My Heart is Full! (WRITTEN on Dec. 13th)

As I sit here today, relaxed and relieved that Nathan's birthday party is over and went GREAT! I can only reflect on a couple of things my sweet baby said and did this weekend.

A little background first:

Nathan, sweet as he is, is not an overly affectionate little guy. For starters, he IS a boy. 2ndly, he is Scott's son... and we all know that Scott can be a pill at times, stubborn, and did I mention, a pill? 3rdly, Nathan's friends are the center of his life (as much he is the center of mine), and 4thly he's a kid who, like many, take what they have for granted... like family for instance. As his mom, I constantly remind him of this... and point out those children in our lives that aren't so lucky.

That being said, he stayed over at a buddies house Friday night... and as much as I hate that (would rather them stay at our house), it was a good time to get all of my birthday party preparations finished! (Thank you to Scotty-boy who came through in shining colors as he made the cupcakes and wrapped all of the presents for me! Oh and also picked up the bag of ice, the cookies, and the balloons! Thank GOD he was here to help!  Thank you Honey - you didn't even complain... well just a little, but not much!

The morning of the party, I was still finishing up the "beach" towels for each kiddo (might have bitten off more than I could chew on that project!).  I was pretty much in panic mode to get everything done and ready for the 2:00 party.  At noon, I had just finished up and had everything ready to go, sitting on the counter, when Nathan came home.  His eyes were bigger than softballs when he saw all the stuff on the counter.  He asked, "Is all of that for my party?" Even his 7-year old self could see that a LOT had been done!  

Him and his buddy went up to his room (he was riding to the party with us) and were playing LEGO'S as I was trying to fix my hair (so I didn't scare all the children away) when Nathan came into my bathroom and gave me the BIGGEST and BEST hug I've ever received!  He said, "Thank you for everything!"  For him to do this when his friend was nothing short of a miracle.  My heart tripled in size!

The party got under way and everything came together perfectly!  The party was funner than fun and we all had a GREAT time!  Every hour of planning was worth it and then some!  As we finished up the party and Nathan was opening presents in the hotel room, having a great time with all his favorite buddies surrounding him, someone gave him the gift of money.  Then someone said, "Just think, if you had $2,000, you would be rich!"  And Nathan, IN FRONT OF ALL HIS FRIENDS, said, "I AM RICH.  I have a great family!"

Can you even believe that?  

At this very moment, I confirmed that I AM the luckiest mom in the whole entire universe - which I knew - but this reaffirmed it all over again!  My heart about leaped out of my chest with passion, love, and happiness!

Happy "early" birthday Peanut!  I love you more than words could ever say!

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Party details:

*  The water park




*  Balloons with bobbers hanging from them

*  Nathan passing out the towels to everyone. They had a thank you message on the back of the tags.
* Kiddo's eating on the bed, wet - on their new towels, eating fish food: cupcakes with fish on them, gold fish crackers, fish shaped candy, and sugar cookies.*  THE towels





* The invites: