The Fa-La-La Spa Birthday {Emily is 7}

All it took was a quick glance at a magazine picture of little girls wearing towel wraps for Emily to completely abandon the mermaid/swimming birthday party we had been talking about for a year in favor of a spa themed soiree.  

"Please can I have a party close to my REAL birthday this year?", she pleaded to me with her sparkling eyes and toothy grin.

I generally don't even attempt her birthday party until February because I'm much too exhausted during December and January, but how could I resist her sweet pleas?  And who can resist an opportunity to do SPA treatments so close to Christmas?!

And so with just a few weeks to prepare amidst the rest of the Christmas chaos, we found a way to merge Christmas and her spa theme together and invited a few special friends to join us at the...

Fa-La-La Spa... 

a spa specializing in Christmas themed treatments and treats.

I had so many great decorating ideas, but because we held the party at a rental space, I only had 1 hour to unload and set everything up (what?!?!)  As a result of the short time frame, most of my decorating plans got tossed out the window once I realized there was no time to finish!  The girls never knew the difference though and we got enough done to give it a spa-ish feel.

When the girls arrived, Emily checked them in by giving them their own basket with their personalized spa robe and flip flops to change into.  

While they waited for all of the guests to arrive, the girls fancied up their flip flops at the "Fa-La-La Flip Flop Design" station.

 

Next up were the "Frosty Facials" which were chocolate masks that smelled delicious!  The girls thought the idea of covering their faces with chocolate was hysterical and they giggled their way through the treatment. 

After they were sufficiently messy, they attempted some relaxation with cucumber treatments to their eyes.  This caused more giggles and a few requests to EAT their cucumbers instead of wearing them!

Surprisingly, these masks made their skin super soft and very shiny!  We "oohed" and "aahed" after each girl got their face cleaned and appeared with sparkling skin.

Next up were "Peppermint Pedicures", "Merry Manicures" and snacks at the "Sweet Treats Beauty Bar".  The girls rotated among all of these stations and were treated to yummy smelling nail treatments with Christmas themed nail designs (thanks to my talented babysitter friends!).

 

The Sweet Treats Beauty Bar was open for snacking all day and the girls helped themselves while they enjoyed the spa services.

On the menu were PB&J sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, cheese and crackers, carrots, grapes and spa water.

And of course there were cake balls!  Nail polish bottles filled with chocolate and white cake! 

With sweet smelling faces and freshly painted nails, the girls sat down at place settings arranged by Emily to sing Happy Birthday and eat more sweets. 

One of the cutest things was when the girls began looking through their "goody bags" or take home spa baskets and became so excited over every little thing inside... all Christmas-themed beauty products (soap, lip gloss, bath confetti, chapstick, etc).

 

And then all of a sudden, they began using their bath sponges as microphones as they sang and danced to Christmas music.  It was so 7 year old girlish and so cute!

The girls eventually changed back into their clothes and left the spa ready to celebrate Christmas with perfectly painted toes and nails.  And after I closed up the Fa-La-La Spa, I booked a spa appointment for myself to recover! 

Happy 7th Birthday Sweet Ems!

I love that you love doing fun and girly parties.

I love watching you laugh with your friends.

I love seeing you sing and dance without inhibition.

I love that you hug each friend after you open their gift.

I love that when you arrange the place settings, you seat your sisters next to you.  

I love watching you become a little hostess.

I love YOU.  Everything about YOU.

You are a dream come true in so many ways.

Always remember what I always tell you though...

your heart and your smile are what makes you pretty!

But manicured nails are a bonus!

His Happy Place {Golf 2014}

Noah is 9.

But sometimes I think he is actually a teenager tucked inside of a little 9 year old boys body.  His seriousness combined with his heightened emotions are more typical of someone quite older than him.

For the past few years he has struggled with a lack of confidence.  Especially when it comes to athletics.

But over the past year, his lack of confidence has escalated and now extends to most aspects of his life... not just simply athletics.

"I wish I didn't have blonde hair.  I look weird with blonde hair."

"I'm shorter than some of the 1st graders.  I hate being so small."

"No one ever picks me to be on their team at recess."

"I'm the worst one."

"_______ likes _______ better than me."

"I am the weirdest looking kid in the whole school."

All of these things I hear on a regular basis.  It's sad, confusing, and many times, frustrating.  Building a child's self esteem is not as easy as one would think.  I personally think he's great and tell him so often.  But kids want the approval of their peers; not their parents.  And so his lack of confidence is something that we deal with on a very constant and regular basis.  

BUT...

When he steps onto a golf course, Noah is a completely different kid.  

On the course, he is totally happy and TOTALLY confident.

There is not an ounce of self doubt when he steps up to the tee to swing his club.

Without a doubt, the golf course is Noah's Happy Place.  It's the place where he shines.  The place where all of his self doubts disappear.  The place where he can truly be himself.  The place where he feels confident and proud of his abilities.  The place where others admire him.

I'm so, so grateful for this place.  And pray it continues to be a source of happiness and belonging for him.

This summer, he spent hours upon hours upon hours at his Happy Place.  I dropped him off nearly every morning.  And he camped out there until dusk.  He made friends (all a bit older than him) who he played with on a regular basis.  They had putting contests and ate lunch in the clubhouse and played the course in the heat of the day when most people were working.  He was basically a country club rat all summer.

And he loved every scorching hot second of it!

And all of those hours paid off!  His game improved immensely and he had a lot of tournament success this summer.

He kicked off the summer by attending a Nike Golf camp at WSU.  Technically, he wasn't old enough to attend but they made an exception based on his skill level.  He was really nervous to attend, but ultimately loved it and didn't want it to end!  He won 3 special awards and the admiration of the older kids and the coaches.  Both of the coaches made special mention to both me and Vance not only about Noah's golf abilities, but about his personal attributes.  They complimented him in so many ways about his sportsmanship, manners, encouragement to others... the kind of compliments that make a parent feel so proud; prouder than any certificate will ever make feel.

He had to miss a day of Nike camp because he was asked to play with our club pro at the Pro-Am tournament that comes to Wichita every year.  It was quite an honor!

He won 1st place (his goal from last year was just to make the leader board!) in his division (5 hole) in the club Junior golf championship.  And he didn't just win, he won by 8 strokes!  Incidentally, he beat all of the kids in the 10-12 age group too!  He'll definitely be moving op to the 9 hole group next year!

He also played on our club's PGA Junior team.  At the end of the season, the coach selected 2 players to be a part of the All-Star team and Noah was one of them.  They got to compete at the regional level.  He teamed up  most of the summer with an older girl named Brooklyn.  She was also selected as an All Star.  It was fun to see them interact with one another.  They made a really good team!

And the ultimate highlight of the summer was the national Drive, Chip, and Putt contest.  

We registered on a whim and had to drive to Tulsa for the first round of this national contest.  Vance and Noah went together.  I didn't think he stood a chance.  He had to register based on his age as of April 2015.  That put him in the 10-11 year division instead of the 8-9 division.  That was the first hurdle.  The second hurdle was the format of the contest itself.  Contestants are scored on 3 drives, 3 chips and 3 putts.  That's it!  In the first round, he had to place in the top 3 in order to move on to the next round.  

And he did it!  

He placed 3rd.  Which meant he got to move on to the next round, which would again be played in Tulsa, but would include the Top 3 finishers from the entire region.

 Our whole family, including PaPa, traveled to Tulsa for the 2nd round.  This time, he had to place in the top 2 in order to move on to the finals.  Again, I didn't think he stood much of a chance and never let my mind go to that place.  

He drove first and did decent.

And then he stepped up for his first chip and it went long.  Not a good score.
He stepped up to his second chip and chipped it in!  I broke every single rule of golf etiquette with my screams!
And then the third...within inches of the hole!

At that point, Vance knew he was in decent shape if he could do well with his putts.

His first putt... sunk it!  More screaming on my part!
Second putt... sunk it too!  

Third putt (and the longest and hardest)...within a foot or so of the hole!  A great score!

Which meant he placed second overall and won himself a place in the regional FINALS in Dallas!

It was such a great and wonderful day!  I officially became a golf fan that day!

In early September we traveled to Dallas for the Championship round.  In order to get to the finals (which would be played at Augusta during the week of the Masters!), he had to place 1st.  Only 1 person got to move on from this round.  They switched up the order at this round.

He putted first.
First putt... sunk it (along with the others in his group).
Second putt... missed it.  By quite a long shot.
Third putt... missed it and we could visibly see the frustration.  
Bad putting score.

He was so upset.  Vance tried to help him rebound by noting that chipping was his strength and he could make up ground there.  But we knew that unless the front runner (who had placed 1st in both of the first 2 rounds) had a super bad day, his chance to move on had likely just vanished.

Next was chipping.  And he did well.  Well enough to WIN the chipping contest overall.

And then driving. 
Driving is always the hardest for Noah.  His lack of strength prevents him from getting very much distance.  But he hits straight and almost always hits the fairway.  And in this final event of this championship round, after his putting had frustrated him, he came back to hit score the highest he had ever scored in driving.  Well enough to place 3rd overall in DRIVING.  He had not placed at all in the driving category in the first two rounds, so to place in this event was AMAZING for him!

Overall, he tied for 3rd.  A huge accomplishment!  

I was so proud of his ability to do well in the chipping and driving after having a bad putting round.  He didn't let his head or his frustration get to him.  He didn't self doubt and allow the negative thoughts that are so much a part of how he views himself take over.  He stayed confident.  Disappointed, but confident.  And he did his thing in those last 2 events and I couldn't have been prouder!

He, on the other hand, was visibly disappointed.  But he has a new golfing goal for 2015!

Golf...

I love golf.  I love that Noah loves golf.  I love that golf loves him.  
I'm so grateful that God blessed him with this special talent.  
Because it is this talent that gives him a chance to feel confident.  
To feel proud.  
To feel unafraid.  
To feel HAPPY.

The golf course.  His Happy Place.  He is so different in this place.

And I love to watch it.