Schools and shindings.

The past few weeks have been madness for me. Since my current title in life is "Parental Technician", I've engrossed myself in all things Zeke. In doing this, I have been swallowed up by tons of, what I consider, HUGE decisions concerning his life. Of course I check in with Pauly here and there, since most of these decisions require financial backing and well, if I must disclose all truths, I guess he really is the Treasurer of this little Kane Company I'm running here. So, ideas get run by him, funding is secured, and I (in reality being the CEO & President of the corp.), funnel the money into what avenues I see fit. The biggest choice that had to be made recently was regarding Zeke's schooling. We finally decided where he fit in best and yesterday we received word that he was accepted. Whew...big weight off my shoulders. I now know where my kiddo will be next year and am thrilled about the prospects of him being able to settle into a great school for the foreseeable future.

The other all-encompassing item on my list was Zeke's 5th birthday celebration. Most years it's pretty easy-peasy stuff: call a moon bounce place, secure the date, get a cake and some pizzas and all kids involved are thrilled. But, alas, I'm raising a big-thinker here. Zeke wasn't content to have the typical bounce-o-rama gig this year. He wanted animals, live animals, and he wanted them in his own house, for him to pet and cuddle and feed. Oh. Live animals? My mind clicked into full gear and I searched for petting zoos. Once I started jotting down all of the details, I realized the scale of his request. Ummmm, what if it rained? I was completely fine with a yard full of farm animals (in fact, I was like a kid in a candy shop...), but the petting zoo owner told me that if it rained she could simply move it inside if I had a big enough room. Wait. What??? Like, inside my HOUSE? I'm uber-cool with having my dogs, my birds, my frogs, hamsters, fish, etc. hanging out in our digs. I kinda' draw the line at farm animals though. Even I...the lover of all things feathered, furry, and fishy...have my limits. This is my house we're talking about here, folks. Don't mess with a woman's abode. So, I had to arrange this whole soiree and pray for good weather. And pray. And pray. The day of Zeke's party arrived to a mixed bag of weather. It was to be sunny in the early part of the day, but rainy in the latter part. We were having the party at 2:00. Is 2:00 early or late??? I wasn't sure. But, to my distinct pleasure, the sun was out, the yard was gorgeous, and the animals were aplenty. Zeke was glowing with delight at all of the animals hanging out in our own backyard. We had tons of red and white balloons and tablecloths, hay bales scattered around, and cowboy and cowgirl hats for the kiddos. All of the kids got to feed and pet the farm animals and they each got turns taking a pony ride around our yard. It was so cool! We battled a big number five pinata and won - tons of candy rained down on the crowd - and followed it up by distributing goody bags that were actually red bandannas stuffed with all kinds of treats for the guests. By the end of the day we were exhausted and partied out - and just as we got all of our tables and chairs into the house the rain started to come down. And I was just fine with that. I snuggled my five-year -old up in my bed and we watched the video of his party that Pauly had shot. It was a great way to end the party day.

Happy birthday Zeke. You're the light of my life, kiddo.