Ethan's birthday party

Ethan had a fantastic birthday. It really was a day full of fun and excitement! I felt really bad that the first day of the show coincided with his birthday and tried hard to make sure he was celebrated all day, despite not being able to bake a cake or arrange a party at the time. I did tell him we’d invite some friends over and enjoy some cake together after the show. At bedtime on his birthday I asked if he’d enjoyed his day. He had, he said. But the one bad part was that he hadn’t had any friends or a cake. I knew there and then this was a priority and in my procrastinating kind of way arranged a party for him this past Saturday.

On the Friday morning before, Ryan and I made a hot-milk sponge cake in a rectangular dish. That evening I set to work dying the butter icing as red as possible: I had a fire-station to decorate! I cut the sponge cake in half and stacked the halves on top of other, cutting out 2 ‘parking spaces’ for the fire trucks. We don’t have any firetrucks small enough to fit into my firehouse, so I was very chuffed when Marna offered to look in her boys’ toy box and lend us a couple. The icing didn’t taste so nice with all the red colouring in, but it was the right colour red! The cake was a winner, as always! Dieter had a quick look in our lego box and managed to find a ladder and some grids I used as windows, and a couple of fire extinguishers and a flag. I added a couple Ethan’s little plastic fireman and we had a winner.

Ethan wanted 6 of his friends here to celebrate with him – the perfect number (according to his age) if the gurus are to be believed. Now that I think of it, there were 3 boys and 3 girls! They had a wonderful time playing games together out in the garden while the adults stood around chatting. Jed was great at orchestrating some games which everyone enjoyed playing. Ethan had been adamant that he wanted a football-free party, but one of the first gifts he opened was a set of cones, a mini-ball and a whistle and with great enthusiasm he got a few friends to play. The girls seemed to prefer the trampoline, if not jumping on it, then lying underneath in its shade. Another favourite was the cricket game we played in the driveway – I say we because Marna and I eventually joined in to and had great fun! Ethan had a lovely time!

The adults who did stay for the whole time are other homeschooling parents who have become our friends, and I think I enjoyed the whole event far more than anyone else! It was wonderful to sit and chat and laugh together, just enjoying each other’s company! I couldn’t help think, once again, of how blessed I have been to have made the wonderful, caring, loving friends I have made here – and in such a short time! I try to make a point of taking photos as often as possible; life is short and we don’t know what tomorrow holds! The photo of Walda, Marna and I from Ethan’s party will be one I will treasure! Thank you Lord for special friends!