Birthday Breakfast

The smallest of the men in our household just turned respectively six and seven years old. As their birthdays are only a week apart, we celebrate their special days together. It takes many painstaking hours for them to come to an agreement on what they would like do on their birthday. This year, Seth had compassion on their dilemma of trying to decide between bowling and putt-putt golfing…and graciously offered to take us all to Scene 75, an indoor entertainment center, where they could do both.

Glow-in-the-dark golf

This is a great place to while away an afternoon if you love loud noises, flashing lights, over-stimulation, and spending lots of money. (Ha!) The birthday boys were thrilled, of course! Not only did they get to play their chosen games, but Zeke was tall enough to drive the bumper cars, and both of them had fits of delight over the slides in the Big Bounce Playground. I, the old woman of the bunch, was nearly in a sensory-overload panic at the point of departure…but the boys declared it the best birthday ever…thus, it was a success. Oh, and Seth even talked me into driving the go-carts …which, unlike me though that may sound, was admittedly exhilarating.

Candy airplanes: a push-pop as the body, elastic band threaded through two wheel lifesavers, and up over a stick of gum. Eden and I glued on small paper propellers.

Ice cream cake for Zeke, gluten-free chocolate cake for Izzy

Izzy and Zeke, though opposite in nearly every way from personality to nationality, are truly kin. There have been many times when one or both have been stretched so thin by adjusting to this brotherhood that our home was brittle with tension…and I wondered if we would ever feel or find those gentle ties that bind. But in the last six months as we have received additional help for some of Ezekiel’s particular needs, and as Israel, the baby of the family has matured, passing time has slowly built a camaraderie that only comes with the tested, and found true, unconditional love of family. Zeke still prefers jumping on furniture, loud rhythmic banging of the piano keys, and push mowers…while Izzy tends towards engineering complex machines out of K’NEX and Legos, stirring up culinary delights in the kitchen, and discovering new homophones…but there are days they find their common ground and spend hours in fierce matches of Uno or flying paper airplanes. Somehow in the vastness of this immeasurable universe, God ordained and declared them to be brothers…and both, to be sons of mine. And in those moments when being their mother is especially challenging, I think on this…and it takes by breath away.

The boys received shirts from both Grandma Honey, and Grammy Boyd. Thank you, Grandmas!

Fun books and baseballs for both also from Grandma Honey and Grandpa.

Little cardboard cars from Eden with lifesaver wheels

Laser Tag and new K’NEX from Mama and Papa

And birthday swats for both, with one extra to grow on!

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May you have many more, dearest boys!

Birthdays gone by….(sniff)