Birthday fun

It has been very birthday partyish around here lately. The 23rd was Avery's birthday, a Tuesday. After a normal rest of the week (gymnastics, church, a Wal-Mart run, trying to knock some things off the eternal to-do list), we helped Brad Raffray celebrate his 30th birthday on Friday night. Erin threw him a nice not-so-surprise party (he found out about it).

Saturday the 27th we had Avery and Shannon's birthday party. (Shannon's birthday is October 4th.) We had it in the gym here at camp. This weekend coincided with the Women of Faith Conference in Atlanta, so Mimi (James' mom) took an extra day off of work and came to see us while she was here from Texas. It was fun getting to have her at one of the kids' birthay parties, we haven't been able to do that before. It also meant that a lot of the mommies of the party guests were on their way home and didn't get to come to the party with their kids and husbands.

I spent Saturday morning working on a cake for the party. Weeks earlier Shannon decided he'd like a cake that looked like a jet. Avery also thought this was a good idea. (Maybe next time he can pick. He only had one previous birthday to go on experience-wise, so I'm not real sure he knew what he was agreeing to!) I am rather new at the cake baking thing, but have managed to pull off a camo cake (with help) for last year's party, and a Barbie princess cake for Amelia's birthday in July. There's an awesome website called coolest-birthday-cakes.com that has nearly every cake theme imaginable, with pictures and directions submitted by non-professionals such as myself. Homemade cakes, in other words. So I took a look there and got some ideas, then ended up figuring it out mostly on my own. I baked the cake the day before and the middle fell. I ended up piecing a lot of it together anyway, so it didn't matter. It was all worth it in the end when Shannon saw it and said, "That is so cool! I love it!" He also told me, "It wasn't very hard to make that cake." Right. It was time consuming, but I enjoyed it and it's fun to indulge your kid's whim.
Here's one of the birthday boys

Party guests brought bikes and riding toys and rode around like maniacs, ate lasagna, and had cake. Keith Jennings figured out a creative way to combat cake calories. Lookin' good on a princess bike!

Here's the jet. It tasted pretty good too. Nothing like seeing blue lips on children.

Mimi's here! That's her twin sister, Aunt Sherry, in the background. She lives in Senecca, SC and brought Mom H. to us in Cleveland on the way home from Atlanta.
Happy birhday to you! (Avery sang to himself while everyone sang to them.) We put the candles on the front of the wings like missles.
Last year when he was one, Avery pretty much played with the boxes and paper. He got into the gift thing this year!
And here it is, the gift we've all been waiting for...the Jeep! James found it on eBay. Shannon has said for over a year that he wanted a Jeep, so we got a joint gift for him and Avery. We were saving it for last to cut down on competition at the party, but he managed to see it in an off-limits closet before it was time and kept saying, "There's a little Jeep in there! Can I ride it?" He was very excited. I love this part of parenting.
He's actually quite a good driver. He can nearly parallel park the thing. He's had to learn to look back before reversing...turns out that's not a skill four year olds intuitively have. Avery, on the other hand, will have to be taken out to one of the playing fields for driving practice. Right now he's content to be chauffered.
Elliott probably has the right idea with the helmet....

And here's Amelia and Ruth. BFF's.

Speaking of Ruth, we went to her birthday party at the Davidson's on Monday evening. The day before that, Sunday, was pretty normal, other than Amelia's choir sang in both services so we had to get to church a little early. I am glad I don't have the daily school rush all week. Sunday is the only day we have to be anywhere early (8:30). Sunday afternoon I had my riding lesson, which is always fun. We enjoyed Ruth's party and she had fun opening her gifts. Jenny thinks this may be the first "offical" birthday party they've had on her behalf, at least one that wasn't just family.

Monday was also the day Mimi had to leave to get back to Texas. We loved having her here, and can't wait for the day when they move back east. The plan is to retire in Cleveland, hopefully in not too many years. I enjoy my mom-in-law and look forward to hanging out with her more some day. It's pretty awesome that God answered every prayer I ever prayed about a future husband- including having him come with a family that feels like my own.
Mimi and the grandkids

Every day since the party, Shannon asks, "Can I drive my little Jeep?" It's been a hit! They drag stuff from inside to carry around on it- a shotgun, "luggage," animals...the possibilities are endless.

I'm out for the night. I'll post again soon. I have pictures from yet another birthday party we went to today. Today was also Shannon's actual birthday. Happy fourth, Shannon!

PS- Another couple of random pictures from this week, because I like them.