Sweet 16

My kids say I write "sappy" and they're probably right. Sometimes there's just so much emotion in my heart that I use trite and sappy words to describe it.

Today, we had a surprise birthday party for Cori. It was quite hard to pull off, but very fun in the end! I got the idea about a month ago when we started the birthday countdown to have her party at the Grayson House where she works. The Grayson House is an upscale, nice dinner, special occasion kind of place and she busses the tables and is general go-fer for the diners and the waitresses. I wish I could afford to feed everybody there, but I knew that was impossible, so I spoke to Miss Dot and we came up with a plan for dessert. Cori LOVES cheesecake and the Grayson House Cheesecake is yummy, so the birthday cake was taken care of easily. Earlier this week, I took my trusty sidekick (everybody needs one of those), David, up to the House for some taste testing of other desserts. We picked out a chocolate roll cake and an apple cake to cover all tastes ... some lemonade, some tiny cokes in glass bottles and had a party. Then we spent the rest of the week trying to keep Robin from telling Cori about the party (she always got the giggles when we all said we had plans on Sunday).

The really cool part is we made Cori work ... that's right, the evil mom and the wicked boss made her WORK to set up a party on her BIRTHDAY! "It was awful" ... as she was overheard telling her friends several times this week.

So after church this morning, and after making a big production out of inviting everyone to join us for a birthday cake on Wednesday for her birthday, she put on her uniform and went in to help set up a party for some old man ... *snicker*

We all gathered next door and invaded with balloons and presents and a big "Surprise!" We're proud to say that she only caught on after we all started coming in the door (I think), and it was a great time. Best of all, I didn't have to do any of the cooking, the prep or the clean up! Very cool. Her friends at the Grayson House were all very excited to be part of the preparation and the party. We had a great time and Sister Carolyn has photos that I'll post soon.

I'm always nostalgic on the evenings before my kids' birthdays - remembering how dull and empty my life was before them . I'm going to take a note from some fellow bloggers and make a list of 16 things that I remember about Cori's birth and childhood ...

1) I was a single mom who was told I could NEVER have any children. And having a positive pregnancy test at the age of 34 was truly a gift from God. I have always felt she was one of the reasons I was placed on this earth at this particular time. (Another reason was Robin ... but her birthday is in March) Her delivery was early - at about 32 weeks - she was a 5 pounder, so large enough to keep - and I would not let anyone in the delivery room when I was in labor (with a Pitocin drip for 2 days) or when I delivered. If she had been a boy, her name would have been Patrick Thomas.

2) Cori would ALWAYS fight sleep. From infancy, she has always feared sleep was depriving her of some of life's greatest joys.

3) Cori was a desperately stubborn toddler. No, I mean, really determined!

4) Temper tantrums! Ha - funny now, but ... I vividly remember her throwing her 3 year old body down in front of me and kicking and screaming. I stepped over her to go to another room, where she would follow, throw her body down on the ground ... and then I'd go up the steps and she would follow me, take a deep breath at the top and throw her body on the floor kicking and screaming. Usually by this time I was laughing so hard trying to figure out how far she would go that I was no longer even angry, just entertained. The steps usually did her in, though and she worked out her tantrum in the climb.

5) Trying to wear Barbie clothes.

6) The trip from HELL to Orlando with a "gibby jibby jibby jibby ..." in the back seat. ARGH! Only took 17 hours to get there as I was so distracted by the child who refused to sleep that I ended up in Miami and had to come back.

7) The Chocolate Bunny incident.

8) Kindergarten ... In order to graduate kindergarten, kids need to know things like their address, their birthday and their phone numbers. We worked on these things daily on the way to and from school, but I kept getting reports from the teacher that Cori didn't know these important facts. When discussing this with the 5 year old Cori, she said "Mom, you need to write that stuff down for the teacher because I think she wants to send you a letter ... she's always asking me for our address." Ah ... thinking outside the box.

9) Rabber. (just shoot me now!)

10) Trading grades for beanie babies.

11) Cori-isms: "Grandma, your boobs are melting!" "Oh Bodie!" "My name is Formi Moore." "This is BALLET! (sung very loudly to Cheryl Crowe's "This is L.A." in "All I want to do is have some fun ...")

12) Dimmert, her imaginary friend - who had a place at our table and a carseat in the Mazda.

13) Naming the kittens Homer, Holly and Hank - because it was "H" day at school.

14) Long, dangly flashy earrings and great hair. And then there was the first brow waxing. Ouch!

15) Crying throughout my baptism, then crying throughout her own.

16) That sweet, secretive, mischeivous smile.

Oh, I could go on, but I feel the need to tip toe through some old photos. Maybe I'll post a few of those, too, so you can share the moments with me!

I love you Cori Moore ...