Alexander's 4th Birthday

Alexander had one shabang of a birthday. I can't believe he's 4 already! He's such a little man. He started off his birthday with a song and presents in bed then padded down the hallway to find the entire house decorated with balloons and slingers.


At school they had a special celebration called a Birthday Walk. The children stand in a circle around a candle (symbolizing the sun.) Alexander holds a globe and walks around the candle four times, one time for each year of his life. Each time around the teacher reads from a sheet of info that we provided. "When Alexander was one he went to live in the Netherlands...." I hear it was a joyful celebration.

In the afternoon, a few of his friends came over for a party. Michiel constructed an obstacle course and led a game of cooperative musical chairs.

The weather was clear but cold--good enough to play outside. The kids decorated individual slices of cake.

Later in the evening, the family came over for dinner and cake. And when I say "the family," I mean everyone related and living in Silverton. Let's just say there were 13 adults, 5 kids, and 2 babies. And we don't have a huge house!

Alexander got so many amazing gifts--a dragon tent, play doh, art supplies, Cars duplo, binoculars, a logging truck, games, books, movies. To prevent the gift-opening from becoming a mad free-for-all, we implemented a bell. Every time it rang, he got to open a new gift. It worked wonderfully, and the evening progressed at a good pace.

Alexander had requested a Lightning McQueen cake this year, so I spent a couple of hours creating this beauty:

I'm perfecting my technique. By the time Annabel starts requesting cakes I'll be able to do a 3-D fairy land or a butterfly that flaps its wings!

The whole day was a huge success, and Alexander loved it! Best of all, Michiel and I never got stressed out and not one of the kids had a meltdown.