Birthday No.9 | Soaking It All Up


photo taken by Kim Ackerman

Number nine was a good one.

The celebration began with a visit to Simon's classroom on Friday.

Simon's teacher had him introduce all his guests to his classmates. He starts off with "This is Grandpa." and then moves on to "This is Chris." He goes around all the rest of us including me, "This is Ali." After he finished his teacher asked him if Chris and I had other names. He said "Dad" and "Mom" and then explained that the other kids wouldn't be calling us Dad and Mom so he was telling them our real names.

I also got a couple great shots of Simon at the front of the class while everyone was singing Happy Birthday.

After our school visit we headed back home to do some prep work for the party on Saturday: decorations, goody bags, wrapping, etc.

Grandpa and Anna looked at photos on Grandpa's computer.

When Simon came home he opened up a few of his gifts.

On Friday night we had dinner with all the Grandparents at a local Mexican restaurant. The waiters all sang Happy Birthday to Simon.

And on Saturday, from noon to 2pm our house was full.

It was so fun to have six of Simon's friends and some of their parents here for a couple hours. Pizza, cake, playing outside, chase, building lego mini-figures, opening gifts, chatting, etc. Some of my favorite photos are a line of kids along the kitchen counter all building lego mini-figures that were included in their goody bags.

When asked what his favorite part of his birthday was this year he said, "having my friends here."

Happy Birthday Simon - we love you so much and are so excited that you are nine!

Related Posts

Sign in or sign up to comment.

85 thoughts

  1. Brooke says…
    01/24/2011

    Happy Birthday Simon!! Such beautiful memories of Simon's special day. It's great that you are able to go to his school. I'm not sure they would allow that here. A few years back my Dad went to the school of the child of a family friend - filling in on Grandparents day as his Grandparents were a long plane flight away. Years later it is still one of his favourite days, both the child's and my Dad's.

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Astrea says…
    01/24/2011

    Diese Fotos erzählen von einer sehr glücklichen Familie, die zusammen hält und schöne Feste miteinander feiert. Danke für die wunderschöne Bilder.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Tammy B says…
    01/24/2011

    Simon is so lucky to have such a great family! And very lucky to have had those awesome looking cupcakes!! Yum! The cake looked fantastic, too, Ali! What did you put on the top? I'm so glad that Simon had a great birthday weekend. Nine is such a nice number!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. paula s says…
    01/24/2011

    you got some amaing shots there!! HAPPY BDAY SIMON!

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Liz says…
    01/24/2011

    Here's to Simon and Friends and Grandparents. Nine is going to be a good year.

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Lauren says…
    01/24/2011

    The photo of Simon blowing out the candles took my breath away when I scrolled down and saw it. I literally gasped, causing my son to say, "What??" Please share the specifics of how you captured such a beautifully focused and lit shot!

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. Carrie/scrapchick says…
    01/24/2011

    Happy Birthday to Simon! Looks like a GREAT Birthday weekend!

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Anthea says…
    01/24/2011

    Happy Birthday Simon. Your cakes look really yummy. Sounds like you had a great day. I love looking at your birthday through your mum's eyes.

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Deb says…
    01/24/2011

    Love all those fabulous pics. Happy birthday, Simon! I had tears when I read Simon's comment about his friends. Take care, Deb xx

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Chrystie DeSmet says…
    01/24/2011

    Wow! What a lucky boy! Looks like SO much fun! I love the picture of him blowing out his candles! What setting did you have the camera on? Any tricks to getting that picture with that great lighting?

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Kerry says…
    01/24/2011

    Oh it looks like a fantastic birthday. xx

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. josephine says…
    01/24/2011

    My daughter will be 9 in 2 weeks. Sigh. It seems like it took forever for her to start kindergarten but since then it has all flown by!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Melissa says…
    01/24/2011

    Oh Ali! The photo of Simon blowing out his candles completely took my breath away. What a special, special photo to be treasured forever. So beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, once again, for sharing Simon ... and your wonderful talent ... with all of us.

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Emily Zhang says…
    01/24/2011

    Happy Birthday to Simon! It's amazing how long has it been since I started to read your blog, Ali! Thank you for sharing your story here with us, I truly love the way you present the daily life which gives me inspiration constantly.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Liz Ness says…
    01/25/2011

    What a wonderful collection of memories -- makes me happy to see them (love the photos of your dad and mom, too)!

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Tracey says…
    01/25/2011

    That last photo brngs tears to my eyes too - it's absolutely beautiful to see the love between Mum and Son. What a fabulous 9th birthday - yay, for Simon. What a wonderful family :-)

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Joy says…
    01/25/2011

    Such great memories of when my son turned nine. A great age! Enjoy every minute and thanks for sharing your celebration!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Claire says…
    01/25/2011

    Happy birthday Simon, and great photos as always Ali. Doesn't he look like his dad in the picture where he is blowing out the candles. Very handsome!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Lara says…
    01/25/2011

    Happy Birthday, Simon!!! Your birthday weekend looked awesome!!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Carol says…
    01/25/2011

    Thanks for sharing. Always fun to see kids with friends and all the interactions. 9 is a good year!

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Stefanie says…
    01/25/2011

    Happy Birthday Simon.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Mary-Ann says…
    01/25/2011

    Looks like he had such a great birthday! Love all the pictures :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Gypsy Chaos says…
    01/25/2011

    Oh Ali, what a wonderful post.
    It looks like your Christmas tree is still up -- wooo-hooo.

    I am thrilled that you had an unstructured, low-key 'old-style' party. So often these days parents book their parties at the place that does gymnastics, or bowling, or whatever. I loved home parties; my kids and their friends enjoyed them too.

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Paula G says…
    01/25/2011

    Happy Birthday Simon from Florida! My family is Italian, and the way we say Happy Birthday is "Buon Compleano!" I can tell your party was awesome, just like YOU!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. kat-in-texas says…
    01/25/2011

    Precious!!!

    Reply 0 Replies

Sign in or sign up to comment.