Already lying about her age

The latest birthday brought us bowling which was a fun activity enjoyed by all.  We are fortunate to have a very small bowling alley near us which you are able to rent at an affordable rate.

We went with only the members living at home as the birthday girl isn't generally very social.  Having just her siblings at the party she was able to focus on having fun bowling rather than the challenging social stuff.  She did venture over and tell the bowling alley employee that "it was her birthday and she was 10".  We were so impressed that she spoke that it didn't matter that she was wrong about her age, she just turned 6.

For our bowling party we had access to the bowling alley plus the attached gymnasium however the children were so excited about bowling that they never ventured into the gymnasium.  Not being regular bowlers our abilities definetly proved that fact but we made up for it in enthusiasm.  If you heard the cheering from the children you would have thought we were all pros - at the beginning of the game they were so excited if the ball made it to the other end of the lane and as they progressed and someone knocked down a pin the sheer excitement was over the top.  The older kids were extremely helpful teaching the younger ones how to "roll the ball" instead of lobbing it down the lane.  As the skills progressed the ones capable of throwing the ball with one hand added to the challenge by using the opposite hand, facing backwards or closing their eyes.  None of these tactics seemed to improve their abilities but did add to the entertainment.

After the bowling we had hotdogs, chips and juice followed by birthday cake at the bowling alley - 2 bonuses to this, dinner was taken care of for the evening and they cleaned up after us.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed this dinner as it isn't something they would normally have so everyone was happy.

Another successful birthday celebration and a very nice comment from the employee at the bowling alley  "your children are so well behaved and polite, I always dreamed of having a large family like yours but it just wasn't in the cards for me".

Birthday Cake, Race Cars and.........Seizures :-(

With a large family, birthdays are never ending and this weekend was no exception, over the next 2 weeks we have 4 birthdays and we always make a point of celebrating each person individually.  We will do large extended family, family dinners and combine occasions but we also have an individual celebration with those living at home.

For some of our children we do a special family outing instead of a "friend" birthday party.  The type of celebration is dependent on the child's wishes and circumstances, not all our children enjoy or can manage peer friendships and their birthday should be enjoyable for them.

This weekends birthday celebration brought us to the car race track to watch demolition racing.  We haven't been to the track in a couple years as the triggers for children with sensory issues are extreme at the track.  We left our youngest 2 with a babysitter and the rest of us went armed with sunglasses, earplugs and blankets.  It was amazing the progress that the children have made in 2 years in regards to their tolerance at such events.  With ear plugs in, sunglasses on and blankets on their laps (cuddling with their blanket and covering their nose with it when the smell of burning rubber was too strong) we were able to sit and watch the races in a strategically chosen part of the bleachers (leaving a quick escape route if needed).

While in line to pay we were very blessed, when a stranger noticing our large group came up and offered us a free ticket to admit 1/2 of our group.

The children managed incredibly for the majority of the races, when it came time for the final demolition the shock of it all was too much for one child, triggering seizures.  Fortunately she was on my lap when they started and as they weren't letting up, I was able to escape through our pre planned route with her to get her the help she required without causing a scene.

Another tradition in our family is the birthday person gets to choose dinner.  Some requests are not necessarily what I would consider dinner and need to be supplemented, for example one birthday someone requested toast so I added eggs and sausage making everyone happy.  Tonight's supper is "2 noodle casserole" (tuna noodle casserole), cesear salad and chocolate birthday cake.