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Ready for Amelia's Birthday Party

Braydon and the boys left a few minutes ago to go to Amelia's Birthday Party. I am staying home with Little Miss for her nap. The boys are very excited about every single birthday party they go to. Making Amelia's even more exciting is that the party is being held on board the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad! We've been on this train a few times before (K & O love it!!!), but never for a birthday party. The excitement and anticipation has been building for the past week, but today -- the day of -- it was almost more than they could take. When it finally came time to get ready to go, I told them both to go upstairs and wash their faces and hands. A few minutes later I went up to check on their progress. I found Owen jumping on the bed in Kyle's room. He was 'redirected' immediately. I found Kyle in the bathroom, hands and face scrubbed, his face covered with a thick layer of their heaviest moisturizing cream. He was smiling at himself in the mirror proudly with a very shiny face. I asked him if he had put some cream on. Beaming, he said, "Yes Mommy! I want to look great for Amelia's Birthday Party!!!" Kyle often does things like this in anticipation of special occasions; he is eager and earnest in his desire to "look great!" He came over to me and asked, "Don't I look great Mama?!" Before I could even say yes, he was smothering me with wet kisses -- with his slimy thick cream rubbing off all over my face. I made my way, with Kyle, into Kyle's room to pick out their clothes. On the way I had to remind Owen to wash his face and hands at least a half a dozen times. So beyond excited, Owen was all over the place. Bouncing off the walls, goofing off in the mirror, fooling around with everything he came into contact with. Trying as best I could to remain calm (Owen was driving me absolutely crazy and I was still trying to rub Kyle's cream off of me), I headed to Kyle's closet. Once there Kyle insisted on wearing a dress shirt (a "button shirt" as he calls it). "I want to dress up for the party!!! It has to be a button shirt!" K & O normally couldn't care less about what they are wearing. But for special occasions Kyle is all about the dress up attire. Once I agreed that he could wear a 'button shirt', he started yelling in to Owen in the bathroom, convincing him that he too must wear a 'button shirt.' Alrighty then, 'button shirts' for both. I helped Kyle get dressed. Meanwhile Owen was on my last nerve. Cartwheeling and somersaulting all over the place, hooting and hollering, dancing in front of the mirror, singing 'Happy Birthday to Amelia' at the top of his lungs, etc. The day had been hectic already (I have a cold and am feeling run down to begin with; this morning I had gone to the grocery store for my weekly mega food shopping trip; cleaned out and re-filled the fridge; dealt with Meera who was cranky from refusing to take her normal long morning nap; made lunch for all five of us; hurriedly wrapped Amelia's present; etc. etc. etc.), and I was seriously going to lose my mind as a result of Owen's antics grating on my last nerve. I told him in no uncertain terms to put on his underpants "now," but he got sidetracked (yet again) and started dramatically blowing as hard as he could into thin air (apparently pretending to blow out candles on Amelia's birthday cake???). I lost my cool and yelled loudly at him. He quickly got his act together, but I was edgy and clearly unnerved. I was buttoning his shirt in total silence when, on about the third button down, Owen leaned into me, placed his arms gently but firmly around my neck, hugged me tightly, and very calmly, slowly, and with total sincerity said in my ear: "Mommy, I feel so bad for you. I am so sorry Mommy. I will always obey you and never act up ever ever ever again for the rest of my whole entire life." Although I had been on the verge of crying I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Just minutes later the photo above was taken, and then they were off to the party on the train!