Taste the rainbow
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(Note: I have no clue why the font is jacked up in this post... just roll with it and maybe it'll be back to normal next time?)
The past week has been a complete whirlwind. Belly's ear infection really colored everything else, mainly because all she wanted for the first 4 days or so of the ordeal was for me to hold her. Which I did because the poor dear was so miserable. And now my body is paying the price for carrying an at-least-26-pounder around for hours at a time. She's almost better; still more lethargic than usual, but otherwise seemingly fine.
During this time, my brother Jonas and his family came to visit. I don't think I've laid out that family dynamic since we went to Costa Rica, so here it is again. Jonas is my younger brother by 3.5 years. Judy is his fiancee and she has a 6-year-old little sweetie, Lily, from a previous relationship. Jonas has two kids - Zia, 8, and Mikah, 7 - from a previous marriage, as well. The Jonas Family lives in southern Oregon half the year and Costa Rica half the year. It's a pretty swell arrangement. Jonas' ex-wife lives primarily in Costa Rica (on the farm next door), so that works really well when they're all down there in terms of everyone getting to see each other. Anyway... Jonas had Zia and Mikah for about a month and a half and it was time to return them to their mom. The whole gang came up to Portland from southern Oregon. Mom came in and Bri, Sissy and Dan all came over, too. We had a joint birthday party for Lily, Zia and Mikah since we never get to see them on their actual birthdays - cake, ice cream, singing, presents, the works! It was a ton of fun and the kids felt really, really special.
As I alluded to in my last post, I made rainbow birthday cakes. Each kid got their own cake, which looked pretty boring with plain white cream cheese frosting and their first initial in chocolate in the center. Total dullsville...
Magical, relighting candles caused a brief stir and then we were back to just the cakes. But THEN, I cut the cakes and the eyes grew wiiiiiiiiiide with excitement! Lily's reaction was caught on camera...
RAINBOW CAKES! Yes, they are loaded with food coloring which means chemicals which means b-a-d for you, but once in a great while isn't gonna kill anybody. And the delight in those kids' faces was so totally worth it. Plus I told them that I thought they'd be pooping rainbows the next day. Talk about giggles! Here are a few more pictures of those cakes...
I also need to back up a little to the dinner before the cakes. My plan was to make three pizzas and salad - easy peasy. Weeeellll... it turned out to be a major deal trying to get to the store with Belly being sick and all. I gave Sissy my credit card and asked if she would mind going for me. Not only did she not mind, she took Zia and Lily with her! I thought for sure that I would be able to put Belly down to make dinner. Um, yeah, no. The kid was glued to me. Again Sissy stepped up to the plate and she really, really knocked it out of the park. She made all three pizzas (using Mom and Dan as sous chefs as needed) and the salad. So if you need a pinch hitter when making dinner for 14 people, I highly recommend Sissy! (What's with my baseball analogies? Weird.)
Jonas, Judy and Lily had to leave mid-afternoon on Tuesday to get home at a reasonable time but Zia and Mikah's mom wasn't due to get here to pick them up until 9pm or so. I loved having those kids all to myself! We even read the entire first half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (with me nearly losing my voice). Jonas called when they got home around 8:30pm and said bye to the kids one last time. It tore my heart out. Zia and Mikah both cried on my shoulders when they hung up. I could so clearly remember saying bye to my dad after visiting him when I was a kid and wishing that things were different. And like my parents, Jonas and his ex don't get along so it's always a power struggle with the kids at the center of things. It's such a monumental bummer. Those two are some of the most amazing children I've ever known - fun and cute and smart, yes; but also sensitive and worldly and a-little-too-knowing-for-their-ages. I'm just crazy about them.
This morning we went to a birthday party for the girls' friend, Oliver. He's two. Between that and the birthday party for their cousins earlier in the week, I'd say that I'm in fine shape to host our own 2nd birthday party next weekend. We're going to have a late afternoon costume party. The pizzas we/Sissy made will most likely be duplicated because they were dang tasty (one was fig, prosciutto, balsamic reduction, goat cheese; a white pizza with mozzarella, feta, kalamatas, red onion, artichoke, mushroom; and a green pizza with pesto, spinach, scallions and artichokes). And I got some good ideas for kid entertainment from Ollie's party (sticker and art area, musical instrument area). I won't be repeating the rainbow cakes, though. I'm going to save that for next year or the year after when they might actually remember it.
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2 comments:
Ummm, when can I expect MY rainbow cake in the mail?? Looks tasty and festive. How did you make it??
Sorry to hear about Belly's ear. Hopefully she won't need your nursing much longer!
The fig pizza is going to be served at the girls' birthday party? Woo-hoo!!!! I was excited about the party AND seeing all those cute toddlers (and their parents) running around in Halloween costumes, but that pizza is like the cherry on top! YIPPEE!!!
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