PM turns 5

We survived PM’s party. I even survived the preparation for it. I think it went quite well all things considered. Crazy and chaotic but PM had fun for this party. He had said that he didn’t like LB’s birthday party – the best part had been the cake. I was glad he liked the cake because he doesn’t always like things I make (I suppose it depends on how sweet it is and her cake wasn’t that sweet).

Onto PM’s birthday – well maybe we’ll stay on the topic of cakes for a while. He started talking about what kind of cake he was going to have for his birthday shortly after his sister’s (2 months apart). It took a while for the decision to be made. He wanted banana and raspberry with strawberry icing (at first it was going to be pineapple as well but then we decided to put that on the pizza instead) with no flour. My way of doing this is to check out a few recipes for ideas and then make my own creation, as long as it was dairy- and gluten-free. Scary to think how we can become like our parents. Ya never knew what to expect at my house when I was growing up and my mom’s baked goods often didn’t go over too well. Whole grains, low sweetness – not appealing to young kids with white bread, sugar diets. We didn’t have white bread but I know I wanted it back then.

Unfortunately getting the house spic and span before the party wasn’t in the time allowed (I suppose I could have given up all time to myself and sleep and completed a complete house cleaning but I won’t do that). One of these days I shall be organized and have a neat and tidy and clean house. Well neat and tidy as you can expect with two little ones underfoot.

Seven other kids showed up and they ran around and played all sorts. Last year I decided on ‘Pin the nose on the happy face’ as I figured I would be able to draw a circle for a happy face (though in the end Thomas ended up drawing the face). This year I figured we could be more creative since there is an artist in the house. ‘Pin the bucket on the backhoe’. I was most impressed by Thomas’ backhoe. He used one of PM’s trucks as a sample and made a pretty darn nice looking backhoe/front loader. He even drew and cut out buckets. Unfortunately not too many were into playing the game the way it is ‘supposed’ to be played. PM wouldn’t let me cover his face – he just took the bucket and stuck it on the way it is meant to go. Another little guy had the same idea. I think I scared away another girl by trying to cover PM’s eyes. Another girl liked the element of the surprise and just closed her eyes rather than having them covered. Well there are a few misplaced buckets on the backhoe.

The pizza seemed kinda so-so. Not sure the crust was the best but I didn’t throw any out so it couldn’t have been that bad. I definitely didn’t throw out any cake either. Last year I threw out a lot more and that time I followed a recipe!

I made another cake for PM’s actual birthday which was two days after the party (confusing for the little guy to change the day of his birthday like that) and that was enjoyed as well. This one was a maple cashew cake – again with no grain flour. And I like having the opportunity to experiment with baking.

My foot still hurts (so does my thumb) but it gets better every day. There are still certain ways it really hurts to move my foot and it is very sensitive to touch. I figure there is no way I would have been able to have PM’s party the way it was if my foot was any worse. Lucky we are.

I’d say the kids are also pretty lucky to have so many great people in their life. That goes for me as well. Unfortunately at the party I didn’t really get the chance to sit and hang out and listen to the conversation. I did like what snippets I heard. A group of moms talking about childbirth where unassisted isn’t a weird freaky thing and homebirth is accepted as the norm. Breastfeeding is a given and extended bf is totally ok. Homeschooling or unschooling (life learning) is just another part of parenting. Pretty cool I think.