Happy birthday...

May is a busy month for us as far as birthdays go.  We have a heap of good friends who are celebrating with us over the next few days and wish them all the most wonderful day. I must send special far-away birthday greetings to our very special friends, Wendy, Lee, Morgan and Roo - I hope you all have THE most fabulous birthdays and get spoiled rotten and eat PLENTY of cake, which is exactly what I plan to do today.

Despite being sent home from school with a fever, Jake had a great day yesterday.  We planned a surprise party for him with a few close family and friends popping in to have a piece of cake and wish him a happy day.  After his Fear Factor party last week, it was completely unexpected and he loved it.  He's asked for ages to have a surprise party one day, so it was great to finally be able to do that for him. You can check out how far he's come since day one in last year's birthday post here.

So, firstly, to my VERY special big boy, Jake.  I love you more than words can say and it's such a privilege to be your mom.  I love getting to know you more and more with each year that passes.  I love how your confidence has grown this year and I love seeing how smart you are in all your school work.  I love seeing how you face new challenges!  I love seeing you enjoy your rugby and being with your friends.  I think its great that you don't really care whether you win or lose - as long as you have a run and a laugh with your buddies, that's all that matters.  I love watching you do your swimming too - you are a real little fish!  You have the most beautiful back stroke.  You are affectionate and caring and kind and your love for nature and the world outside is a real blessing.  Treasure that always.  I love sharing the world with you and seeing things through your eyes - I wish we could travel more often!  I love being with you and I love our special times together.  You are the most precious boy I could ever have wished to call my own and you have stolen my heart with your sweet smile and your loving ways.  I hope that being 9 is going to be a wonderful year for you and I hope that all your dreams come true.  I love you with all my heart, mom X

 Next up and also very important in our lives, is Bi, who shares my birthday with me today.  Bi is officially 2 now and has begun throwing little temper tantrums perfectly on time with her second birthday.  It's hard to believe that someone so angelic looking can let it rip quite like she does!  So, to Bi, happy birthday little Princess!  You are so cute and so funny and so stingy with your hugs and kisses, that when you choose to share them, we are all putty in your hands.  It's so special to have a little girl in our family again!  Despite what your mommy wants, you certainly aren't a fairy and it's lovely to see you running around barefoot in your pretty dresses.  You love your brother so much and it's so sweet to see you running after him to give him a kiss and hug before he goes to school in the morning and at bed time.  You love make up and having your nails painted.  It's so special to have you starting to chat with us.  You are quite vocal in having your opinions heard.  That's great, I like a strong-willed woman!  We love you Bi and hope you enjoy every minute of being 2, especially your beautiful, pink, fairy party tomorrow.  Love Auntie Sue XXX

And last, but not least, there's me!  Happy birthday me.  I'm having the most wonderful day ever.  I've got flowers and chocolates and cards and gifts and phone calls and messages from just about every one I know.  Last year's birthday certainly doesn't go down as my greatest, but I'm loving my day today. Everyone has made me feel so special!!

Enjoy the weekend!

Lots of love,

Sue XXX

FEAR FACTOR...

Jake decided that this year he wanted a Fear Factor party to celebrate his birthday with.  I had my heart set on being able to give him one last big party with all his friends, so rented a hall and hired people to come in and play the games.  Jake's guest list steadily climbed and we ended up with 33 kids!  Thankfully, I planned it for the afternoon, so there wasn't too much to do in the food line.  I also baked his cake the weekend before and froze it till Friday night, when I iced and decorated it.  Pretty cool, hey!!

 We had the hall (the one where Jake does cubs) from 1pm, with the party starting at 3.  Gave us (my folks & I) plenty of time to get everything set out before all the kids arrived...

 Sorting out sweets and things for this party was lots of fun and Jake had some really good ideas to make everything look really disgusting.  These were body parts.  Funny faces, teeth, noses, toeses, brains, feet...

 We also managed to get some really realistic bugs, which were awesome for decorating with - check out the maggots...

 Chocolate coated bananas became monkey poo...

 This was probably Jake's best idea - mouldy mice on skewers.  Oh my, how I love these marshmallow mice, I could eat a whole boxful.  We painted them with green food colouring and put little crosses over their eyes...

