One Whole Hand!

 Would you like to see how Silas celebrated his 5th birthday on the 16th?  Yes?  Well, then, read on.

I took off of work so that we could have a family day.

Ready to head out for a birthday breakfast:

We let him open a present at the cafe.

Several weeks ago, he came to me with the request that I make him a Wicked Witch of the West for Christmas. Apparently, he'd forgotten that his birthday was coming up and that birthdays were a gift-getting opportunity on par with Christmas.  Needless to say, he was quite surprised when he pulled her out of the gift bag.

We took him to see The Lorax in the afternoon (and he's been running around yelling "I speak for the trees" ever since), and then came home to prepare for company.  A small gathering of friends and nieghbors, who helped us celebrate. Ever the proper host, Silas made sure our guests were well entertained.

 Silas insisted on playing his new guitar (thanks Kevin and Bethany!) and singing the Happy Birthday song to himself.  G accompanying him on bongos.

Silas would like you to know the following about this image: "I am playing the Wizard of Oz.  G is Dorothy and she is coming to ask me to get her back to Kansas."

 More music...

 That about wraps up the big day.  I did take some pictures from his school celebration, so expect those posted sometime before his 6th birthday.

Party in the park

It was windy, and could have been a tad warmer, but... it didn't rain! And, I think, a good time was had by all.

Above: pre-party set-up.

Craft time: Barb made bags for the kids to paint...

They turned out beautifully! Silas' is on the right:

Another big hit was the fishing game. I made origami sea creatures as prizes, and the kids took turns "fishing" for them.

We let them go again and again until all the sea creatures had been claimed. Several of the kids took turns helping Patrick behind the ocean/scenes put the prizes on the hook/paper clip.

After that game, it was time to play pin-the-fin-on-the-shark. It's a good think I knit 3 little fish as prizes because we had a 3-way tie!

Cupcake time! We sang Happy Birthday, but it was too windy to keep the candles lit, so I suggested he pretend to blow them out, and Silas obliged.

Yum!

Towards the end of the party, the sun came out and it warmed up:

What's a party in the park without time spent on the playground?

Some of our party-goers stuck around afterwards, and the party continued. I think Silas and his friend, O must have spent 20+ minutes in those swings.

Silas was so wobbly after finally getting out of his swing, that he walked right into another swing (in mid swing) before we could stop him. Party hard, Silas!

Party prep

I think we are about 85% ready for Silas' party tomorrow. I baked 5 dozen cupcakes today (3 dozen chocolate, a dozen berry lemon, and a dozen vanilla gluten-free, and all dairy free because Silas is allergic).

The Pin the Fin on the Shark game is almost done to:
We're (almost) ready to party, preschool style :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Silas!

Are you ready for a lot of birthday pictures? Okay, here goes...

Above (actually the last picture of the day, just before the bed), Silas poses with the sea creatures I made for him, plus Sherman the worm, of course.

Yesterday, just before leaving for school, Silas poses with his class birthday treat:

I took the day off of work, made 2 dozen donuts, and spent the morning in Silas' preschool class playing with the kids and celebrating Silas' birthday with his class.

He got to open one of his presents a day early...Woo-hoo, a hermit crab!

Thanks Patrick! Silas loves playing the chef at his cafe, which he named The Rusty Marshmallow (he says his first restaurant, Stinky Pie Cafe, closed, but The Rusty Marshmallow is doing well, I am told):

Opening presents from Mom and Dad:

Present for mom: My boys met me at work and we went out for lunch:

And Silas got to open his present from Barb:

She made him this fabulous quilt! Wow!

My cuddly birthday boy and me:

But wait, there's more! Or, there will be. He's having a birthday party this Sunday.

It's outside.

In March.

In the Pacific Northwest.

Several nights this week, I woke up and listened to the sound of rain hitting the roof and wondered what we were possibly thinking to plan a park party. We are taking a big gamble but currently the weather reports are somewhat promising. Fingers crossed!

Birthday on, Power out!

We spent the second half of Silas' birthday without power, thanks to an afternoon wind storm. We celebrated in the semi-dark, amidst mounds of boxes. It was still a wonderful day.
Opening Grandma G's cool present:Blowing out the birthday candles. We had ice cream too (raspberry--Silas' choice!):
Last year I made Silas a big, complicated play blanket. I did not have the time or energy to duplicate such an endeavor this year, but I did manage to fulfill one of his requests: about 3 weeks ago, he asked me to knit him some hoses for his fire trucks. That I had time for for sure! I also knit him a helipad for the cool helicopter we got for him. It sits atop his fire station awaiting the next "emergency."
This was a pretty low-key birthday due to our upcoming move. We promised him that next year, for his fourth, we can celebrate in style at our new abode!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Silas!

Birthday fun, according to Silas

Hi Planet Silas readers. It's me, Silas. Hey, did you hear? I turned 2 years old yesterday. Here I am, enjoying the cupcake mommy made for me. It's the first time I've been allowed to have chocolate, because mom and dad are kind of health freaks. I liked it alright, but I don't have a huge sweet tooth. A few bites and I was pretty much over it. Anyways, I call cupcakes "Happy birthdays" because that's what they're all about. Mom thinks that's pretty cute.

But let's back track and start at the beginning of my day. You probably saw the picture mommy posted yesterday of me with my farmland. Well, here's me when I first discovered it. Mommy and Daddy set it all up after I went to sleep the night before my birthday so that it would be the first thing I saw when I got up in the morning. Wow! It's so cool! I love to move the doors on the barn and say "Open -- shut!" over and over again, just like in the "Wheels on the Bus" song. The play blanket my mommy knit for me is pretty sweet too.
I like to show Daddy all of the animals that live in my barn.

Mommy and Daddy decided that we would have "Silas' favorite things day" for my birthday. That was a good idea. One of my favorite things is getting to have mommy with me, so she stayed home from work. We got our picture taken together. Imagine that!

After playing with my barn and taking pictures with mom, we went to my favorite cafe and hung out with my favorite person, Uncle Patrick.My friends at the cafe gave me strawberries. Yeah, they know what this birthday boy is all about!
Then we went to the open gym at Battle Point Park. I love going to the playground, but it was too wet. That's okay, because toddler open gym is pretty awesome too. Daddy helped me do chin-ups.
And, I climbed a rock wall!

After the gym, we headed back home for lunch and I played with my barn some more. I liked the barn so much, I almost didn't want to take a nap. But I finally did, and by the time I woke up, it was almost time for dinner and "Happy Birthday cupcakes." I didn't have any wild parties this year, unfortunately. But a couple of people did stop by to wish me a happy birthday and eat some cupcakes with us. It was a great day. I can't wait for the next one!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Silas!

I guess he likes his presents :)
I'll post more pictures and let you know the highlights of the day later on. Right now, I've got to go frost some birthday cupcakes!

Happy 1st Birthday Silas!

Silas had a great birthday! Here's how our day played out:
In the morning, I gave him the stuffed dog I'd knit for him. Looks like he likes it! He hugged it and patted it lovingly.
We went for a birthday breakfast with Patrick, then came back home to count down to Si's birth moment (11:04 am). Silas celebrated by falling asleep 5 minutes later.

In the afternoon, we had a little party. Everyone had chocolate nut cake. Everyone, that is, except Silas. Here he is enjoying his birthday treat: huckleberries, blueberries, and breakfast Os:



And, some of the party-goers:




William and Jessica took some footage of us singing Happy Birthday to Silas. Enjoy!

Don't forget to watch the tribute we made for Silas and his first year on the planet, posted below.