Seth's 4th b-day party

Seth's fourth birthday is this Tuesday, so we had a family birthday party today after church. I had almost EVERYTHING ready yesterday -- chicken marinated in the fridge, cake baked, gifts in bags, house cleaned (not spotless, of course, I've given up on that ideal until the kids are old enough to help), berry lemonade in fridge chilling. Then this morning I put the chicken on time bake, measured the water to make the rice, frosted the cake, and made a batch of vanilla ice cream. All I had to do after church was transfer the chicken from the oven to the grill, boil the water to make the rice, cook the veggies, and set the table. Now here came the problems. The chicken didn't bake all the way because I always forget that it takes longer to bake something when there's a lot in the pan. Then the grill ran out of gas. So everyone sat around talking while waiting for the chicken to finish baking. It turned out to be very tasty, so I guess the wait wasn't too irritating. And the rice was delicious. Then the cake was kindof a flop. I used the new Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mix, but I let it bake too long because I forgot to set a timer. The ice cream was good, though. Here's a video of Seth not blowing out the candles :-) Then poor Gavin was just exhausted and wanted a nap, so we hurried to the living room for Seth to open his gifts.

He LOVED this microphone from Makenzie! He used to have one, but broke it. He didn't want to put this one down!


His funny faces crack me up!


Gavin had fun playing with Luke's binoculars :-)



Seth's version of holding up his gift to get a picture -- backwards :-)


Uncle Richard put a musical card in with the gift -- Seth was enthralled with the music!


A new play vest (very good for therapy -- lots of zippers and velcro) and a new shirt:


Happy with another card :-)


Now he's getting the hang of showing his gift for the camera :-)


And a new ball to replace the one he popped outside. The first time Seth touched this kind of ball when he was a baby, he cried. Now it's his favorite ball.


This child is absolutely amazing! I can hardly wait to play with him with all his new things -- and his old things, too. Joel, Makenzie, and Luke start school in one more week. Seth and I will have lots more play time then (not that I want to hurry the other kids off, but Seth does need to do more pre-school work than I've been doing all summer). Autumn: my very favorite time of the year for many reasons!