What a difference a year makes

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Last year on April 4, we spent the day at the hospital while Ellie had brain surgery.  This year on April 4, we had a Dinosaurrific party to celebrate Ben turning four.  What a difference a year can make!

Originally, Ben insisted that every guest wear a dinosaur costume.  His plan was to be T-Rex and chase the other dinosaurs around.  (If you are not aware, T-Rex, according to some accounts, may have been the fiercest, smartest, fastest dinosaur of all.)  However, upon discovering that we could purchase Dinosaur Party Hats, Ben amended his original plan and decided that every one could wear a party hat instead (and I sighed a huge sigh of relief as I have no idea how to make a T-Rex costume OR a long neck dinosaur costume).

[caption id="attachment_878" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Thom & Caitlyn dressed as dinosaurs..."][/caption]

Before the party, my friend Cynthia (see Cynthia Rocks) repeatedly asked me when our 4-year-old birthday party was going to end.  She felt it a highly dangerous maneuver to have a bunch of 4-year-olds over and not give a time when I would like them all to leave.  She told me, "Four-year-old parties can be INTENSE."  I told her that funnily enough, we had never ever had a problem with guests staying too long, typically there had been so much screaming, that our guests make excuses and rush out the door as quickly as they can, with us yelling after them, "But we haven't cut the cake yet..."

We had planned to do dinosaur crafts at the party.   I informed each guest that they had best make a good one, because that was their party favor also.  Weeks prior to the party, I collected recycled materials--empty toilet paper rolls, egg

[caption id="attachment_886" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Playing in Ben's room."][/caption]

cartons, fruit containers, water bottles--to be utilized for dinosaur parts.  While we were sitting creating, I suddenly had a flashback to my niece, Bella's, 4th (?) birthday party.  Susan and Ghany really outdid themselves that year, and there was a pony ride and those blow up jumping things, I think perhaps a petting zoo too.  Well, it just so happened that one of the guests at our party, Esther, was also at the Zafer party.  I imagined Esther talking to Susan on the phone and saying, "Yeah, we made crafts out of their trash!!"

Here is what I enjoyed most about each of our guests:

Baby Juna & Lindsey--These are our neighbors from across the street and they meant to just pop over for a few minutes, but

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ended up staying much longer because they were having such a fabu time.  Baby Juna is adorable, she is so comfortable in walking around and exploring on her own.  I like how even when Ben tries to hug and kiss Juna, Lindsey doesn't get uptight about it.   She has told me that Juna is so used to kids Ben's age that she is not put off by all the hugs and snuggles.  The card that they gave us had a coupon for a play date that I am sure we will cash in extremely soon.

Esther & Jonathon--I loved having Esther at our party because she was one of my sister's closest friends when she lived in Memphis.  Recently she & her husband Dave traveled to New York and went to the movie set Kip was working on at the time.  So, having Esther at our party was sort of like having my siblings & mom there because Esther knows everyone, particularly my

[caption id="attachment_892" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The "J"s of our party--Jonathon & Juna"][/caption]

sister, well.  When I requested that no one bring gifts, Esther & Jonathon showed up with a huge Frog balloon (they couldn't find a dinosaur one).  That's Esther for you, showing up on time and with just the right thing.  Every time we see Esther, Ellie says, "I am so glad that Esther lives in Madison (really Middleton) now instead of Memphis so we can see her more often."  Esther is one of those people who truly appreciates and loves Ellie.  Often she will say, "You don't know how great you have it, do you?"  Meaning how great it is to have a daughter like Ellie, and every time it reminds me to focus on those qualities that I love about Ellie because I am so fortunate to have her as my daughter.  But, I digress.  When Jonathon was ready to leave, Ben grabbed his face and gave him not one but two big smooches, right on the mouth, before Jonathon could move his face.   He was shocked to say the least.

[caption id="attachment_884" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Max crawls on Wendy while Ben thinks about juice to drink next..."][/caption]

Wendy & Max--I appreciated that Wendy brought me her hand-me-down clothes.  Yeah, free beautiful clothes, who doesn't like that? (Ellie would say, "Oscar the Grouch wouldn't like that, he would want old rotten dirty clothes").  Ben adores "baby" Max.  At one point when they were building a train track together, Max knocked the train track over.  Thom told me that Ben, instead of lashing out at Max physically, as he might have in the past, allowed himself to be angry and NOT hurt others.  Oh, was I ever proud of how far he has come.  Wendy brought bone shaped sugar cookies and they were the hit of the party, even more so than the volcano cake.

[caption id="attachment_882" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The birthday table, Cynthia sits next to Ellie. "][/caption]

Cynthia & Mark & Caitlyn--Oh boy do I love this family.  Caitlyn dressed for awhile in her Triceratops costume.  Cynthia appreciated all of my humor, and who doesn't enjoy being appreciated??  Caitlyn arrived wearing dinosaur socks.  I immediately thought, "I have GOT to get some of those for Ben" when Caitlyn walked over and handed Ben his very own pair of dino socks, which he hasn't wanted to take off since receiving them.  Perfection.  Cynthia had an inspiration to make Chex Mix and yum yum, am I ever glad that she went with that intuition.

Jennifer & baby Alex--I was truly amazed at baby Alex.  At 6 months old, he is the laid backest baby I have ever had the

[caption id="attachment_897" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Baby Alex plays contentedly amongst all the chaos..."][/caption]

pleasure to meet.  He laid on the floor and played with whatever he could find.  Other babies and kids would crawl over him, grab his toy, and on he would lay contentedly.  He was not at all overwhelmed or startled by all the immense noise and activity around him.  WOW!

We have studied hosts that we find exceptional to ascertain what goes into being a marvelous host.  What we discovered is that the ones that excel in our minds are the ones who are truly enjoying their guests and themselves.  So that is what we set out to do, truly enjoy the company.  I appreciate that Thom was my co-host in this event, because I cannot imagine having the courage to do a party without him.  I love that when we work together (usually) it is so easy, we just each pick up where the other left off.  He cut the cake (and the cheese--ha!) and I passed it out.  (No, not I passed out, I passed the cake out, silly).  I appreciated that when we requested that our guests bring a dish to share instead of a gift, everyone acquiesced or brought something creative like socks or a balloon or a coupon for a playdate.  It was a wonderful party, and infinitely more fun than a day of brain surgery.   Ben is already beginning to plan for next year or at least creating the cake for next year...