Double Birthday Party

Earlier this month we had the great pleasure of a visit from these folks:

Dave's Mom and Tom hail from a tiny (and slightly swampy) mound of earth known as Merritt, Michigan. It's a good 12-hour drive from here, so we don't get to see them very often. In their honor, we held an extra birthday party for the kids--late for Matthew (September), early for Meg (December). This meant that Grandma and Grandpa got to see the kids open and enjoy their gifts, and the kids... well, they got to open and enjoy gifts! Definitely a win-win.

Meg about to start into her pile:

This was the first time Matthew really understood and got into opening presents. He still needs some help getting off all of the paper.

Rain hat and Cars sticker courtesy of Aunt Dacia. Thanks, Aunt Dacia!

Blowing out candles together:

Yay!

Matthew and the M and M cake:

The cake is sort of a funny story. I had grand plans to whip up a quick box mix and then spend the extra time decorating. It was supposed to be a fish cake, since we were going to the aquarium later that week, and both kids love fishies. I found a gorgeous example cake on the Family Fun site and was all set to work some cake magic!

Well, the cake didn't come out of the pan. I don't know quite what happened, as I haven't had a cake stick in years. I greased and floured the pan to perfection, let it cool in the pan for the recommended time, but when I turned the pan upside down and lifted... a wide and shallow crater appeared right down the middle. After a little bit of whining, I took it as a sign from the Lord that my original plan was overly ambitious (i.e., foolish). (And given the limited time I had that day, it certainly was.)

We ended up setting the missing chunk of cake back in its hole and frosting it liberally with a luscious buttercream. Meg chose green food coloring--after I said we couldn't do pink for Matthew's sake. (Mint green cake... hmm.) As a finishing touch, I cut out a stencil and made two M's with colored sugar: one pink, one blue. The blue M got two candles beside it; the pink M got four candles beside it, and that was it. My beautiful (ahem), hastily-conceived, Plan B cake.

And you know what? No one could have cared less.