#5 turns 6

Mason turned 6 Wednesday.  6 years since my last epidural.  6 years since I felt little feet kicking inside me.  6 years since my last contraction.  6 years since I actively used words like cervix, dilated & Braxton Hicks.   6 years since I heard the magical words "It's  a boy!!!".  6 years....  It doesn't seem possible but here we are.  My baby just keeps growing up.  

To celebrate~ he decided , after some lively discussion, to have a Rocket Cake and a Rocket party.

I really like making birthday cakes.  Family Fun magazine is my "go to source" for birthday cakes I'm capable of creating.  There has definitely been a learning curve.  My first 2 attempts at creative cakes were absolute disasters.   Rachel's 3rd birthday I tried to make a dog.... I didn't know you had to freeze the cake when you cut and shape, to make it easier to frost.   I didn't even have a big enough freezer to get a cake into back then. I had never heard of a "crumb coat".  I finally gave up trying to frost the sides and finished the top and took "aerial" photos strategically from above...   For Carly's 5th birthday I tried to make a barbie cake.  You know where you cook the cake in a bowl, stick a barbie in the top and decorate the cake like her dress??? I didn't know you were supposed to use a pyrex bowl.... I used a metal bowl and it just wouldn't cook right.  The cake was gooey in the middle and thick, dry and hard on the outside.  I turned it upside down and plunked the barbie in anyway.  Frosted it up with pink frosting and "voila" my first barbie cake.  I kept trying anyway, despite my less-than-spectacular early attempts.  Many years later,  I've got 3 race car track cakes, 2 pony cakes, 2 beehive cakes, a mad scientist cake, a volcano cake, panda cupcakes, bird cupcakes, a couple of dinosaur cakes, an airplane cake and many others under my belt and I'm feeling pretty confident about my birthday cake creating abilities.  

A couple weeks ago Mason and I  got the folder where we keep all our birthday cake ideas out and began looking.  He pulled out a monkey cake, looked at it thoughtfully and asked "can you make that?"  "Yes, I can", I replied, beginning to calculate how many fruit roll-ups, tootsie rolls and candy bananas I'd need.  He tosses it down on the table and says "Nope, I don't want it.... can you make a window cake?"  "A window cake?????  I guess I could."  My mind is trying to wrap itself around the idea of a window cake when he pulls out a volcano cake.  "Can you make this?" he asks.  "yes!" I said, happily dismissing the window cake idea.  He throws it down.  "Nope, don't want it.... Can you make a door cake?"  "what??? a door cake?????  I guess I could"  

I decided at this point I was going to end up making a very boring window or door cake, possibly even an air conditioner cake if I didn't take control of this conversation.  I found this cake and really started pushing the idea of a whole "rocket party" based on the cake.   After a few minutes, he was sold and I breathed a sigh of relief.  I mean who wants to make a door cake???? That's just weird.  Still trying to figure out where he was going with that.

He helped me mix the cake and bake it.  We cut it and shaped it the next morning and slipped it into the freezer.  After school that night we stayed up after the rest of the kids went to bed and frosted it and decorated it.  He had lots of ideas!!!!  

We planned a simple party at the park after school for an hour.  We went over who he wanted to invite and I was THRILLED he wanted to keep it small.  I was afraid he'd want to invite his whole class but he named 5 of his  " best friends".  This included 2 boys from his school class, 2 neighbor girls who are a little younger than he is and another good friend from primary.   

It turned out great.  Mark was able to come so our whole family was there.  The kids just played at the park while we waited for everyone to arrive.  When all the party guests were there we sang happy birthday, tried to light the cake, 

the wind wouldn't let us.... we took a fake "blowing out the candles" picture and started cutting the cake.  

One little boy from Mason's school class took a bite of his cake and in his earnest little lispy voice exclaimed, 

"Mrs. B, Did you make this cake in heaven cuz' it "thure" "tastths" like it!!!"

Oh my goodness.  How do you respond to that??  He totally made my day.  I know he might have heard it somewhere else but it was delivered with intense sincerity.  So cute.  

We played "Rocket Tag" and "blast off" (duck duck goose replacing duck duck with random numbers and goose with blast off) and then played at the park til parents got there.  

It was fun, cheap, easy and a success.  

I feel bad for my younger kids because I used to put so much more effort into planning the older kids parties when they were this age but I don't have the same time and/or energy I used to.  I whined to my sister Christy about this fact and she was kind to let me off the hook with this sage advice "They don't KNOW they're getting the short end of the stick.  They're still having fun! Don't worry about it"  I was only too eager to grab a hold of that philosophy and never look back.  

We came home and had his birthday dinner and I tucked the 3 little ones into bed.  I settled down with Mark to relax and watch American Idol when he comes rushing downstairs urgently stating "I get to stay up late because it's my birthday!!!!"

I reminded him he got to stay up late the night before with his cake and he needed to get to bed now.  He begged and I gave in saying, "10 more minutes, that's it!".  He was happy to accept my terms and he snuggled into my arms.  About 5 minutes later he was so completely asleep you couldn't wake him at all.  Carly gathered him up in her arms and carried him to bed.  

Good night Birthday boy.  Til next year.......