Logan's 9th Birthday!

Although I was dog tired, I rallied all the energy I could muster to turn around and host Logan's family party the day after his friend party.  As in year's past, we invited Chris' family to join us in addition to my parents since Trenton has been Logan's best buddy since he was two years old.  We hosted them on Sunday evening for a dinner of  Logan's choice (ham, homemade mac 'n cheese, broccoli, deviled eggs, and apple slices with chocolate cream pie for dessert) followed by presents.  Logan had a grand time running around with his cousin and thoroughly enjoyed opening his gifts--especially the legit sword that I ordered for him 1.5 years ago when we were first decorating his new, pirate-themed bedroom.  After receiving it in the mail and realizing that it really wasn't a toy sword, I decided to tuck it away in my gift closet for a year or two until I felt like he was old enough to "handle" this sort of gift.  Logan had completely forgotten that he had picked out this sword online so long ago and was just thrilled to receive it!  We enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to him and eating dessert before the cousins went upstairs and played a few rounds of flashlight, hide-and-go-seek before everyone went home.  As exhausted as I was, I was so grateful that both of Logan's parties were a success and that no one had to cancel last minute due to a cold or a possible Covid scare.  Plus, I was just so grateful to see how happy Logan was after each of his parties.  Being stuck in the middle of our family line-up, he can sometimes get overlooked, so I loved the chance to spoil him for the weekend!

Just by luck, Logan's one and only day going to school this week (since he only attends school on Wednesdays and Fridays right now and Friday was the first day of midwinter break) was on his actual birthday!  After making him our traditional, birthday breakfast of waffles with whipped cream and strawberries on top, I dropped him and Ella off at school with his bag of goodies to share with his class.  For the first time in my mothering career, I had to purchase store-bought, individually packaged treats for him to share with his classmates due to the fear of spreading germs during the pandemic. Logan was so excited to share his treats and was so happy to tell me after school that he got to stand at the front of the classroom while his class sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  Since I had already put on a big spread for his family party this past weekend, I decided to keep it simple on his actual birthday evening.  I picked up his favorite, Domino's Pizza for dinner after dropping Ella off at gymnastics.  We then ate a later dinner in the dining room after Ron brought Ella back home at 6:45.  Although Lia had to retreat to her bedroom at 7 p.m. to attend a virtual, YW activity, the rest of us enjoyed watching Logan open up a few more gifts (two from us and two that had arrived in the mail from Lola and Aunt Blanche) before singing to him one more time and eating the mini cake that I had bought earlier that day from the bakery section of the grocery store.  It was a nice and simple way to celebrate our boy one more time on his actual birthday.  I just can't believe that he is nine years old.  One more year and he will be in the double digits and, if I double his years, he will be a senior in high school and getting ready to graduate.  Oh my.  It's all just going too darn fast!

Logan eating dinner at the "kids' table" at his family party on February 7th with the rest of his siblings and cousins.

The adults, plus Emmett, eating dinner in the dining room.

Logan and his best buddy and cousin, Trenton, getting ready to open his gifts.

Emmett watching as Logan opened up his first gift that was wrapped in "carsh" (cars) wrapping paper.  Emmett had been fascinated with this gift ever since I wrapped it a few days ago due to the cars on the outside of it.  As a result, it was the first gift that Emmett brought to Logan to open.

Logan opening up the large present with his sword inside.

A very happy Logan holding up his sword.

Logan showing off his fake money and cloth, money bag that he has been wanting for a few months now.  This is definitely another pirate-inspired gift that he has asked for over the years!

Trenton gave Logan a gift full of a bunch of fun and unique toys.  One of them was a legit, metal Slinkie which we have never owned before.  Here is Ella trying it out on the stairs with Logan and Emmett looking on.

Ella and Logan fighting over the Slinkie.  I just had to include this picture as it paints a very realistic picture of what goes on in our household on a regular basis.

In keeping up with our new, Covid tradition, we had Logan fan out the candles again instead of blowing them out to prevent the spreading of germs.  Everyone in my family thought that this was a really funny and good idea!  Here is Logan holding his hand up in the air getting ready to fan the candles as we finished singing "Happy Birthday."

Logan fanning away!

Logan and Trenton enjoying their chocolate cream pie.

The birthday boy almost finished with his dessert and as pleased as can be.

Logan getting ready to blow out the candles on his waffles at breakfast on his actual birthday today.

Lia and Ella posing with Logan before dinner tonight.

The two sisters giving their brother a birthday kiss!

Logan getting ready to open up one of two family gifts from us tonight--a plastic, Minecraft sword.

For some reason, Emmett decided to take off his pants after dinner.  He looked so funny walking around in his diapers and shirt that I just couldn't resist taking a few pictures.  Here he is helping Logan take the tissue papers out of the gift bag.

The two boys posing with Logan's other new sword.

Emmy and Ellie posing with the birthday boy.

Emmett immediately wanted the sword and Logan graciously shared it with Emmett since he was not allowed to share the real, metal sword that got on Sunday night.

Logan holding up a gift card and card from Lola that had arrived in the mail in the nick of time today.

