March Birthday Madness

Tyler and Whitney's back-to-back birthdays are over. Here is a recap; sorry if you don't like collages. I find that it's the easiest way for me to organize my thoughts and not have to upload tons of pictures up here. (Click the collages if you want to see more detail.)

Tyler kind of had his birthday off from work. He was told he didn't have to go into the city as long as he finished his required reading at home. So Tyler got to volunteer in Whitney's preschool class that morning, and then we all met for lunch at In N Out.

After lunch, I had a few errands to run for Whitney's birthday, so Tyler took the kids over to some baseball fields by the library to play for a while. After I took care of my things, I met up with them and then took the kids home for naps while Tyler got his studying done.

When Tyler's studying was complete, he came home for a simple dinner and birthday cake. Tyler had been craving this Turtle Cake that he and his freshman year roommate ate in one night. So I got in touch with Jeremy D, and he came through with the recipe for Tyler's big day. It was awesome! The leftover cake in the fridge the day after was even better than fresh out of the oven. I'm so glad we gave away some of the leftovers, or for sure our guts would have turned into turtle cakes.

The next day was Whitney's BIG day! We woke her up singing to her with breakfast. Unfortunately the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins she requested were not made because mommy used the last bag of chocolate chips for her preschool birthday treat to share the day before--DOH! So we gave her some Fruity Pebbles which she was just as happy about. Phew! I'm glad I didn't get busted for not obeying the birthday list she gave me.

After breakfast she went on a hunt to find her presents. Cole gave her the "girl Legos" she wanted, Annie gave her a princess hat (Whitney was the only one in the family without a hat), and Tyler & I got her a new bike. We sold her old 12" bike last fall, so this new 16" bike is just right for her.

After presents, we walked over to the St. Patrick's Day Parade with Whitney riding her new bike. We conveniently stopped at a spot close by the McDonald's (where Whitney had requested her birthday lunch) and the grocery store (where Tyler walked over during the parade to get some last minute party items).

We made it back home with about an hour to spare before Whitney's party started. I dropped Annie off at my sister's house (smartest idea of the day--thanks, sis!), and then we got to work decorating our complex's clubhouse. We kept the party simple while fulfilling Whitney's dreams to have a Tinkerbell theme with face painting and a pinata. Tyler was a pro at painting faces, and Whitney & I made a homemade pinata for the event because the Tinkerbell pinatas we saw at the store were puny and wimpy for the $20 asking price. Really, who wants to fork over $20 for a little 7-8 inch pull string pinata? Not us. We needed something that would dump a lot of candy and that the kids could give a good beating without breaking our bank.

Thank you, wikihow for teaching me how to make our first pinata. It was really easy, and super ghetto. It obviously didn't win a prize for the fanciest or most beautiful, but it was definitely the best price for us. I would bet that our 8 cent pinata gave us a lot more bang (literally) for our buck than the teeny Tinkerbell one would have; however, it was definitely lacking in the aesthetic department. I'm hesitant to post pictures because of how truly ghetto the pinata was and also because at the party Tyler said, "Let's hurry and do the pinata before any parents come and see it!" ha ha ha. Thankfully the kids didn't make fun of us and they thought it was cool.
Really, we had a good time, and the pinata was surprisingly durable! Each kid got a turn to hit it 2 good times, and when everyone had a turn, they got to go again with 2 hits. And I think almost on cue, the pinata broke on the last kid's second turn. Thank you pinata for not letting us down!

Whitney was in heaven on her birthday reminding me constantly that "the birthday girl gets to choose everything!!" So the birthday girl chose her own clothes, meals, and unfortunately hairdo as well. She is not a big fan of getting her hair done, so wearing her hair down all day was heavenly for her.

March has been mostly a good month for us. Except for two minor things (Tyler taking a trip to the east coast for 4 days and being home today with sick kids), we really have had a great month.