Mayhem and Magic

Sparkle's Birthdays

Sparkle ended up having a lovely birthday!  He had several "birthdays," actually, and enjoyed them all.

First, there was the School Birthday:

See the "sun" on the floor with the months arranged like spokes around it?  It's a bit hard to see in this picture, but of course I couldn't post any pictures showing other kids.  I think most Montessori schools do this birthday activity.  The child holds a model of the earth, stands on name of his birthday month, and as the class sings he walks once around the sun, stopping on his birthday month again.  (The song cracks me up: "The earth goes around the sun, tra-la, the earth goes around the sun!  Around and around and around and around!  The earth goes around the sun, tra-la!") Then he shows a picture of himself at one year old, puts one "candle" in the cake, and does it all again.  At the end, they talk about how he's grown, and the teacher asks him to set a goal for the next year. 

For a very kinetic kiddo like Sparkle, it's a fabulous way to learn.

Then there was the Friends Birthday:

After all our discussion of what to do and how, we ended up doing the easiest thing ever.  We rented a "bounce arena" for 90 minutes.  We invited mostly church and work friends, and there were about 25 people total including parents.  The kids ran and bounced and yelled, and I was worry-free because it was not my house and minimal preparation was required.  (That's Beloved over there, bouncing with Pumpkin.)  Then we all had pizza and cake.

Sparkle did open presents at his party!!  I know!  After all my whining! 

We did practice gift-opening manners the day before the party.  I grabbed a blank card and some random small toys.  I wrapped each item in a plastic bag and Sparkle opened them.  He practiced looking at the card first, saying the name of the giver, opening the gift, and saying "Thank you!" clearly while making eye contact with the giver.  (No hurried, half-hearted, mumbled thank yous while rushing to the next gift!)  I even grabbed a couple of silly things, like a pair of Pumpkin's socks off the floor, for him to pretend to unwrap, so he could practice saying thank you no matter what the gift was!  He and Pumpkin both thought the dirty socks were pretty funny as a pretend gift!

(Just because we decided to let him open gifts at the party doesn't mean I was gonna get all relaxed or easy-going about it!  I must create stress, even when there is none!)

Finally, we had the Family Birthday:

I was much less...  obsessive picky...  about the gift-opening manners. 

I told him he could choose what we had for his birthday dinner and he wanted fruit slush.  Anything else?  Nope, just fruit slush.  He told me several times that he was only going to eat fruit slush for his birthday dinner, nothing else.  I don't think he believed me when I told him that was fine, and he could have as much fruit slush as he could fit in his belly.  The rest of us had some spaghetti, and I think Sparkle ate a few noodles, but he did chow down on the fruit slush. 

Sparkle helped make his cake, and had fun blowing out the candles.  Those are my headless parents up there in the second picture.

And with three separate birthdays to celebrate, Sparkle is very officially five!

Overheard: Sparkle, at Age 5 Years + 3 Days

First of all, Sparkle has a loose tooth. I think.

He came to me this morning and said, "I think this tooth hurts."  (Bottom left tooth, by the way.) I checked it out, and it seems just the tiniest bit wiggle-y.  It's hard to tell, 'cause his whole head jiggles a little bit, no matter which tooth you tug on.  But my dad checked, too, and he agreed.

Oh my gosh...

He only turned five a few days ago.  I am just barely able to wrap my head around the fact that my baby is five years old.  Having a loose tooth is just...  just...  totally unacceptable.

(sigh)

Sparkle came grocery shopping with me a few days ago, right before we were going to make his birthday cake.  (It was just like Beloved's last birthday cake, per Sparkle's very specific request.)  He was rambling on about how great the cake was going to be, and how it was going to be huge.  HUGE!  Bigger than than the table!  Bigger than the house!  Bigger than the whole world!  And then he added, "But not bigger than God." 

Because a cake bigger than God is just impossible, while a cake bigger than the whole world-- why, that makes perfect sense.

On the way home, completely out of the blue he said, "Mom, some people think castles are just imaginary, but there are lots of real castles in Europe, actually, and especially in France.  Did you know that?"

And what do you know, he's right.  Of course.

I think year five is off to a good start.

(Such perfect little shining square teeth!  I can hardly stand to see them fall out!)

"Chick Day"

There's a farm supply store near us that has what we call "chick day" every spring.  It's the day when all of their baby ducks and chicks and poultry of various kinds arrive.  They make kind of a big deal of it, and all the cool people who actually raise their own poultry come with their boxes to pick up their chicks and their new heat lamps, and what ever else baby chicks need.  A local 4H club brings their animals, and there is a little petting zoo in the parking lot.  Employees serve free hot dogs and soda. 

We've gone to "chick day" every year since Sparkle was one year old, and the boys really look forward to it.  The first year Pumpkin went, he was only six months old, but he waved his arms and squealed when we showed him the chicks and ducks and other animals.  He still loves animals and he was excited to hold some chicks and ducks on his own this year. 

Look at his sweet face!  Look at his proud smile!  Look at his gentle little hands!

We got to pet some very fluffy rabbits.

And some fuzzy lambs.  (Their names were Guy and Gus.)

And a goose.  (The goose honked and startled Pumpkin, but he still wanted to reach over and touch his feathers.)

AND!!  A puppy...  He kissed it.  He held it on his lap and patted it gently.  He asked several times if we could bring it home.  He was so incredibly cute (Pumpkin, not the puppy, though the puppy was kinda cute too), that I almost said yes.