 Red velvet cake pops.  These were really fun to make, although I did have a cake pop tray for baking, so I did cheat...

 Giant earbuds...

Green jelly - I could probably have put something in the bottom, but they were fun and the kids really enjoyed these...

 Because it was mid-afternoon, I didn't do too much in the line of savouries, but I did make vienna (yes, only Woolies ones) octopuses that went down well...

 The cake looked extra cute with the twisty candles...

 Jake had a party from 12 - 2, so by the time he arrived at the hall, we'd pretty much finished setting up and he was very excited for all his friends to arrive...

 And arrive they did!! They were all nervous and excited about what was going to happen.  For those of you who live abroad, please note that it was 24 deg C on Saturday.  Autumn.  This is seriously the best time of year in Cape Town - the wind doesn't breathe...

 The first game was egg throwing.  The kids stood in rows opposite each other and once you'd thrown, you had to move to the back of the line.  The next kid wasn't allowed to move forward, so they kept getting further away from each other.  We thought the eggs were hard boiled, because they did drop a few and they bounced, but there were breakages after a few throws, so then the game was really on...

 Good catch, Jake...

 He loved the fact that he was throwing a raw egg at one of his friends...

 Oh the potential...

 Next up was dog biscuits...

 The kids were divided into teams again and this time was a relay race.  They had to crawl a little way, pick up a biscuit with their mouths and crawl back, collecting their biscuits in a pile...

 The birthday boy was first up...

 As the youngest kid there, Corky was an absolute star and was brave enough to take part in every single game.  What a sport!  His dad was his own private cheerleader...

 And look how excited his team is, cheering him on his way back with his biscuit...

Once the race was over, 2 kids from each team were picked to have a race eating one of the dog biscuits.  That's his friend Michael with him...  

 Jake's biscuit's in.  He said it tasted gross, but bearable.  Just so DRY...

 After a quick break to stuff their faces and have some cool drinks, the next game was up.  Ice cold water...

The kids had to put their feet in there...

 And grab 3 grapes with their toes...

 Corky's dad had to help him a little with this one, but at least he tried and he got his toes wet...

 Becky getting her toes frozen off...

 One person who could've done with some ice water was Rosie.  She slipped on a step at work last week and tried to avoid landing on her broken foot, landing hard on her good foot and... yep... she's broken her other foot as well.  Same bone as the first one and she needs to have another op done to fix this one too.  I think she's having that done on Monday.  Least her shoes match now...

Jake and Corky still have their moments, but these two are changing their attitudes towards each other.  Jake had decided before his party that he needed to look after Corky at his party.  Sweet...

 This game still makes me feel a bit ill.  Dirty diapers...

 Jake was first up... that's fish paste and tomato...

 Some of the kids just couldn't get their heads around it.  This was pear...

 Corky, mustering up all his will power to put that ick into his mouth...

 He almost didn't make it (and yes, photographers out there, poor light metering, I know)...

  Becky also struggled...

 The time went too quickly and they only managed to get in 4 games.  Probably because there were so many kids.  The last game was the gross food game...

 The party guy, Dan read out a list of the food he'd brought with.  With each one, the kids were more and more grossed out...

 I think Corky just enjoyed shouting out with everyone else...

These two boys with Jake are fairly new friends.  Josh is in yellow and he swims with Jake.  His "little" brother Matthew is next to him.  They lost their dad to cancer recently, so it was good to get them out for some fun.  Lovely kids who are blessed with the most gorgeous mom...

 Some of the gross goodies...

 They had to take turns throwing the dice, if they landed a 6, then they had to go up and get something disgusting to eat...

 One or two ran away when they hit a 6, but most were sport and brave enough to open up wide and take it...

 Jake had a turn too...

 He got a teaspoon of baby poo...

 And then it was over.  The parents started arriving to collect their children and we just had time to finish off with the cake before everyone went home...

 Phew!!  NO girlfriends!!!

 Abi popped in quickly to collect her sister.  She really liked our cake pops...

And that's it.  All over for another year.  Thank goodness!!  I don't think any of the grown up people in the family could do this more regularly.

Hope you enjoyed sharing in the party fun!

Sue X