Yesterday, my son celebrated his 7th birthday. Despite his small frame, this kid packs a whole lot of personality and charm, enough to knock you off your feet. He has overcome broken bones and stitches, but still manages to pull off a melt-your-heart smile. He will fight the fiercest of enemies.

 He will even defy gravity.

But at the end of the day, he's still my little baby. Happy birthday to my incredible super hero!

Today marks my 37th birthday and I have so much to be grateful for. Namely a husband who is seven years my senior and will always make me feel youthful. This month also marks nine years for Toronto Teacher Mom so I just wanted to thank all of you, my readers, for your support over the years. Cheers to many more!

Here is this week's Wordless Wednesday linky:

While we might not always throw a big birthday party for our kids every year, we still celebrate their special day with family and always have cake or cupcakes on hand. On occasion, we have hosted parties and have invited their friends from daycare and school. Those are the times when I go all out with birthday party decorations and custom designed invitations. Milestone years such as turning ten will be another reason to throw a big party because double-digits are a big deal. Am I right?

This year, I decided not to have a big party for my daughter. She turned nine last month and, the procrastinator that I am, I always leave party plans to the last minute. Thus, trying to organize a party in mid-summer when many of her friends are at camp or up at the cottage makes it a little frustrating. Though, I swear I will get my act together one year and have invitations ready to hand out by the end of the school year. We did manage a get-together with an old friend of mine and her two daughters, and we had a fun time bowling. Later that day, we were surprised with a special delivery from Walmart - a maple-themed gift card for the birthday girl! She couldn't believe it when I told her she could use it to buy anything she wanted. And by 'anything,' I was referring to most items on her wish list with the exception of stuffed animals, of course.

Her first ever shopping spree would have to wait a few days, however, since I was busy the following day  planning a last-minute getaway to Blue Mountain that included a day at Scenic Caves Nature Adventures. The good news is there's a Walmart Supercentre in Collingwood a mere ten minutes from the resort. With my son nodding off to sleep early on our second night and my husband ready to hit the hay, my daughter and I headed out to Walmart to do what girls do best - shop! Plus, the store was open till 10pm so we had lots of time to browse. We loaded up our cart with skipping ropes, a hula hoop, and crafts galore. She also picked out some things for her brother such as stickers, Pokémon cards and an activity book featuring his favourite Disney Junior character Jake. I thought it was really sweet that she thought of him but I wasn't expecting her to cover the cost of the Gilette razors and shaving cream I needed to pick up for my husband. I said it wasn't necessary at all but she insisted. That's my girl!

"Mom, can I have a birthday party this year?"

Cue mom guilt.

My son turned six last month and, never having thrown him an official birthday party with his school friends, I couldn't possibly say no. I blame his melt-your-heart puppy dog eyes. Granted, we have always celebrated his birthday each year with family and close friends but I knew he desperately wanted to invite some of his friends from school and daycare. So off I went to Walmart in search of brightly coloured decorations and party supplies.

I found amazing deals on hanging decorations, tablecloths, napkins, paper plates and cups. We even ordered some helium-filled balloons from the party store. But with a house full of kids ranging from five to nine years of age, I felt a little apprehensive about how on I earth I could possibly keep them all entertained.

Luck seemed to be on my side when I happened across an email regarding Creative Club Inc. – "a unique concept in ‘edu-tainment’ that combines the fun and creativity of LEGO® building with education to help kids develop skills in important areas like problem-solving, team work, communication and presentation skills and overall confidence-building." Based in the GTA, Creative Club has been delivering programs to over 100 schools in the area for the past five years. In addition to their in-school programs, they also offer school break and summer camps as well as LEGO® birthday parties. When I browsed their selection of birthday party themes, I knew instantly that my son would love to host a Make-and-Take party where each guest gets to build and keep their very own racecar. After booking a date and time, I went ahead and custom designed the following Creative Club Inc. invitation. Isn't it cute?

Once the big day arrived, my son was bursting with excitement. With every knock at the door, he would run to greet his friends. They played, they laughed, they played some more. We ordered pizza and set out some fresh fruits and vegetables. 

It wasn't long until LEGO Man Rob arrived. Given that we had a dozen kids at the party, Rob brought along another team member to help with the build. They brought loads of LEGO and a special LEGO book to give the kids a brief history on the well-known bricks. For example, did you know that LEGO means "play well?"

Soon, the kids were each given a little basket full of different coloured bricks and tasked with building their first initial.

The kids took great pride in their final product. They even got to keep them and place them in the gift bag supplied by Creative Club Inc.

Today, my daughter turns 8 years old. Oh, how I wish I could turn back the hands of time...

  

My nephew recently celebrated his 9th birthday and, the dinosaur fan that he is, he had his party at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington where they had a little dinosaur exhibit.

Today is the day that I turn 35 years old. If you round up, that's almost the same as saying I'm 40. It's a sobering thought knowing that I'm not, nor will I ever be, as young as I once was.  But that's okay. I can live with the pair of strands of grey hair that I see in the mirror every morning. And I'm okay with the fact that I don't have the most up-to-date or trendiest wardrobe. I will even admit I kind of miss my neon green New Kids on the Block t-shirt.

What I have difficulty with is the fading memories. I want to be able to remember all the little things right alongside the milestones of years past. I want to remember the good, the bad and even the ugly. Including my atrocious perm below, bangs and all.

At the end of the day, I may not be the prettiest, most fashionable or physically fit 35-year-old on the planet, but I can surely take pride in my accomplishments over the years, the friends I have made, and the life I have established for my children. I am an imperfect mother and wife, a horrible cook, an aspiring teacher. I make no apologies for who I am today or for any of my faults. The person that I am took 35 years to make and I wouldn't change a thing.

As a gift to myself to acknowledge all of my hard work, sacrifices and successes, I treated myself to my very first DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T3i, so that I can preserve today's memories and maybe even get mom in the picture more. You're only 35 once.