some dry cake and an impromptu party

Yesterday I was planning a low-key b-day for Ethan. Chris made him pancakes for breakfast, and then I pulled out the good old Betty Crocker cookbook to make a cake. I'm not sure what I did wrong, since I followed the recipe, but the batter was thick, like dough. The cake came out totally tough and dry. 

But I thought, "Oh well, it's just us. Nobody will care that we're eating dry cake"

Then Ashley came in from playing, about 4:45 pm, and said, "Mom, I invited Aminatu and her family to come to Ethan's party, and she said they'll be here about 5."

Um...what?

We hadn't even eaten dinner yet. I wasn't planning on feeding another family. Ethan asked for Greek pizza and we only had 5 pitas. So I admit it. I got kind of upset. And freaked out that at any minute people were going to knock on our door and eat with us.

Ashley cried because I wasn't happy with her. She was going to knock on her friend's door and tell her they were welcome to come for cake at 6:30, but nobody was home. Then I figured, I'd just make dinner like I'd planned, and if someone showed up, we could make a salad and bring out the chips and salsa and whatever else. It would be fine. And probably even fun. The more the merrier.

I apologized to Ashley, and told her it was nice of her to invite people over. But that I need to know about it in advance next time so I'd have enough food.

We ate our Greek Pizza and nobody knocked on the door until about 6:30. Right in time for cake. Really dry cake. Luckily there was ice cream on the side to make up for the really really dry cake.

The kids played the whisper game around the table, trying to make what the first person said more funny by the time it got to the last person. Aminatu's older brother Abdul told us about Nigeria, where they're from. We looked at a map so they could show us where they lived. The kids hung out and laughed and talked, and then after Ethan opened his presents, they went outside to jump on all the bubble wrap Grandma sent. After we were all eaten by mosquitoes and it was dark outside, the friends went home and the party was over.

Both sets of grandparents gave Ethan money. Chris's mom wrapped Ethan's up like this. Ethan carried it around for a while saying, "I wonder how long it will be before I used this money. Probably a long time." Such a funny guy. I would have whipped out those babies and gone on a shopping spree when I was his age.

For some reason all the pictures Chris took were yellowish and blurry. You can kind of see the smoke all over Ethan's arms and shirt from when he blew the 12 Hanukkah candles (yes, once upon a time we ended up with Hanukkah candles and we use them on our birthday cakes) out.

Later I asked Ethan what he wished for. He just shrugged and said, "Nothing. I don't really need anything."

Except maybe a better cake...

Thanks to Ashley's passion for partying it was a fun, special party, despite the wet tears and the dry cake.