ethan's birthday party

last week i would sit down at the computer, and all i could do was compulsively compare orbitz to kayak to travelocity to bing travel to priceline.

you get the idea.

travel arrangements on a tight budget make my head spin.  i will be happy when fellowship interview season has ended.  blissed out.  and equally happy when i know where we have matched... because the "where-are-you-thinking-of-sending-ethan-for-kindergarten" talk is pretty much the let's-catch-up ice breaker... and i am sure will only intensify.  right now... well, i don't even know what state we'll be in.  much less the public vs. private debate.

sheesh.  no worries though.  and i better chill out because we have four more months before we will have any idea.

and a year and a half from now until we move.

but fellowship is only a year {we can really do anything for a year.  even snow.  even lots of snow.  i think.} and then we will move somewhere else and begin a "real" job.  and no, we don't know where the "real" job will be...

that pretty much sums it up!  i've gotten those questions quite a bit lately... as we hover closer to the end. 

so the whole travel blahs began my week... then the kids went back to school... then i lost my voice.  right in time for ethan's birthday party.  {his real birthday is smack dab in the middle of december... so we have the party at the beginning of january}

niiiiiiiiiiice.

my voice was sounding a bit pathetic on thursday afternoon.  but then, yours truly, had to take it to a whole new level by going to a bar on thursday night.  it was bunko night out... which means we just met up and of course didn't play... so i essentially sacrificed my voice.  but i desperately wanted to go.  and no amount of feeling crappy was going to keep me home... i had cabin fever...

so.  friday.  only a whisper.  nothing louder.  do you guys know what it is like to try and get your kids out the door in the morning when you can't yell, "c'mon!  move it!!  get your shoes on and line up at the door!!"  ethan proved that he will actually listen if i whisper.  a tip that i will remember...

one more thing... i got a flat tire 2 hours before the party.  really cool, huh?  and today, i found it that it's not the patch and get-going kind of flat.  it's more of the, we need to fix a, b, c, d, e, and you need new tires.  love. it.  {insert sarcasm.}  

but the party... 

thank god a billion times over that i decided to take the totally easy route and have his party at the little gym.  i mean.  best. decision. ever.

i managed to save my voice all day on friday.  and then saturday morning.  and with the help of visine and concealer, i managed to pull off less of a death-warmed-over look than i had been sporting earlier.

mercy.

i will say, the birthday party went so well.  the cake was super tasty.  and pretty cute.  and we had pizza... {so original}  ethan loved playing with his buddies.  savannah might have very well thought it was her own party... and it was delightful, organized chaos.  chaos that our two party helpers had the joy of organizing.

i highly recommend it.

the photos... not my finest.  bad lighting combined with apathy.  :)

and i was so distracted by the chaos, i think i only got teary-eyed one time... possibly a new record.  lately everything sends me into an emotional downward spiral as i see my little guy as a little boy.  no more toddler.  not even a little bit.  i could get really sappy here... but... i won't!

happy birthday, again, sweet ethan. 

xoxo, s