I had asked him a few weeks back what type of cake he’d like (when will I learn?!?) and he said he wanted a Captain Rex head.  Terrific.

It wasn’t too hard to find 3-D (’cause it HAS to be 3-D) Captain Rex cakes, but almost all of them used fondant.  No way am I going there.  I dug a little deeper and managed to find someone who made one with butter cream frosting.  It really looked pretty good, and not too hard, so I set out to copy it.

Jack, thankfully, was thrilled with my efforts:

He was equally thrilled with his gifts:

As were his siblings:

The fish’s name – a Betta – is aptly named… Captain Rex.

Oh, brother!  I mean, sister!  We can’t help spoiling her already.  While the kids were in school this morning, some moms came over to my house for a Pink Party.  (None of those hand-me-downs have enough fluff or sparkle to them!)

The “cake”:

The spread:

The Honoree:

The guests:

The quilt:

The decor:

Last weekend Sam celebrated with his Grandma and Grandpa in St. Charles and has been jamming on his Wii guitar every since…

On Monday, he celebrated turning 5 with a Chuck E. Cheese party (ugh).  He and two of his classmates were the birthday trio and almost all of his other classmates came to help celebrate.  It was total chaos, but the boys had a blast.

Michael, Sam & Brendan

This morning, we kicked off the day with Running Club, during which Sam managed to outrun his sister (three years his senior).  Then, later at home, we celebrated with a SHARK cake (in case you can’t tell) and presents.

(Not so) Great White

Thank you Aunt Caroline and Aunt Maggie!

Samuelperryasaurus

He got to stay up later than usual and then fell fast asleep holding tight to his new Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen, courtesy Gran and Maddog.

Up next:  Maria turns 8!

Yes, we just did this last year with Jack.  But, girls are soooooooo different!  I mean, they have to have the dress.  And the vail.  And get manis and pedis and updos with their friends.

Along with Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, an uncle and several cousins, Maria’s wonderful Godmother, Julie, was able to come help us celebrate.

I remember that Jack had been excited, but not nervous in the least.  Maria, however, was nervous.

“What if I mess up?” she asked me.

“What’s the worst that could happen?”  I asked back.

“Well… I could trip.  I could fall.  I could drop the Host.”

Okaaaaaayyyyyy….

Of course, none of those things happened.  She was beautiful and it all went perfectly.

I was nervous about the crowd, the weather, making it across the finish line, making it across the finish line alive, the crowd, humiliating myself, the crowd…

But, it was great!  It took more than 30 minutes for our group to even reach the starting line after the race began, but once I was running, I didn’t stop.  And, I even did pretty well, finishing in 50:58.

Hot Moms (I'm in the middle, dark pink hat).

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My first 8K came the day before my 5th baby turned 1.  Almost impossible to believe, isn’t it?

Birthday crown

To celebrate, today he crawled down all the stairs by himself; and later he took one, teeny-tiny step.

Then…

He made a wish:

He ate cake:

And (after I beat his sister and brothers off with a club), he unwrapped his own presents:

Exhausted after all the excitement, he fell asleep immediately tonight… just like he did a year ago:

The reality of the situation is that we’re all about to strangle one another.  Dan couldn’t wait to get back to work on Monday.  We tried baking cookies, but you know how that went.  The only adventure was a torturous trip to the mall to exchange the boots Dan bought me.  (Yes, we ALL went.  TOTAL nightmare.  But, I did get my boots.)  We’ve played games together… Wii Toy Story Mania.  Whoever titled it was right on.  The kids go bonkers playing it, fighting over it, trying to figure it out…  There’s an obvious reason most Wii games are only made for one or two players.  Unfortunately, I just figured that out.

Christmas was lovely.  The kids went bezerk at the sight of all the gifts under the tree.  We tried our best to reign them in, create a little order, remain calm.  That lasted for about 30 minutes.  Maybe.  In no time all was unwrapped (and not necessarily by the intended recipient of the gift).  Poor Andrew.  All he did all morning was crawl around and eat wrapping paper.

His first Christmas was just a little different than Jack’s!

A.P.'s first Christmas

Jack and Dan 2002

Jack

Stocking

For the last few days, it’s been all I can do to keep the baby from choking on Nerf darts.  Dan was getting so beat up, he decided to go out and get his own gun – you know – to defend himself.  Now there are Nerf wars almost every night.  The kids load up and wait for Dan to walk in the door at night.

Maria was thrilled to receive a new doll for Christmas.  Her only challenge has been keeping it away from Luke, who keeps threatening to shave her bald.  The other night, Maria had to hire Jack to defend her and her doll with his CS-35, just in case Luke made (another) kidnapping attempt.

Gotta run… I think I hear Sam’s new dinosaur eating Maria’s doll, and there’s some screaming aimed at the Wii.

Check out my Flickr pics when you get a chance – there are some cute ones, like this:

Anyway, it was a great birthday, starting with (despite the frigid weather and snow) a new bike!

Before heading off to school, we tried to celebrate with a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls.  The dog, unfortunately, got first dibs when no one was looking.

(Thankfully I had another batch.)

In the evening, Luke tore into the rest of his presents and then we went out to dinner.

Afterward, of course, there was cake.

Tomorrow:  Round Two.  With friends.