Birthday hilarity

A few weeks ago one of my children, one of the cynical ones, asked me why so many people are obsessed with documenting every event of their lives with photographs. I explained that some of us like to fondly reminisce on the happy times of our lives, and that (without hard evidence) the details fade over time until many things are completely forgotten. 

One of my joys is reading over past blog posts and recalling the details of happy times with friends and family. I wish that I had more documented stories from my childhood like this, and so I blog; not to impress anyone else, but for my own pleasure and satisfaction. And maybe some day when I am long gone, my children and grandchildren will enjoy reading about our adventures together. 

So, I am repenting of the dilatory nature of my blogging of late, apologizing to no one but myself, and here goes.

It was Natalie's birthday a week before Halloween and Bethany's birthday today, so I decided to throw a good old-fashioned party for them, calling upon my memories of childhood parties attended by my sister and me. So last night, this happened.

Having a party on the day after Halloween does have its drawbacks. Kenzie was lethargic, Daniel was hyper to the max, and Josh was over-sensitive. 

Natalie, however, was in fine form. Her gift from Aunty Jenny was of all things Frozen.

After the very short gift-opening, we played games.

It was mandatory.

And the first one was my piece-de-resistance. One of the standard party games when I was a young 'un was Pass the Parcel, and I continued the trend with my own children's parties. The premise is simple: wrap layers upon layers of paper, with small prizes hidden within the layers. The dilemma was what to put in the layers. Not candy, because, you know, the whole day-after-Halloween thing. I don't like buying junky little toys because they are ... junky. And the really good stuff is expensive. So I came up with this plan, which cunningly gives me more excuses to spend time with the little darlings.

I considered it to be a stroke of brilliance. Coupons for treats at local businesses, most of which also cater to the gluten/dairy-free amongst us. And trading was allowed if the recipients were mutually willing. 

It was an indubitable success, with rowdiness at maximum level and Daniel exceeding the bounds of bounciness. 

Here's how it works. The participants sit in a circle and start passing the parcel around. Every time the music stops, the holder of the parcel unwraps one layer. Maybe there is a treat hidden in the layer, and maybe not. The music starts again and off it goes. 

I monitored the music, with some lively Lorde tracks. She is a singer-songwriter that so happens to be from New Zealand and we all enjoy her music. Check her out.

 Things got a little wild. It was the most epic game of Pass-the-parcel ever!

Then we played Pin-the-tail-on-the-pig. Jenny made the poster. And Madelyn won.

No party is complete without a game of Musical Chairs. The Lorde music continued and everyone boogied around the chairs.

And yes, that is my foot in the photos, which Bethany was taking.

Sometimes they ran around the chairs.

And then we played Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar and it was hilarious but no one took photos.

And then we sat down to three kinds of cake.

Gluten/dairy-free vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting for Josh and Madelyn.

A personal gluten-free chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and frosting for Bethany.

And a fudgy chocolate cake with whipped ganache frosting for the normal eaters amongst us, which recipe is to be found here (only baked in a 7 inch round pan at 335 degrees for 30 minutes then 320 degrees for another 40 minutes or until middle tests for crumb) because I love you and you should make this cake.
Daniel managed to burn himself TWICE while trying to light the candles.
Boy Scout fail.

Ready, set, ....(Jeff looks crazed)

GO!

I just keep chuckling at how much these two are alike in looks, if not in temperament.

Happy Birthday girls!

And that was one of the merriest parties to ever grace this house.