We finally got some rain, and broke our bizarre, icky streak of 100+ temps for endless days-in-a-row. Whew.
A storm rolling in. Yay!
The view above my house, before it broke loose.
I finally caught lightning in a photo.
I've been trying for this for years - it's not
as easy as you would think, when you don't have
the right lenses & aren't familiar with the different
speeds on your big, bad camera.
It actually got down into the 80's for a day or two, which gave everyone the break they needed to continue their will to live. That heat streak we had going for 60-some odd days was obnoxious, and won't be missed. We've settled into the high 90's these days, which I'll take. Anything is better than heat indexes of 112.
Last Thursday we celebrated the Z man's SEVENTH birthday! Holy moley! What the ... ?! I still sit around trying to figure out where the time has gone, but I'll never really figure that out. Just gotta keep going with the flow, right? He asked me to make vanilla cupcakes for his special snack at school on his big day, and he also requested they be Transformers. Not a problem!
Fun with food coloring, part I.
Fun with food coloring, part II.
The naked little cupcakes.
One part of the Decepticon batch.
A close-up.
The Autobot batch, as well as the one for him
and the one for his teacher.
A close-up.
Didn't want her to feel like she had to choose
good or evil that day. With 22 kids, you never
know which side she might pick, bless her heart.
Z wanted his to look different than everyone else's.
He was thrilled with how they turned out, so mission accomplished. That evening, my parents & Ken came over and we opened presents, then went to the birthday dinner of Z's choice. This year, it was Pizza Hut. Did you know they only have one left in north Austin/Round Rock/Pflugerville that you can go sit down and eat? I was sad to hear that, because I remember what a treat it was when I was a kid, for all of us to go sit in a Pizza Hut and devour a pan pizza. Here are some shots of him opening gifts, then at the restaurant:
Happy to see a Transformer from his bday wish list.
Getting a Lego set from his list.
More Legos.
The moment right before he nearly passed out at
the sight of the GIANT Indiana Jones Lego set on
his list, which he didn't think he would get.
Studying it, up close.
Ma is a little camera-shy.
Thoroughly enjoying his pizza.
Then shooting the last of his ranch dressing
and making me gag.
The fam.
The cake at home, after pizza. *burp*
Since his birthday fell on a school night, we decided to have his party the Saturday after. This year, he picked a Spongebob themed party to take place at Chuck E. Cheese, and we all met around noon for more pizza (gag), more cake (notice I did NOT say gag here), and lots of games. Sidebar: if I see another piece of pizza again before I turn 40, I might vomit instantaneously.
His kick-ass Patrick cake, courtesy of
He and Kate riding a faux roller coaster.
Going downhill on said roller coaster.
My parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law, Eric.
The whole group, mid munching.
I'd say he looks content.
Kate, not caring much for all the noise.
They gave him a special crown & medal.
He was thrilled!
Dancing with the rat.
Kate asked Chuck, "do you know me?
I'm Kate, and I'm four."
Everyone got a high-five from Chuck.
The birthday boy.
Some of the kids had already left by the time I
got around to taking a group picture. Here are
the last few standing, all looking cracked-out on
coins and cake.
And, the sad aftermath of Patrick, post party:
It's in my fridge still, even though it's 5 days old.
It still tastes damn good, don't judge.
As you can probably imagine, the party was a huge hit, and we had one very happy child on our hands afterward. The Longhorn season opener was in the evening, on the same day as Z's party. What a busy day! Of course, the Horns smeared Louisiana-Monroe, and looked really good doing it. I was also able to finally have the hot wings I've been dreaming of since last season. I only let myself eat them a few times during football season, then I stay away from them the other eight months of the year, so they don't lose their "special treat" status. Between pizza x 2, birthday cake x 2, then wings, I've been walking around with the nagging desire to go running. Right now. For miles and miles ...
This year, the two celebrations wore us out, and we took all day Sunday to recover and do a whole lot of nothing. All of us were home, with nothing to do, and it was so nice. Zach and I got Labor Day off too, but Aaron had to work. Darn retail.
That catches us up to today. Things are back in full swing with school - homework every night, tests every Friday, etc. He made a 102 on his last spelling test, because she gave two extra credit questions and he got them right. Hooray! Tomorrow I have to drop Z off at school, then walk across the parking lot to attend a room-parent meeting. I'll then have to pick him up after school, go home, then turn around & go back to school for back-to-school night. Sheesh. Maybe I should just stay on campus & work remotely all day. It would save me some gas, anyway.
Three things I'm grateful for today:
1. That we were able to give him his dream party.
2. That we only have one child, so we only have to
do this once a year.
3. Days off together.
Off to watch reruns of The Office with my hubby. Peace & pastries to everyone.
2 comments:
Great pictures- all of them! Love the cupcakes.
We had a great time! Kate was WORN out in a good way! LOVE the pics!
Post a Comment