Last week our Michael completed a decade and turned the big 1-0. I remember it being kind of a big deal when you got into double digits. I feel it even more so as a parent, I think! Ten feels so big. I'm amazed at how differently temperamented all our boys are. Michael is in many ways our melancholic. He internalizes, feels things deeply, and is slower to react. It can be confused with being unaffected or not noticing but he sees it all. It's kind of ironic that out of all of my kids, he was the one who barreled through birth the quickest! He's great at math, loves crafts and colors, and is such an innocent and classic kid. It brings me so much joy that the little things are enough for him. He's simple and innocent and sweet and I can't wait to see how God wants to work in his life.
We celebrated his actual day at home with just us - gifts in the morning and pancakes for dinner.
Isn't this the face you want when you give someone a gift??
Because it was his tenth, we let him invite a few cousins/friends over for a party over the weekend. He wanted a "craft theme." I was called away for a birth that morning but got back just as the indoor tie-dyeing with nine children was finishing. If that isn't God's good and merciful providence, I don't know what is. (Er, I mean, I was SO SAD to miss it. So sad.)
In return for missing tie-dyeing I had to settle for less than stellar pictures from the husband's phone. Like this one that I shouldn't even post because it's so bad.
I'm very glad I had the premonition to get the cake done the night before or I would've had to trust the husband to do that, too... He would not have been thrilled at that prospect.
Not fancy but I did it super quickly and he loved it.
The cake is a large circle cake cut to shape. Chocolate frosting because he wanted the palette to look like wood. I would have preferred white! The paint is dyed with beet powder, turmeric, spirulina powder, and some India Tree blue sprinkles that I soaked to pull the color out. (I know...but it's what I had on hand and I didn't feel like buying a whole pack of something for that tiny little smidgen of frosting! More importantly, it worked!)
The husband was extremely proud of his "tie-dye fruit platter." I was just going to put them in bowls, ha!
We used this kit and I love that they all got to pick their own design.
Random side memory: One time in high school we had to rewrite Romeo and Juliet in a new setting. I chose the 60's and called it "Died Ties."
The kids left their creations here to set, be rinsed and washed, and later delivered.
They did fade a little even though we followed instructions to a tee and left the dye to set overnight. (If you happen to do this, I'd recommend using a color catcher sheet in the wash step and only washing on cold rather than hot like they tell you.) The kids love them, though, so I will set my perfectionism aside ;)
And just like that our beautiful happy Michael is ten.
We love him so much and are so blessed he's ours.
Well just have to say Brian is a legend!! Truly is there nothing he cannot do and frankly after tie dying I think baking and decorating a cake would be so easy for him.
ReplyDeleteWell done Brian!
What a fun party - sorry you had to miss the craft part! I love Brian's fruit platter - very creative.
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