Combo Birthday Bash

The Cole clan had planned a few months ago to visit this weekend so we decided to throw a dual party for Matthew and Andrew.

I decided on a CARS party after I found some cute CARS mini tin lunch totes (just happened to have 5), erasers, and pencils on clearance after Christmas. I supplemented with other finds from Dollar Tree.

I've always done fun cake for the boys (Family Fun has wonderful ideas) and my original idea was to make 3 "tires" stacked like a display with another across the top. This seemed a little complicated so I opted for the single tire (I was told it was not a race car tire but this was lost on the boys) made with one layer of Stephen-safe chocolate and one layer of yellow cake mix.

Matthew was stuck with a prepackaged mix I found reduced at the grocery store a few months ago; the package read:

"Namaste" (pronounced "Naa-Maa-Stay") is an ancient Sanskrit word with no literal translation. After many hours reviewing all the different translations, we decided we like this one the best: "The Spirit within me honors and respects the Spirit within you."

After tasting it, I felt more like saying, "The taste of this product will make you want to gag" but Matthew seemed to enjoy it sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.
Turns out the Coles were sick and had to cancel, but we partied on with the Mosolgos and Barretts, devouring chicken "dipsticks" and high octane fuel. Stephen was a good sport about the festivities and happily aided Matthew in opening his gifts.

For the past week we've been reviewing etiquette regarding gifts. Andrew had declared, "But two gifts is not enough!" and Stephen had said, "If I get a shirt, I won't say thank-you." Thankfully they were all well-behaved and grateful for both the quantity and content of the gifts.
Matthew was very pleased with his non-battery-powered-but-noisy-nevertheless bus.
We played pin the eyes on Sticker and musical chairs, but the best entertainment was Matthew's wrestling match with the birthday balloon. Never has a balloon had such a short life; never has a boy had so much fun.


As Andrew's real birthday is next Monday, there will be more celebrations to come.