The Marty Party, v.4

Our quirky, stubborn, affectionate and really funny boy turned 4 on Friday.  Quirky, you ask?

Exhibit A - Peanut butter and banana sandwich for his birthday breakfast, proudly wearing a bike helmet we bough from a little friend of ours, 2.5 years younger than him.  Not only does that boy have a large noggin, Marty seems to have a small one. When we asked what he wanted for breakfast on Saturday, he didn't miss a beat and said "Cheese, Chives & Bacon!". 'Atta boy!



Not to be outdone, Max wore his matching helmet and reminds us how old he is - just for 2 more months.



Oma (Paul's Mom, Frieda) breezed into town on that day, and got to spend some time with the birthday boy and Jaxon while I helped out in Max's Kindergarten class.  It was probably the last time I'll get to do that this year, as it's a tricky time to arrange for someone to watch the two littles. Marty heard that she had a present for him, and although the plan was to open presents at his party on Saturday, he desperately wanted her present that day, that very minute!  I actually picked it out for her, as Max already has one of these and I knew Marty would love to have one of his own.  It turns out they're hard to find in the Lower Mainland ... but now that I know that Lellow carries them, I won't have to look anywhere else.  They have all kinds of fantastic baby and kid stuff.  Go check 'em out!

On Friday evening I had a chance to join a few other ladies to celebrate a dear friend's birthday. That visit was cut short, however, because Paul called to say that he needed me home with the boys so he could take the van a few cities over to pick up this super cool freebie ... !

A friend of ours works for a large school district nearby, and found this in their private classified listings.  She thought of us right away and made the connections for us to get it.  The boys LOVE IT! It's really only big enough for 2 at a time, 1 is even better, but it sure does the trick to help get some of their wiggles out.   (Remember that Raffi song?  I've gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out ... Clap, clap, clap my crazies out ... Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out ... Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out ... And wiggle my waggles away! I'm telling ya, with these three boys, that could be the soundtrack of my life!)  Waking up to find this in the back yard made for an exciting start to their day. *Now Sunday evening ... we wonder how we lasted so long without a trampoline!  Today Marty was in the house watching a video, got up, told us he was going to jump on our trampoline, jumped a few minutes, then came back in for the rest of his show.  I'm really interested to see how the extra activity will affect our boys contentment.* The safety pads that came with it were totally trashed, so our plan is to buy replacements, eventually.  They're close to $200!

Good friends came over with their two boys to help celebrate Marty's birthday. Paul and Ben work together, and us girls enjoy each other's company as well.  Gotta love it when it all works out that way.  Oma and Great-Oma were there too.  We missed having my cousin and her family join us, but she wasn't feeling good and the long drive out here from Vancouver and back would just have been too much to attempt.  These 4 boys play so well together!  Later when Max and J were taking turns lifting each other up, J kissed Max on the cheek.  It was so cute.

These two get along famously as well.  They are in the same Sunday School class, as are Max and J.

Present time! I'm really not a big fan of  scads of presents being piled upon my boys for their birthday, and Christmas too.  I find the whole gift thing to be tricky.  Maybe that's why I have avoided hosting elaborate birthday parties for my boys.  Our family is going to a birthday party on Saturday, and I loved seeing a note on the invitation, saying that the birthday boy already has so many toys, so in lieu of gifts, the family is collecting donations to Matthew's House, a hospice facility that the family has a close connection to.  What a great idea!  Last Christmas, we got the boys a few small things, and then requested that in lieu of gifts, we were starting a "Family Fun Account".  This is money we keep on hand for special occasions or timely purchases for the boys, or the whole family.  Audio cds, dinner out at a restaurant, a fence so they can play safely in the back yard, cookies at a craft fair, new shoes, some essentials at a department store ... just some of the things the Family Fun Fund has provided for.  We don't do gifts for any other holidays either.  They certainly get special surprises throughout the year, but we try to keep the emphasis on who we're celebrating, not what stuff they're getting.  I know there is the whole side of gifts in the GIVING, and I don't mean to minimize that part, but at this stage of life where the stuff can mix up the meaning for their young little hearts, we're keeping things as simple as we can.

This first gift was almost the only one Marty was going to get from us.  Last week I bought some tiny little Holey Soles for Jax on a super sale from Lee Valley. I bought a pair of the biggest size that will fit Max next year, so we now have one in every size.  The boys call them their "easy shoes". Jax's little red shoes just looked so darn cute, we thought it would be fun to get a pair for each of them.  Our local store didn't have any left in the boys current sizes so I ordered them online. I was so pleased when they arrived on Friday, just in time for Saturday's party.  (I gave Max his current size this morning, so now they all have their red easy shoes.  I'll try to get a picture soon.)

This next gift was really last minute, and I hadn't really clued in to how much Marty wanted one of these.  His friend has a similar toy, and he's always admired it.  So when he asked me the other day if he was getting a "Mack truck and trailer" (from the movie Cars) I really shouldn't have been surprised.  I didn't think he made the connection from playing with it a few times over the past year - to hoping to get one of his own for his birthday. I just kind of brushed it off but had a feeling that he'd be mightily disappointed if it didn't materialize.  So I sent Paul off on Saturday morning to see what he could find.  Marty had seen one at Zellers and asks about it EVERY TIME I even drive by the store.  They didn't have anything in stock, but Paul found one at Wal-Mart. It was much pricier than we would normally spend on a birthday gift, but we used the birthday/family fun money my parents sent (also received on Friday!) to pay for most of it.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  Just wait till you see the video of him opening it.  "It's a truck! It's a Mack truck!  It's a Mack truck and trailer!" It's pretty cool, the back of the trailer opens out flat and has a launching pad for the Lightening McQueen car to blast off from.

Let them eat cake ... pops!

I've seen a few of my friends post pictures of the cake pops they've made for various occasions, so I wanted to give it a try.  (Everyone I asked says they used the recipe from Bakerella, so that's where I shall send you for the how-to.  Be warned, she has a recent post featuring STAR WARS cookie cutters!) They were fairly easy to make, although certainly more time consuming than a regular batch of cupcakes or cookies.  But in the place of a cake, I think they were great.  (Poor Max was confused, though.  He came to me and asked for cake, after he had already downed two pops!) Kudos to my love, PZ, for doing most of the chocolate dipping and sprinkle sprinkling.  (The blue coating is candy melts, purchased from Michael's.) The stainless steel colander was originally my plan to hold them up while they dried, but it was pretty fun looking with it all filled up, so it became the serving piece too.

Long ago, Max felt the need to ask Marty what kind of party he wanted for his 4th birthday.  This got Marty to thinking about his favourite cartoon character, Mater - from the Cars movie, of course.  When he first took a shine to this movie, and the subsequent paraphanalia, we quickly discovered how hard it was to find the one he truly had his heart set on.  We have looked at every opportunity for pretty close to 2 years, and could never find any. We knew they existed, as we'd seen them at friends' houses.  Would you believe what Paul found on his search, just hours before the party?   Ta- daaaaa!

So, Marty got his wish to have Mater on his cake.  I reserved some of the cake mix from the pops to make a cupcake so there would actually be a cake for Mater to sit upon.  At the last minute I realized it make a good candle holder too, phewf.  I hadn't thought of that with the pops.

* in which they eat cake pops *

Happy Birthday to our precious Marty-Bug.  There really is no one like you.  We hear it over and over from friends, family and strangers alike, that you really are one of a kind.  We've always known that, but it's so fun to see you change your world and bless those around you.