Birthday #14

Somehow birthdays have a way of sneaking up on me. Don't get me wrong, I know when one is coming up - but I think I like to pretend my kids aren't getting any older. This is especially true for the older kids. I can't believe how quickly they've grown up...

Anyway, Shaylyn's birthday was upon us and because my due date with baby #7 is only a day after Shaylyn's original due date, I was nervous to do anything big. I also wasn't feeling up to hosting a huge birthday party. So we gave Shaylyn a few options.

I told her she could still have a party, but we'd have to do it a few weeks after her birthday AND the baby. We also gave her the option of going to a movie with her best friend and getting lunch or dinner.

She thought about it for awhile and finally decided on a movie. She said she also wanted to do food, but was worried it would cost too much. After telling her movie and food was fine and there was money budgeted for that, she decided on a movie and lunch.

I had originally planned to go with her, but when the day came I wasn't feeling well (Oh, the joys of late pregnancy) so I delegated the job to Eric. He didn't complain.

Before they left, we let Shaylyn open her gift.

...Birthday Kisses from Domino...

...A Supergirl necklace and cash...

Shaylyn didn't have a huge wishlist for her birthday, so getting gifts was hard. She said she'd like clothes, but because her and I don't always agree on what's "cute," I thought she coukd decide on her own if she had the cash.

Eric and Shaylyn then headed out. Shaylyn chose McDonalds for some strange reason and then they went to the movie. She chose the movie The Fifth Wave. I can't give more info cause I didn't see it. Shaylyn and her friend really enjoyed it, Eric didn't think it was as great a movie as the girls did.

On their way home I asked Eric to stop at the store and have Shaylyn choose a birthday dessert. In my head I was thinking something I could stick candles in and do the whole Happy Birthday song and candles with. They came home with ice cream...and while I guess you could stick candles in ice cream, I wasn't about to do it.

So I took a cue from stuff Eric's moms has done in the past (cause Eric doesn't like cake) and decided to make Shaylyn's favorite cookies. It gave me a chance to use my new mixer and I realized quickly that there's one recipe I have that the mixer doesn't work so great for...Snickerdoodles. The dough was too sticky to roll into balls and I was feeling a bit upset. I had totally spaced a cake for my daughter and now the cookies weren't happening either. After a few minutes of pity, I decided to try and make a snickerdoodle cake. I poured the mix into a round casserole dish and put it in the oven for 10 minutes at a time. It took 40 minutes when all was said and done and then it was time for the truth.

We did the singing/candle thing first...

Then they dug into the cake. I had the kids try it first and when they decided it was okay, I had some. And it was actually okay. A little more dry than the cookies are, but overall it wasn't bad. Shaylyn, Lex and Shaylyn's friend pretty much ate the whole thing in one night.

I felt bad about not giving Shaylyn much of a birthday, but she acted like she had a great birthday anyway and we were able to celebrate her some more the next day at Eric's mom's. And at least Eric's mom remembered a cake.