Maddox's Birthday & Easter

I thought I better spend some time posting about Maddox's birthday Easter before I get bombarded with a few other posts I know are coming. I don't know why it is so hard for me to sit down and write/read blogs these days. It use to be what I loved to do every time I got a free minute. Now, something else is taking it's place. It's probably that stupid Bejeweled Blitz game I have recently become addicted to on facebook. Such a waste of time! But oh so fun!! Anyway....

Maddox turned 6 years old on March 24Th. Usually, this is where I would say "I can't believe 6 years has gone by already!" But.... what I am really thinking is, "I can't believe this child made it to 6 years old!!" You know that commercial where the mom/dad is constantly surprised that their child has made it to a certain age? That is EXACTLY how I feel about Maddox! I feel extremely blessed with each year I get to have this little man in my life. He is just a crazy mad man! I have become incredibly good at shrugging off the shocked stares from other mothers when they see the stunts he pulls. I look and say, "eh, it's Maddox. He's fine." I won't get into details, because if you follow this blog, you already know what I'm talking about. :-)

Maddox is always really excited for his birthday and he talks about it for months. He didn't love that this year wasn't a party year but this is actually the first year that he has told me at the end of the day that he had a great birthday. Best words a mom can hear! Anyway, he got a new outfit the morning of his birthday to wear all day, which he was actually excited about. It used to be that when he opened a present with clothes in it, he would pick it up like it was puked on and toss it aside. This was also his first year being in school on his birthday so he was pretty excited to take sugar cookies to class. Our family doesn't really do the cupcake/cake thing.

When it's not a party year for my kids, I allow them to have a friend for the day and do an activity of their choosing. He really wanted to go bowling but his smart mom, that is not a huge fan of bowling, talked up miniature golf all day! Right before we left, he decided that's what he wanted to do. I was a little nervous that he might not like it but he ended up LOVING it! He has been asking to go back ever since. I was actually really surprised because he and his friend Brayden whipped through the course at super speed. After golfing, we took the boys to Krispy Kremes to pick out the doughnuts for the evening. Our kids usually choose doughnuts over cake and I most definitely agree. :-)

So, he had pizza, root beer, miniature golf, presents and doughnuts! Surprisingly, he didn't complain that he had to wait until the end of the day to open his presents. I think it helped that we let him stay up as late as he wanted on a school night. It helps that he is in afternoon kindergarten. Anyway, he was pretty happy with his lot. Ever since Claire got her flat screen for her birthday, that has been his birthday wish. Between that, grandparents, and his friend Brayden, he definitely made out!

Since General Conference was on Easter Sunday this year, we wore our Easter clothes the Sunday before. I never take the kids outside for pictures or anything but this year I thought I would. We went out front because I had a cute little sign out there. Well, I got one picture when I realized there was no way I was going to get my kids to smile when there were 3 neighbor kids standing there staring at them. (Mom is so embarrassing!) We ended up in the back yard where there was a slide, a trampoline, and a soccer ball in the back ground. Oh well! Also, has anyone ever seen that Friends episode where Chandler is trying to take engagement pictures and he can't smile natural when the camera is on him? THAT is my Maddox!! It drives me crazy! If ever there is a good picture of him, it's because we are in the back ground telling a joke or doing something dumb. The child looks like he is in pain every time!

we started painting sugar cookies as our Easter tradition two years ago for Easter because no one in my family will eat eggs. This year I decided to add the eggs back in. I figured oh well, we'll do both, eggs are cheap. We had a great time. We did them both at the same time and the kids loved it. It helped that we were home all day for General Conference. I wish General Conference was Easter weekend every year. It really makes the entire weekend a lot more memorable.

And of course, we can't forget Easter day! The Desert Chorale performs for the Palm Mortuary Morning Service every Easter morning. So I was up by 3:45 am. :-( That part isn't great but other than that, it's a great experience. Anyway, they have about an hour long service of mostly musical numbers and tons of people come. It starts the day right and I am back home by 8 am. Surprisingly, only Mason was awake waiting in his room. He knew he had to wait for me to get back before they could go out to claim their baskets. I think the kids were pretty happy with what the bunny left this year. Maddox was a little bummed that Claire got a Nerf gun and he didn't, but candy pretty much makes up for anything. We spent the rest of the day watching conference, visiting my parents, and then visiting Jess' parents. It was a wonderful Easter!

I had to throw this picture in here of my little tom boy throwing a fit that lasted about 45 minutes because I painted her toe nails. She kept trying to take a wipe to get it off because she just wanted them to look like Mason's. In my defense, she threw a pretty good fit just to get me to paint them! That's how I know she's a girl, she can't make up her mind.