Alex's birthday

You may recall, Alex turned 4 on December 5. His birthday party was actually on the day of his birthday, which seems to be a rarity around here.

We don't go all out for parties like some people do. I believe that if you start kids out having big expensive celebrations, they only grow to expect bigger and more expensive each year.

So we go small time ... usually.

Since Alex is only 4 and really hasn't made that many friends yet, we stuck with family only. Close family only. My mom and sister; Doug's parents; my brother, Dave, his wife, Terri, and their two girls, Jordan and Christiana. It's not that others aren't invited, but those are the ones who usually come. Which is good because in December, we're more than likely having an inside party and it can get pretty crowded in my house with too many people.

This year I decided to make Alex's birthday cake. I like Giant Eagle's cakes but they are a bit pricey, especially when you consider a cake mix is about a buck and a can of frosting is about two. And it's not like I don't have time to whip up a cake.

So I bought the cake mix and the frosting and the colored icings and a Thomas kit from Giant Eagle's bakery. (Did you know you can just buy the kit without having to buy a cake?) By the time I was done, I probably spent as much as if I had just had GE make the cake. But it was still fun (mostly) making his cake.

The hardest part was writing "Happy Birthday Alex". Cake decorators must have a great deal of patience. Missy from GE makes the most beautiful cakes. Very creative. Mine didn't even come close to what she could have done, but Alex was happy with it. (We know Missy's name because every time we go to Giant Eagle, we have to swing by and look at the cakes. We never buy anything but it is a requirement that we go look. I even find myself looking at them when I am by myself. :) )

I let Alex decide what we were going to do first, have cake or open gifts. Of course, he chose gifts. He really had a good time opening his gifts. He kept handing the cards to me like he couldn't be bothered with them.

Alex "drowning" in a sea of gifts. :)

Grammy and Linda bought the kids these blowers. I cringed when Alex opened them ... expecting the rest of the day to be filled with the noise of horns tooting. But thankfully they were the silent kind. The kind that the paper unrolls when you blow. The kids definitely had a good time with them. Thanks, Grammy!

Keira and Nick ganging up on Alex. How fun!

I actually had to make Alex blow out his candle twice because I missed it the first time. My kids are used to "retakes" since their mom is a big-time scrapbooker. :)
Finally, what better way to end this post than with this precious picture of Alex holding Christiana. How sweet is that?!
Go ahead, say it ... Aaaaawwwww!

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