for my kids.  They all love it and usually ask questions, I think so they can hear more about "their story".  Anyway, I am particularly fond of Raymond's story...partly because it was a crazy kind of day, but mostly because we almost lost him.  Hard to believe this handsome guy was ever so sick the doctors told us he might not make it through that first night.

We make a pretty big deal over birthdays in our house...it's not usually a one-day, one-time event but lots of little treats over their "birthday week".  So, today,  Raymond's actually birthday, I brought him one of his favorite fast food meals, the shrimp basket from DQ.  I had offered to take him out for lunch, but he declined...apparently I am not as entertaining as his classmates!  I also sent cupcakes to school for him to share with his classmates and arranged for Grannie and Grandpa to make a surprise visit at our house after school.  We are normally busy on Wednesday, since we go to church, so he wouldn't have imagined we'd have a party on his actual birthday this year.  But I am getting ahead of myself, so more about that in a sec...trying to keep things in a timeline!

 

Another "tradition" is that the birthday boy gets to choose what they have for dinner.  Typical pre-teen that he is, he chose pizza.  So I ordered from his favorite, Papa Johns and we left immediately after school so we'd have time to pick it up and get home before the "surprise" arrived.  In the same parking lot as Papa Johns is a Starbucks and we were in time for their Frappuccino Happy Hour so we stopped in to take advantage and everyone got their own drink (I usually make them share).

Look at those beautiful smiles!
 

Drinks in hand and pizza picked up, we headed home and almost made it to our driveway before the two little ones almost gave up the surprise.  What was I thinking telling them "Grannie is coming over...shhhh, it's a surprise for Raymond" anyway?!  Oh well, he had all but figured it out when we pulled in and there was Grannie's car!  Ray was pretty happy to see them both. 

 

 

 We enjoyed some time the the grandparents while we waited for Kevin to get home from work before starting the festivities.  Grannie helped Zach with his homework while Grandpa got the grand tour of the garden with Addison, then they switched it up and Grannie read to Addison while Zach and Raymond found the kittens to show to Grandpa.

Then a very good friend of Raymond's, Jeremy Kwon gave Ray a call to wish him a happy birthday.  The boys don't see as much of each other as they used to, since they no longer attend the same school.   Such a thoughtful gesture and one that Raymond obviously appreciated.

Just look at that smile!

 

Finally, Kevin was home and we did the whole birthday thing and watched Ray open his presents.

 

He had asked for a new watch (which he got) and we also bought him some new t-shirts, all with a basketball theme.  He was in heaven!  I am always happy when my children are so obviously appreciative of the things we buy and do for them.  He was all smiles the rest of the night and even got to pick our seats at church.  All in all, it was a wonderful day and I hope my sweet boy enjoyed his day as much as the rest of us enjoyed preparing it for him!