Party Like it's Your Birthday

We had a small party for Ethan this year to celebrate his 3rd birthday. His very Lightning McQueen birthday that is. From his outfit, to the cake, the pinata, to the plates & napkins and 90% of his gifts it was all Lightning McQueen.

I guess that brings me to the cake.....oh the great cake debacle. It started out innocently enough with my mom ordering (I mean homemaking ;o)) Ethan's birthday cake. The second Ethan saw it he had to have it. We held off as long as we could for party guests to arrive and finally decided to just do the singing and the cake before everyone arrived. Luckily I got one good picture of the cake before it was no longer.

This is where it started to go down hill. As per custom Jason lit the candles on the cake.

Ethan was keeping his distance from the flames until Jen picked him up for us to sing.....then the meltdown began. Ethan wanted no part of being near the lit candles. And the fact that the fire was dangerously near Lightning McQueen and Mater who were atop his cake was all too much for Ethan to bare. Jase and Kaden quickly blew out the candles and we rescued Lightning and Mater.
Then all was well......almost.As Jase was leaning over the cake Jen gave him a little shove and in his face went. Before long Kaden's face was covered in frosting, my mom's face was covered and the cake was for all intents and purposes destroyed. Sorry Grandma Marley, I guess you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

After cake and ice cream and the rest of the party goers showed up it was pinata time! I was a little tentative to give Ethan a long stick after the fit he had with the cake. I wasn't too sure how he would handle beating the crap out of Lightning McQueen, but as it turned out he loved it. Crazy....ok, he is a boy, so maybe not so crazy. But all the kids had a chance to take a whack at the pinata and have fun.

And there was plenty of candy for all! Jase has some experience in this whole pinata breaking, get as much candy as you can thing. He has his technique down to a science. Instead of picking up pieces he sat down and scooped as much candy as he could under his bottom. He made quite the haul. Too bad Mom is mean and made him share with the girls.

We asked everyone who came to not bring gifts. Our boys are so very spoiled they really don't need anything. However Ethan still received quite a few presents.

I love how excited kids get for presents, whether they are theirs or not.
As much as Ethan loves Lightning McQueen, Sponge Bob Square Pants makes a close second. Grandpa Marley found Ethan a Sponge Bob lunch box and filled it with cars. Combining two of Ethan's favorite things was a clever move.
Kellan was a happy party baby!
Ethan had a great party and we were so happy to be able to spend it with so many of our family and friends. Thank you to all those that came and celebrated Ethan's birthday with us. We love you all!