it's your birthday. it's your birthday. have a party. have a party.

Rugrat #1 is now 2. He is also very spoiled.
The day began with all sorts of songs and hugs and smiles by me. Kent went to school at five AM so he could be home this evening to celebrate (considering last year he missed the whole darn thing because he was at training in Alabama).

We went running and got SOPPING wet again. The weather people here are not the most accurate forecasters- which is unfortunate considering it's what they get PAID to do. We did run with one of Zeb's friends- so I think he still enjoyed himself.

Kent actually made a semi unexpected home visit for lunch because we've recently had some baaaaad luck with two things- phones and cars. I'll post about them tomorrow. Zeb loved having Kent home for a few minutes to eat lunch with though.

We let him open two of his presents while Kent was home and he was thrilled. Two brand spanking new coloring books and crayons (cost a grand total of 75 cents at a yard sale this weekend). He was mostly intrigued by the "balg eagle" on the back of the crayon package . He noticed and talked about it immediately. He learned about them recently on Little Einsteins.
Then Zeb and Ike both took fabulously synchronized lengthy naps so that I could make an attempt at something I've never tried before. Today I went ALL out and MADE- semi from scratch- a stellar train birthday cake. Duff is not going to be asking me to work for him anytime soon- but I won't be appearing on "cake wrecks" either.
The plan was to make a normal old train- but I found a removable thomas face on one of Zeb's toys and decided I might as well go for the gold and make him. It is by no means a perfect cake- but for my first attempt I am pleased. I took ideas from a plethora of sources and melded them to make it my own. Considering my main goal was to impress the two year old- I would say it was a roaring sucess. The candy as train tender sealed my fate as an excellent cake maker. Check out Zeb's face at the unveiling! He really did like it.*If any of you want to make attempts at your own train or other mini cakes- let me know. I have a few secrets that made it MUCH easier and prettier than it would have been otherwise.

Kent got home and took Zeb out for his own special dinner. Zeb got his very first happy meal and seemed to like it. Hooray for the apples and milk instead of fries and pop! McDonalds has made some good improvements over the years.The most anticipated moment of the evening was slightly anti-climactic- but still a lot of fun. We didn't have a big enough box for it- so we just covered it with his blanket and made him pull it off. A brand new TRIKE!!! He was really excited. He doesn't quite get the hang of it yet but he likes to scoot himself around and stick his toys in the back. A special thanks goes out to Laney and taylor and the slaters for helping with this gift! I've been searching and scouring craigslist for a nice trike for months (they are super pricey in the stores-45-65 dollars!) and I found this one on BUFFALO's craigslist less than two weeks ago! Laney went and picked it up for us and the slaters brought it back here from their vacation. It was brand new and never been ridden on (besides by henry p.) and we got a great deal.
Happy birthday little boy!

I don't think that Ike had as good a day as zebby. He's been a little crabby and I think it's a combination of teething and trying to poo.