We celebrated boy #2’s Birthday on Sunday and had family over for dinner.  We always let the birthday person choose what they would like to eat on their special day.  I was surprised by his choice, but meatball bombers it was!  I even tried my hand at making a cake.  Now it wasn’t the actual “making” of the cake that was difficult for me.  One of my hobbies is cooking and baking and I am pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.  I love reading cookbooks and discovering new recipes.  My latest thing has been making cupcakes from scratch, with really great frosting made from very fresh, fine ingredients. The cupcakes are always a big hit with my family and the neighbors. But my boy wanted a cake.  A football cake.  Not a cake in the shape of a football, but rather a cake in the theme of a football field, with players and goal posts and yard lines.  How could I disappoint?  I never claimed to be an artist, but here is the final creation:

It would never win any awards or blue ribbons at the State Fair (like this one….WOW)

 but the best part was my boy was thrilled!  He thought it was the greatest cake he had ever seen!  He hugged me and thanked me over and over again! Even at bed time that night, I was the recipient of a huge bear hug and a kiss on the cheek and a “thanks for the awesome birthday cake, Mom!”  That was worth it, in a big way!

Auntie, Uncle Chuck, Ty and Emma went to the Brewer game the day before the party and knowing what a Brewer fan boy #2 is, they were thoughtful enough to score some pretty cool Brewer gear for the Birthday Boy! 

Add that to the Brewer Crocs that Grammy gave him, and he is one dudded out fan! The Zumiez gift card that Aunt Jenni and crew presented the boy was burning a whole in his pocket in a big way!  If you are not familiar with Zumiez, it is a “skater” store stocking skateboard clothes, jeans, sweathshirts and the like.  One of my kid’s favorite places!  Unfortunately, they have a limited selection for the younger “sk8ter boyz”.  No worries…he found something right away that was a must have!  This sweatshirt:Now, I was not sure about this purchase.  I mean, does it not look a bit…feminine??  I even took the sweatshirt to the front of the store and asked an employee, who appeared to be a manager of sorts.  Picture a short, very curly haired, bearded man with knit cap and black horn rimmed glasses on.  I asked him if said sweatshirt was for boys, girls or both.  His response? For boys. Definitely boys.  I was schooled a bit in the fashion ways of sk8ter boyz and was told that it is very cool to wear “metro” or “femmy” clothes.  He even told me to look around the store a bit.  He was right. Lots and lots of pink, purple and light blue. All for boys.  Alrighty then.  I guess my age might be starting to show a bit! 

Here are some other pictures from the party and also from my Mom’s visit. She came to celebrate last Tuesday and stayed with us for a couple of days.  A tradition in our family is Grammy and Papa take the Birthday grandchild shopping and out for dinner.  Always a big deal, always a great time!  The birthday kid gets to pick where to go for dinner and then what their gift will be. Here is another thing he picked out with Grammy:

I know, I know. A little different, but no one ever accused my boy of being ordinary. He spotted this shirt at another “ska8ter store” about 6 months ago and has never forgotten about it. Because Grammy can never say NO to the boys, he came home with a very loud, very unique Cookie Monster shirt, that he has worn about 5 times already!  He LOVES this shirt!

Other birthday booty included a new custom built skateboard from us, a game and CD from Aunt Kris and cold hard cash from Mema and Papa and also from Great Grandpa!   He is now only about twenty bucks shy of being the proud new owner of a new Ipod Nano.  The new ones are out and come in a bevy of color choices.  And what color do you think that my boy has his eye on?  Do you think the cobalt blue or the masculine charcoal grey?  Well, you would guess wrong. He wants the bright purple one. I guess the ska8ter shop manager was right on target.  Well, at least it will match his new sweatshirt!