Party pictures!

After telling us for weeks that he wanted a Thomas the Train cake, Nate changed his mind when he saw the Stickers pan at the frosting store. I was fine with that, it was actually easier to do! The sheet cake is vanilla, the Stickers is chocolate. Buttercream frosting. I can make frosting, but with his party and the girls' party coming up, I bought it. In a 5 gallon bucket. Seriously, 28 pounds of yummy goodness....it tastes good and is so much less work.

Everyone was excited for cake and ice cream....

My dad. We couldn't find any party hats with Stickers. Nate was happy with the Ernie and Elmo ones.

I am pretty sure he is saying "Yes, way" in this picture. I don't know where he picked it up from, but it was pretty cute and he kept saying it all day.

My mother in law knit him a sweater and matching hat. I thought she used her knitting machine for it, but Lino said that he hasn't set that up yet, she did it by hand. I was amazed, the rows are all so neat and uniform. I would love to learn how to knit someday...

So, that is it. The kids had fun. Nate got some of the noisiest toys I have ever heard, which my dad thinks is funny.

Mmm....cake

I think the pictures speak for themselves. From Lino's birthday....

Future rock star:

Little man's birthday party

We had Nate's birthday party yesterday. We had postponed it one week, both my dad and my sister had the flu. The kids have had flu shots, Lino and I have not. I was completely ok with changing the date of the party and keeping the flu out of the house.

As it was, changing the date gave me more time to get the house from 'out-of-control-clutter' to 'able-to-have-parents over'. I have discovered the existence of kitchen counters! Who knew? Now the test will be maintaining the clutter-free environment.

Back on Nate's actual birthday, we had cupcakes and sang to him-he cried. He cried at last years party, too, when we sang Happy Birthday, so no singing this year. As it turned out, he napped later than I thought he would, so I had to wake him up for cake and ice cream, and it took a while for him to warm up. He wanted Maggie and Cassie to blow out the candles, and they were more than happy to help! He was ready to go at present time, though!

He had fun, got some neat toys, and enjoyed playing with the balloons. Lino got a small helium tank from the store, so we did them ourselves. Cassie collected all of the pink and red balloons and claimed them for herself. Maggie used her purple and green ones in an experiment, she was trying to lift a toy off the ground. Nate was very happy with his yellow 'bloon'.

After everyone left, I tried to get a good picture of Nate for his official birthday portrait. We had no luck at the studio 2 weeks ago, and it is too far of a drive to randomly attempt it. I also don't think it is worth it to stress him out about it, so if I can get a nice picture at home, then that will do! Here are some of what I got.

It was a fun day, but a long one. The kids were up very early due to the excitement, so by bedtime, they (and I) were ready for sleep!