Ella smiling with Logan before he blew out his last set of candles this birthday season!  What a good run he had.  We love you, Logie boy!  We sure love you!

Logan's Minecraft Birthday Party

Although no one that we know is having indoor birthday parties right now, I just decided last month to go ahead and host a small, friend birthday party for all three of my older children in the months of February and March because I am so tired of them missing out on so many wonderful activities during this time of their lives.  As a result, I sent out a text a month of going taking a "survey" from seven moms of Logan's friends and, to my surprise, six of them wrote back and said that they would feel comfortable sending their son to Logan's party.  I was so relieved and so happy since I really wanted Logan to have a little, birthday party this year.  Just by luck, our county moved into the latest version of Phase 2 on February 1st which allows indoor gatherings of up to 5 people outside of our household.  Although I would have gone ahead and hosted this party anyways, for peace of mind sake, it was nice to just be one person over the limit of maximum people allowed at our house instead of totally being in violation of our county's Covid requirements. 

When Logan and I talked about his party a few weeks ago, I suggested that we have a Minecraft theme since he is totally obsessed with this video game after getting his first tablet for Christmas.  It is the perfect game for him because it is just like a virtual version of building Legos and this boy absolutely loves building and creating things, especially Legos.  After shopping at Target and Party City and perusing online for ideas, I was able to come up with a simple plan for his friend party.  Since I knew that my time would be limited to plan and prepare for this party, I knew that I wouldn't be able to put together an elaborate party like in years past.  Luckily, I think that I was able to pull off a fun and successful party today with several Minecraft games that Logan really enjoyed.  It was so fun to watch him having fun with his friends while making his craft, playing games, and opening gifts.  I just love my Logie boy and I hope that he felt loved and celebrated today.

The kitchen all decorated and ready to go.

The Minecraft cake that I made using an edible image that I ordered off of ebay.

The tablescape in all of its Minecraft glory.  We used the two, Lego Minecraft sets that Logan already owned as decorations on either side of the birthday cake.

After seeing this online, Logan insisted that we have a Nether Portal leading into the party room.  Luckily, we had the perfect place to make one and it didn't take that long with his help last night.

The decorated fireplace and mantle in the family room with the large Creeper that I made out of floral foam blocks.

Logan decided to create Ghasts all on his own after realizing we had a spare bag of white balloons.  He stuck them all over the walls in the family room and they looked quite cute.

Logan standing outside next to the "Welcome" sign he made for his party.

When the kids first arrived, we had them color some Minecraft coloring pages.

After everyone arrived, the kids kids colored a Creeper block head that I had Ron cut, sand, and paint out of spare wood in his workshop.

Mason and Aaron coloring away.

The group showing off their Creeper, block faces before starting games.

We first played three rounds of Minecraft Bingo with cards that I found off of the internet.  The kids all really enjoyed playing this game.

Lia helped me read off the numbers and pictures for their Bingo cards.  It was so nice to have her help and Ron's throughout the entire party.

We then played Musical Blocks with different kinds of ore. If a child was standing on a specific ore block when the music stopped, they turned in their block in exchange for a piece of candy.

We then played Musical TNT.  If they sat on the chair that had a picture of TNT taped to the bottom of it when the music stopped, they were eliminated from the game.

We then played three rounds of Knock Over the Creeper (that I had made out of foam blocks) with beanbags.  Most kids advanced to the third round and only one child was able to knock it over from the distance of this final round.

Logan, Eli, and Aaron waiting for someone to knock over the Creeper before putting it back together.

Logan throwing the beanbag from the third line.

Four of the boys used the couch cushions as protection from the flying beanbags after they had been eliminated from the game.  I thought that they looked so funny!

We finished off the games by playing "Keep the Wither Up in the Air" which is a game we have played at many of our parties over the years.  I just have to change the color and the name of the balloon to make it work.  They all seemed to get a kick out of this for a minute or two before we turned off the music and wrapped it up.

Logan then enjoyed opening up all six of his gifts from his friends.  Every friend gave him a Lego set--five of which were Minecraft theme!  Needless to say, this will help to keep him busy for the next week or two!  Here he is opening up Eli's gift.

Logan opening up Mason B.'s gift.

Logan showing off Mason C.'s Lego set.

Logan reading Aaron's card before opening his gift.  Everyone was so kind and generous with what they gave him.

We finished off the party by gathering around the table to eat cake and ice cream.  Since we decided that it wasn't safe for Logan to blow on his birthday cake, we found a fan for him to use to fan out the candle flames.  Here he is waiting for us to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

Logan fanning out his candles.  Yet another crazy change in our lives due to the pandemic.

Ella enjoying her cake and ice cream.

Logan eating away.

A group shot of the gang enjoying their dessert.

Although Emmett slept through the first half of the party (thanks to three fans blowing in his bedroom), he woke up halfway through and just chilled on the couch with Lia or Ron as we finished up games and opened gifts.  He then enjoyed eating his own cake and ice cream with the group.  Here is a shot of our little cutie doing what he does best!

