Party Party Party!

We have a lot of family in town which makes birthdays great and tricky at the same time. Several of Carter's friends have been having 5th birthday parties, which has been a lot of fun for him. However, I knew we'd have all the fam over around his birthday, so rather than doing an official party with his kid pals too, I invited some friends for cupcakes at the playground. It wound up being a beautiful day.

Friday, most kids don't have pre-school, so it's a nice time for an outing. I didn't get too many pictures, but we had about 25 kids there. Here's Carter with his cupcake. It was fun for all....some of my fellow mommy friends and I got time to chat and catch up while the kids got plenty of exercise, fun and fresh air! Plus, sugar before lunch!

Trent, Leah and Lane

Then, on Sunday we had all the family over for chilli and cake! Carter requested a pumpkin cake since his birthday is also the first day of fall. So, I attempted a pumpkin cake. Baking is not really my strong suit, but I do bake their birthday cakes (even though they don't look so pretty), and I make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies pretty often. I just would rather cook than bake. I think it has something to do with my patience level as well as...yeah, I guess it's mostly my patience level. The cake recipe I found was technically for a bundt pan. However, b/c of the amount of batter, I thought it would work for a double sheet pan. Not so much. It was basically a sheet of cardboard! That's the thing about baking, it is precise. I followed the recipe, but it just didn't turn out. So, I'm assuming it's b/c it would have stayed more moist in a bundt pan, less surface area I suppose. His other request was that he have a jet on the cake. That part worked out and the frosting ended up pretty tasty.

Here's some shots from cake time...Jeremy's mom with Elliot

The birthday boy and his pumpkin jet cakeAction shot with the candles. Also, since I haven't really posted any belly shots, you'll notice in the background you can kind of get the profile - 22 weeks.
Just after Carter blew out the candles. He was pretty excited!

Elliot, letting us know what he thought of the cake. He would eat the frosting, then spit the rest out! My parents kept trying.

Carter was given some awesome gifts, including a bug exploration kit, a kid's microscope and a dinosaur puzzle book. He's been busy all week and he's even doing a good job (most of the time!) sharing his new birthday toys with Leah and Elliot.

Lydia with Oliver, sporting the "I do all my own stunts" shirt, which totally suits his personality.

Aunt Heather with Crawford.

Just for a flashback, here's Carter at about 8 months old.

Happy Birthday Buddy! I can't believe you are 5!!!