The weekend...

The weekend has come and gone - far too quickly. It was an exhausting weekend, but Jake had a ball and we were both spoilt beyond words. We were up early on Saturday morning, getting things ready for the party and the morning literally flew by. Jake was not impressed that it was my birthday on his birthday party day - it was so bad, that when a couple of friends sang happy birthday to me right at the end of the party, he walked away with his hands on his ears. Brat. By Saturday evening, once we'd cleaned up and all our guests had gone home, I was finished. We got Chinese take-outs and put a movie on. About 30 minutes into it, I started to fall asleep, so went to bed. I was asleep well before 9 'o clock. Much to my sisters' disgust - they'd expected me to go out and celebrate. Never mind that that was all I'd done all day. Actually, having Jake's party on my birthday was heaps of fun and made the day really festive. Plus, I spent it with so many friends, it was really great.

I must also say here (and I'm not sure where to put this in my post, so sorry if it's a bit out of place), but I am SO convinced that Jacques was with us at Jake's party. Firstly, I had a tiny white feather drift down as the first guests arrived. Those of you who know me, know that I believe quite strongly that feathers are symbolic of the presence of angels. Especially little white ones that appear unexpectedly in odd places. Just seems to me that this one was there for me to notice. Secondly, a very close friend's child said to her during the party - "mommy look at the pretty lights around the jumping castle". She asked him what he'd said, he repeated, she asked what lights and he told her "never mind". Very weird and these two little stories have convinced me that Jacques was there looking down on us, far closer then we realised. Emotionally, the day went really well for me - my birthday is way easier to face then Jake's. I guess mine doesn't hold the promises that Jake's birth held for us 4 years ago and I tend to harp on that on Jake's birthday.

Anyway, Sunday was a lazy day at home with Jake. We got up and baked (cake for me to bring to work) and then got stuck into cleaning out his bedroom. I'd just dumped all his new toys in his room on Saturday. We literally spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon, opening boxes, putting batteries in things, testing out new games and finding new homes for all his new things. And boy, oh boy, was he spoilt. We also watched a DVD and he rode his bike a bit. We played in the garden (me with my camera). The weather on Saturday was unbelievably perfect and yesterday, although warm, was overcast and threatening a storm most of the day, with a bit of rain in the evening.

And, without any further rambling, here are my photos from the weekend. Completely unedited in anyway, I know some need a bit of adjusting and fixing up, but I just wanted to get them up. I like the ones of Jake & I, because I'm always behind the camera, I don't get that many of the 2 of us...

All decked out and ready for the kids to arrive...

Jake, Jodie & Maia (Jodie's younger sister). My son likes older women (me included). I just hope he grows...

Singing happy birthday. These are about 1/3 of the guests...

Jake cutting up his cake for his friends...

The first piece of cake...

Jake & Jodie (she's his girlfriend)...

Jake jumped almost non-stop from Friday night, until Saturday evening when they came to collect the jumping castle again...

Me being attacked by some of the kids on the jumping castle...

The birthday kids...

Bubbles - thanks Jo & Paul for the donation, I'm really glad they forgot to put these out at your wedding...

A very happy birthday boy...

The present carnage begins. That's my sister, Jo behind us - she's the one who got married in Feb...

This one is a space monster blaster and it took up a large portion of play time yesterday. He thinks it's hysterical...

Who's more excited. Rebecca, Jake or me?

Trying to figure out how to open a sticky hand (remember those?). Warning - don't stand on them in the dark, they are cold and slimey and disgusting...

Me being spoilt. And acting like a clown...

Jake trying to figure out a can of deoderant that he got given by a friend. He loves it...

Tucking into the biggest piece of cake he could find...

No wheels...

Measuring to see how tall he's gotten in a year...

Getting his head straight so we don't miss a hair. Is that terror or excitement in his eyes?

OK, the lines are feint. My "growth chart" is to the right of Jake's. He's about half way between my height between 4 and 5. And he's grown quite a chunk since last year. Phew...

Lots of love, Sue xxx