Sparkle was there as well, but we don't have any pictures of him enjoying the animals. He was pouting because we would not let him have Coke.  Hot dog, yes.  Coke, no.  Now, we've never let him have Coke, ever, so I don't know why he was surprised by this.  And it's not because we're food-snobby parents.  Hot dogs are certainly no more healthy than Coke.  But at least hot dogs don't have caffeine.  Our Coke-refusal is 100% selfishly motivated.  I dread the day that my crazy kids get ahold of caffeine.

So anyway, Sparkle was pouting semi-quietly-- stomping after us as we walked around, crossing his arms when we asked him if he wanted to hold a chick.  After a little while Beloved just took him home and put him down for a nap.  He doesn't take naps too often any more, but he conked right out, thank goodness.  And woke up cheerful, thank goodness again.

But Pumpkin and I stayed and had a lovely time admiring all the animals.  He's already asked when we get to have "chick day" again.

Baby Shower for Twins-- Ideas?

You are all pretty smart and creative folks, right?  Could you help me out with a baby shower I'm planning?

The sweet mama is expecting twin girls!

I want the shower to be a little bit "fancy" and girl-y and very pretty, but not expensive.  There will probably be about 20 guests.  They will all be women, and most of them know each other at least a little.  It will be held at my house on a Saturday from 1 to 3 PM. 

I also hosted the baby shower for the same friend's first pregnancy (one little girl) three years ago, and the theme was centered around a "sweet pea" invitation, with green and purple colors.  The "two peas in a pod" theme would have been good for twins, but darn it, I used that already!

I decided to decorate mostly with pink and green, and try to bring in the twin thing in other ways.  I figured pink and green decorations should be easy to find, since it's spring.  Turned out to be a little trickier than I expected.  Most things I've seen so far have been very pastel, and I was hoping for the colors to be a bit brighter.  But that's okay.

So these are the invitations:  http://www.tinyprints.com/products/ProductView_2793.htm

Aren't they pretty?

We're going to do two Games:

-- sock matching game (The team of 2-3 people who can match about 30 pairs of mixed-up baby socks the fastest wins.)

-- "famous pairs" memory game (I have a list of about 100 pairs of things, like "peaches and cream," etc, and the list will be printed out, with either the first or second part missing.  Those who can complete the most pairs within 2 minutes win.)

Is that enough for games?  Can you think of any other "twin-ish" baby shower games that would be better?

Prizes, by the way, will be packages of Double Stuffed Oreos, Double Mint Gum, or Twix candy bars.  (Any other good ideas for prizes?)

Decorations will be pink and green tableclothes (one a vintage floral, the other just solid colored), pink and green paper plates and napkins, pink tulips in crystal vases, and some pink and white hyacinth flowers that are growing in my kitchen and will hopefully be blooming at the right time.

And Food...

There will be two small cakes, both white with some pink and green floral-type decoration, but one a little more pink and the other a little more green.  They will be different flavors/colors inside, I think lemon with strawberry filling and the other white with raspberry filling?  These are being made by a professional baker/cake decorator whom I've used before and I know they will be lovely and delicious.

I'd like to have food pairings that are pink/green and a little matchy but different (like twins, you know!), but I'm not sure what else to do for food.  Maybe a fruit platter with kiwi and strawberry slices?  Pink lemonade and lemon water?  What else?  I'm very stumped on the food.

My friend is looking forward to this shower, and I really want it to be nice for her.  Have you been to any baby showers for twins that were pretty and twin-y and fun?  Do you have any ideas?

Sparkle, Cookie Monster

Mmmm...  Cookies...

Me like Cookie...

Ahhh!!!Mmmm,numnumnum...

What Kids Eat

Pumpkin's dinner plate, at his very specific request:  chicken, salami ("slaw-mee"), and peanut butter toast.

Sparkle's breakfast plate:

He asked for toast with jam for breakfast.  After I gave it to him and changed my focus to making everyone's lunches, he asked, "Can I have some cinnamon on my toast?"  I said no, because, jam and cinnamon?  Yuck!  But then I thought, why not say yes?  And the result?  Drifts.  Drifts of cinnamon upon his toast with jam.  And he happily ate every bite.

Cookies and New Neighbors

A single mom who lives down the street from us just adopted two Ethiopian pre-teens.  She now has four kiddos at home.  We've kind of crossed paths a few times, but I definitely don't know her well.

We decided to make some cookies for their family, as a way to welcome the new kids and introduce ourselves.  Kind of corny, but whatever. 

So I bought some pre-made cookie dough, which is a total cop-out but it was all I had time for last week.  And when we brought over the cookies, no one was home.  The contractor who was painting at the house said they were going to be gone for several days.  Had to eat the cookies ourselves.  Big bummer.

Yesterday I decided to get all ambitious and make actual cookies, like, from a recipe, with ingredients and everything.

We made peanut butter cookies first, and Pumpkin was a big help.

Then we made chocolate chip cookies, and Pumpkin clearly preferred the chocolate chip over the peanut butter, after numerous taste tests.  You can see that he takes the evaluation very seriously.  (Edited: photo removed)

The dough was kind of thin for some reason, so I added some quick oats to try to thicken it up a bit.  Every sheet of cookies was different, dang it, because I didn't measure how much oatmeal I put in.  You can see the progression below.

Cookie #1: Super thin batter, yummy cookie but nasty looking.

Cookie #2: Better with some quick oats, but still cow pie-ish.

Cookie #3: Whoa!  Over-compensation with the quick oats produces a rock hard "cookie" that is more like a regularity supplement.

Cookie #4: Finally, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie perfection!  Mmmm...

I arranged a lovely plate of cookies and put them in a round purple cookie-box kind of thing with a welcome card (oh yes, I did, because I am SuperWoman), and brought them over to the neighbors.  Pumpkin and I met the very nice mom and all four of her sweet and adorable children. 

It was quite a process, but I think it was worth it!