As most kids would be, she was counting down and very excited for the day to finally arrive. Her birthday was a Monday, so I opted to wait for the following Saturday for her party. The Saturday before her bday was Valentine's Day, and not only did John and I have date plans, I also didn't think anyone would come. The night before her birthday, John and I filled her room with balloons. I thought she would wake up and squeal. Instead she woke up during the night calling out to me in a scared voice. She had rolled over and opened her eyes for a minute and the balloons freaked her out. She was able to go back to sleep and was happy when she woke up in the morning and found the balloons. All the kids enjoyed playing with them, while I prepared a special breakfast of gluten free french toast, strawberries, and chocolate almond milk.
We didn't really do anything special during the day, unless you count schoolwork as special. Ha! Mean mama made them do schoolwork on President's Day. I always let my kids pick their birthday dinner and she asked for pizza. So I made some GF pizza and then we ate birthday brownies and sang to her. She didn't understand why I hadn't made her the pink cake we talked about, but I was saving that for her party.
After dinner, we took her to Toys R Us to let her pick out something special. My kids always love that TRU gives them a birthday crown, coupon, and balloon. After lots of aisle wandering, she settled on a FurReal Kitty named Daisy. The cat meows, pounces, cuddles, and plays like a kitten and is the only kitten this allergic household is ever going to get.
When the day of her party arrived, the birthday princess was excited but overtired. Unfortunately, we had some late nights and early mornings that had left us all exhausted. She had asked me for a Zumbatomic (Zumba for kids) birthday party and said that after she was done dancing, she wanted to jump in the bounce house with her friends. I am licensed to teach this as well as regular Zumba, so I was happy to oblige. We rented the gym at the Y again, since I get a nice employee discount. When her friends arrived, we had the big bounce house that the kids got for Christmas set up. We let them jump while we waited for the others to arrive. Then I did a 40 minute class with them, which everyone seemed to really enjoy. I had great participation and saw lots of smiles. I wore the kids out! The birthday girl ran out of steam in the middle of the class and wanted to be held by her daddy. She actually told him she wanted to take a nap and then finish the party. I really wish I could have let her sleep in the morning, but I had an 8am Zumba class to teach and there just wasn't time for a nap afterwards. After the class, we had cake and ice cream and then opened presents. For the remainder of the party, I just let them play. They had the option of the bounce house or playing with the balls and basketball hoops in the gym. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves and Hannah thought it was the best day ever, so I was happy. It was kind of fun to do my own child's Zumba party. I have been hired by several others to do their child's party, and I have hired someone to do one for Micah before I was licensed, but I haven't done one for my own child before. The boys aren't really that into it anymore, but I "hired" them to dance with the kids as my helpers. They were to help kids stay in the right spot and help demonstrate the moves and do whatever else I needed. They were paid in Wii or Kindle time when we got home.
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| The only ZumbAtomic shirts we have are boy ones and Zumba has since stopped selling them so I couldn't get her a girlie one. She insisted that she needed to wear it with my jingly scarf that I use for Zumba. |
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| The little white symbol in the corners are the Zumba symbol. |
And here is a little video footage. There is a part in this song when they join hands and pretend they are a wire with electricity flowing through them.
Next up, Luke will hit double digits. These kids are growing way too fast!
