Time to Party

I can't believe my baby boy will be turning 3 in less than one week! We are actually celebrating the occasion with TWO parties - one at Grandma & Grandpa Wright's, which was this past weekend, and one next weekend with cousin Esther at Grandma & Grandpa Miller's. Does it get any better than that??

It worked out perfectly. I was all set to do an Elmo theme for Zekers and Esther, since they both love the little red fuzzy guy. Well, about 2 weeks ago, Zekers decided that he just HAD to have a Thomas party. Nothing else would do - he's absolutely crazy about Thomas & friends. So, now he gets to have both! Normally I would have made him choose one, but I figured with 2 parties, why not do 2 different themes?





The trick was coming up with a Thomas cake that someone as non-artistic as I am could make, without spending a small fortune on a special pan. My goal was simply that Zekers would recognize that it was Thomas! I ended up Googling an image of Thomas, printing it off, getting an enlargement made at a local print shop, and using it as a template. I baked 2 9x13" cakes, laid the "pattern" on top and cut out around it, then just kind of tried to copy the image using frosting and a couple of girl scout cookies. Danny was nice enough to take the kids for the morning to I could work uninterrupted - and I needed every minute of that time - it took me just about 3 hours, not including baking time! But it was worth it. Zekers' face lit up the moment he laid eyes on the cake, and that was enough reward for me.
























Highlights of the day included: a dog towel, complete with long ears and a tail; a new stuffed rhino whom he promptly named "Chunky"; a Spiderman sleeping bag (How he can be such a big fan without ever having seen any Spiderman shows is beyond me!); a Thomas train that goes, stops and turns at the toot of a whistle; and a teeter-totter from cousins Quinn and Ian. Oh yes, and the cake and ice cream.



I couldn't resist taking a picture of Zekers' backside at one point, because he always looks like this from the rear. The poor little guy has no hips, and his pants are constantly pulling his diaper down and showing a very large portion of backside. It cracks me up.

On the way home, I believe our little birthday boy was completely partied out. This is pretty much how he spent the ride home - rhino firmly positioned under one arm and fully outfitted in all his cowboy gear. Oh, yeah - he decided to go with the dual theme of "Thomas the train" and "Cowboy", donning a vest, boots and hat over his train shirt. What can I say? He's an aclectic little guy!