As his birthday approached, starting in about July, Joseph would want to know if his birthday was before Halloween or after. I have no idea how many times I answered that question!
Thankfully, his birthday finally arrived. He had been looking forward to getting called up to the front in Primary to pick his scripture pencil and bookmark. Chad and I were in there that morning because Leah had a talk, so I got to see the huge smile on his face. He was so excited, that he started inching out of his seat as he anticipated them formally calling him to the front. And then he stood there stoically while we all sang. I loved it.
I had started the cake two nights before when I made the top of the decorations. I baked the cake Saturday night and slapped all the frosting on during a quiet time Sunday afternoon. I don't think it turned out too badly. In fact, it's my best Butter Cream Transfer to date! (I still have room for improvement.)
I bought some Toy Story sugar decorations to put on the cake. I made sure there were exactly 6...for obvious reasons.
I also picked up a game for everyone to play. I am just not a birthday party kind of mom. Daniel had the most parties, Nathan's had one and Leah is looking forward to her first one in January. So we had a party game for our family time. It seemed to work. :)
The kids were sticking on shields or sheriff stars, depending on their height. Here is Joseph, trying to get Buzz Lightyear's shield on his arm.
Sarah's blindfold slipped off, but we didn't force the rules on her. It's a good thing she's such a favorite around here!
Leah did NOT want to do a shield, but she consented to help us keep the peace (Rebekah did not want to do a shield, either). Leah is usually the one that helps us work things out. I am so thankful for her! But does it look like she's cheating??!?
Here is Rebekah putting on the first star. It looks like poor Woody is about to be
gagged.
Nathan's turn was next. He got it a little closer to the target.
Knowing Daniel, I'm pretty sure he felt his way to the right place. I would suspect him of peeking, but it doesn't look like the blindfold was cooperating.
Next it was time to open the presents. There are always a lot of helpful suggestions when it comes to opening birthday presents in this family! Sarah is trying to get Joseph to take the next gift from her before he finishes checking out the one he just opened. (I guess the dining room light was off. I promise there were some lights on somewhere when I took these pictures!)
I made Joseph a shirt with my Silhouette. He wore it the next day. :) The vinyl was fuzzy, so he spent the whole day feeling his shirt.
I think Joseph's favorite present was a backpack full of tools. He still claims that he knew he was getting tools. He didn't but he's so smitten, that he can't stop talking about them. I think that means I chose well.
Daniel and Joseph found some of their things that they could wrap up for Joseph. I love it when the kids made that kind of effort to celebrate each other. Leah didn't have anything to give Joseph, so she decided to give him a hug. It brought the biggest smile to his face!
After presents comes cake. I don't know when we got out of the habit of having ice cream with the cake. It would be delicious, but I guess the extra sugar isn't really needed.
OK. The lights were out for this shot. We wanted to see the candles! Joseph got the candles out in 2 breaths. The first breath got the candle the farthest away and the second got the closest three. Such talent! ;)
As I've said before, the birthday person gets to cut the cake. That often means we get some creative cuts on our plates. Thankfully, Joseph let me cut the rest of the cake once he dished up his own piece.
Leah was our videographer for the cake this night. It seems a little abuse of power was going on here!
It gets quiet around here when the kids start eating something they like.
Sarah really got into her piece of cake! Hmm...it looks like there was a bit of black frosting on her plate.
Joseph's eyes were bigger than his stomach. Once he'd had his fill of cake, he was gone to the living room to play with his tool set. I wish I could walk away from food like that! (Sadly, I found the best, untouched piece of cake from his plate and ate it. I can't stick to my own food!)
Joseph wasn't the only one who wanted to play with his tools some more!
At the end of the celebration, this was what was left. Joseph, Sarah and I had a little for lunch on Monday and then Chad and I finished it off (before it got stale)!
Happy Birthday, Joseph! We hope you felt special on your special day. We sure love you tons!
Happy Birthday, Joseph! Love the shirt! :)
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