Saying a Sad Farewell

It is no secret that I have loved American Girl Dolls as much as my girls over the years.  When we were first introduced to this doll and toy brand back in 2012 when Lia got her first doll as a Christmas gift from her Aunt Austin and Uncle Robbie, I just thought that it was an overpriced, doll line that was made for wealthy grandmothers to spoil their granddaughters.  Within a year or two, I learned to love and appreciate this company due to its high quality dolls and toys, incredible attention to detail, and fabulous customer service.  I also learned how to never pay full price for a single item and also how to make money off of used and new items.  Before I knew it, I was into these dolls as much as my girls and making regular trips to our local AGD store less than an hour away became a part of of our lives.  For seven years, we visited this store several times a year.  We normally would combine it with a trip to my parents or Lake Sammamish, but it always was a fun outing and experience with my kids as this store is so interactive and fun for children.  I truly grew to love this store and its employees and was always so grateful that we had one in our state as there was only 18 stores in the country.  Much to my shock in 2018, the first AGD store closed in St. Louis.  I remember being so relieved that this wasn't our store.  After the St. Louis store closed, three more followed prior to the pandemic.  After the rest of the AGD stores were temporarily closed down due to the pandemic during the spring of last year, I was even more relieved to see our store open back up again after the ones in Atlanta, Denver, and Scottsdale did not.  I honestly thought that we had made the cut and it never occurred to me that AGD was not done making more cuts.

As a result, it came to a total surprise to me on the morning of January 25th when I found an email in my inbox announcing that AGD was closing down their Seattle store on February 17th.  I just gasped in total shock.  It was such horrible and depressing news!  I immediately picked up my phone and called AGD customer service in Wisconsin to find out any further information.  The customer service rep told me that online sales had just exploded since the pandemic started and, as a result, cooperate decided to close another store to save on all of the expenses that come with paying rent and employees.  And, the Seattle store happened to be next on the chopping block.  I know it sounds so ridiculous, but I was so upset and sad about this.  I seriously had a pit in my stomach for days.  We have loved going to this store for so many years now that it is just a part of our lives.  Plus, we have loved seeing all of the brand new dolls in person and have enjoyed getting all of the free gifts that are always given out at the release parties of these dolls.  In addition, I have loved returning items from online purchases for free and getting our dolls ears pierced at the salon without having to pay for shipping.  The list can go on and on.  Needless to say, it was time to go to this store for one last visit to say goodbye.

Since I had already planned to take my children to spend the day at my parent's house on Saturday, January 30th, it just made sense to make the detour to the store on our way there.  It didn't dawn on me that the rest of the AGD fan club had decided to do the same thing.  Since all retail stores are required to keep their stores at only 25% capacity right now due to our governor's orders, we were greeted by a very long line as we approached the entrance to the store.  This was a major bummer since I was trying to get done with the store and back to my parent's house in time for lunch before Emmett's nap.  The 40 minute wait that we were required to stand in line for seriously messed up this plan and created a very cranky toddler by the time we were let into the store at almost 12 o'clock.  As a result, he refused to stay in his stroller like he normally would have done had we just been allowed to walk into the store upon our arrival.  So, we then spent the next 45 minutes trying to walk around the store, get Ella's doll's ears pierced, check out all of the sales, and wait in a long, check-out line all while trying to juggle a very busy and active Emmett.  It turned out to be a very stressful and chaotic 45 minutes in the store that was not pleasurable for anyone and definitely did not provide the "closure" that I needed. While in the store, I decided to make one more trip up to the store to spend my AGD reward money that wasn't arriving until February 5th with just Emmett in tow.  So, instead of waiting in another line to submit two dolls to be shipped to the doll hospital in Wisconsin for new heads, I just kept them in my stroller and headed out the door with four very cranky and hungry children at 12:45 promising myself that I would return one more time. 

And that is just what I did today.  Since Fridays are one of only two days of the week that both Logan and Ella are allowed to go to in-person school, I decided that today was the day to go back since my reward money had just arrived the night before.  After dropping my two middle children off at school, Emmett and I left Lia at home for her online school and made the trek back up north to the store.  We arrived there a few minutes before it opened at 11 a.m. and spent a peaceful and wonderful hour inside.  I made a return, bought an item with my reward money, got three dolls' ears pierced (that are future gifts for Ella), and sent two dolls off to the hospital.  Although about 1/3 of the store had already been sold out, I still was able to walk around my favorite, historical section and quietly say 'goodbye' to my favorite line of dolls.  I know that this is so silly, but saying goodbye to these dolls and seeing this store so empty really brought closure to my heart.  It helped me to accept the fact that this wonderful chapter of our lives is closing several years before I was prepared for it to happen since I really wanted Ella to grow up visiting this store until she had outgrown dolls like Lia.  Sadly, this wish was not meant to be and so I must just be grateful for the fact that we had so many wonderful years visiting this store.  Thanks to the pandemic, this chapter is now closed.

The picture I managed to take of my children as we headed into the store together for the very last time on January 29th.

The beautiful entrance of our Seattle AGD store that we have loved seeing so many times over the years.

 A close-up of the name atop the entrance of the store.

The "Thank you, Seattle" sign found inside the store.

The case containing all of the historical dolls and three of the Girl of the Year dolls located inside my favorite, historical section of the store.