Friday, November 06, 2020

November's Birthday Bash

He loved his cake

The prep was done. We waited for Jamin and CoRielle so the party could begin.

When Benny opened the door I yelled, "Happy Birthday." He was extremely excited...jumping up and down and yelling back at me....he had a card for Papa. 
Benny, Papa and Auntie Co-co


Playing catch the dino egg. LOL 
I'm not sure who is having the most fun. 







Uncle - come look at my cake!


Photo by Arielle 

Yes - it was the affect we were going for...


Arielle has a darling video of Benny singing along....here's a still shot. 

He blew, and he blew, and he blew, and then Papa helped. 


Ah, the pig hat. For over 25 years birthday celebrants have worn ye old pig hat. For these joint celebrations one grabs it...Papa is a good sport.  Benny returned the favor of help and blew out Papa's candles. He was on a roll. 

Getting the frosting off the dino's foot. 


"Turkey's" arrival is getting close....by the end of this month. Arielle wanted to have Benny's birthday over before the new one arrived....so we celebrated a week early. All is ready now....
Photo by Krista

We missed those who couldn't make it tonight - but it was a great night. Pre-schoolers are a blast....
Photo by Krista


Party Prep

Stacia loves playing in the kitchen. She does a great job and has become a good baker. This year she's launching into cake decorating. By way of a disclaimer....neither of us have ever worked with fondant. We probably should have played with this earlier in the week. Of course, we'd miss the adrenaline rush of decorating the cake the day of the party if we did it that way. LOL 

I wanted to "help" and we ended up making a good team. Stacia said she was nervous when it came to putting the fondant on the cake. She'd done the research. I provided encouragement, and I actually lifted the green fondant onto the cake... Stacia was off and flying solo. 

 

Aren't these trees darling? 

Arielle picked up some decorations for me earlier in the week. Making a Target run would take more juggling than I could handle this week with Dad's care and therapy appointments. Arielle brought decor by and stayed to help. Krista picked up some great dino things at Walmart for me....I miss running out...but it's all getting done thanks to a wonderful tribe. 

Moving the cake

Benny wanted candles. That's it. We hit on the dino theme and I had Krista pick up sparklers along with a birthday candle. We put sparklers at the top of the volcano and down through the lava. 

Stacia did a great job! I think I'll have her make more birthday cakes....I KNOW the family loves the ice cream cakes, but a variety could be fun. 

Everyone got into the fun of decorating....


We've had these chair covers for 25 years. We  had a wall hanging that lit up, it fell off the wall and broke today. The pig hat is also 25 years old - and if you don't know what the pig hat is - read the coming birthday post. 

It is an amazing blessing to have a built in Great Grandpa to share these moments with us. All those years living as vagabonds, moving every 3 years, we never even dreamed of having all the kids nearby AND Mom or Dad living with us. I thought it was something we gave up when we followed Jesus into the ministry lifestyle we've lived. 


It turns out Josiah and crew can't make it tonight. Livie isn't feeling well and they don't want to share with Dad. BreZaak aren't coming. It's close to baby day and they don't want to take any COVID chances.  Nolan is working. It seemed like a good date when we picked it. LOL We're still going to have fun! 

Dad decided it was time for a rest break. He called Uncle Walt and enjoyed a fun visit...lots of laughter and stories. BTW - those are NOT balloons - they are dinosaur eggs. ::wink::

We decided not to fill this guy with candy as  the other grands weren't coming, and he's too big for one kiddo...He became a welcome dinosaur and went home with Benny at the end of the night.  Maybe we'll fill him and break him open in the spring....


Michael is 20x Benny's age....He'll be the big 6 - 0 on the 17th. I may need to have another party....I guess we'll have to see what happens with the COVID stuff in the next bit of time. Note the photo of 4 year old Michael....He was actually 4 on the day Mom and Dad got married. 

We did it. We were all ready for the party....and realized it was us, CoRielle and Jamin. We put one of the pizzas in the freezer and we'll have cake for a bit of time. LOL