Cupcakes and caffeine

I apologize for not writing sooner. I had a very hectic bunch of days as my middle child celebrated his 6th birthday. I was so busy with parties, cupcakes, cakes, presents, and the like that I didn't even have a minute to sit down. I am so thankful for the love and support, and the phone calls at home to check on me were greatly appreciated. I will do my best to let you know ahead of time next time I will have a long lapse in my blogging . . .

Friday was Deuce's birthay celebration at school. So, I was up until midnight Thursday making cupcakes for him to take to school. He wanted Dallas Cowboy cupcakes, so I did my best to make Dallas helmets on each of the cupcakes. I was tired, and it was 100 degrees in the kitchen, so my frosting began to melt. So, what I ended up making looked like grey blobs with a pathetic star on the side. (They were so bad that my mother asked if I had let the kids decorate them.) But, I did make them from scratch, so at least they were yummy grey blobs.

Friday was also pajama day in his class. (Which I conveniently remembered at 11:45 as I was finishing up the cupcakes). Since Deuce sleeps in his undies, I had to scramble to find his Christmas jammies, which of course, were dirty. So, at 11:55, I am now doing laundry because I couldn't febreze away the chunks of food on the front of the jammies.

So, friday morning, I am getting Deuce dressed in his jammies for school, and naturally Trey had to wear jammies too. At this point, I am chugging coffee because I am working on less than 4 hours sleep. However, I manage to get them all dressed, backpacks packed, and on to school on time.

I went back home after dropping the kids at school, finished decorating the cake and assembling the 15 goodie bags for the kids at Deuce's birthday party on friday night. Friday was also Deuce's snack day and I was volunteering in his classroom. So, I managed to get myself dressed, and I styled my fabulous new bangs, and I was out the door 15 minutes early.

Naturally at this point I was feeling like Mother of the Year. I'm driving along, thinking about all that I had accomplished in the last 12 hours. I was just about to pin the medal on my chest when I realized I left the cupcakes at home, and I had to turn back and go get them.

Needless to say, I showed up to Deuce's class 5 minutes late, minus the Mother of the Year badge.

The time in his class went great. The kids in his class are so friggen adorable. One young boy, Arthur, even commented on my hair. "Mrs Jen, your new hair is great. You look beautiful." Obviously, I completely swaggered out of the class room at the end of the day. My hair must be fabulous if 5 and 6 year olds notice.

So, I go back home, get all the supplies for Deuce's party loaded and packed neatly in the car. I call Papa Johns and order the pizzas so we can pick them up at 4:30. I am so organized. I have everything ready so that at exactly 4 pm, we can leave for Deuce's party, which is being held at a large indoor playground in Ithaca. (I even put a few beers in the cooler, since it WAS friday night!)

Like clockwork, we are ready to go at 4. We load up in the mini van (yes, I know, I drive a soccer wagon. I still cry every time I turn the ignition.) and off we go. We pull into Papa Johns at 4:20, and I hand Paco and handful of coupons and send him in to get the pizzas. By 4:30, he is still not back. At 4:40 he walks out and tells me the pizzas aren't ready. I kindly tell him to explain to the pizza people that I called in our order at 3 pm, so that it would be ready by 4:30. I told him to tell them if they didn't pull some pizzas out for us PRONTO, that I would be coming in to make a scene.

At 4:45, Paco walks out with the pizzas. Clearly, my reputation proceeds me.

We make it to the ball pit as the parking lot is beginning to fill up with other mini-vans filled with happy 5 and 6 year olds. Nothing is as classy as showing up late for your own party, I say.

The party is a huge success, as the kids get to run around and yell and scream and play. After an hour, I get the kids sat down for cake and ice cream, and I pass out party favors. Suddenly, the room is vibrating from the sounds of 17 kids all blowing party horns at once. What WAS I thinking? After confiscating all 17 horns and "accidentally" throwing them away, I am glad to declare that overall, the evening was a lot of fun. The kids played so hard that they all fell asleep on the way home, and I got to chat with a bunch of cool parents. And Deuce got more presents from his "pretend birthday" that he declared it was "so much better than Christmas!"

Saturday, I took Ace to a play date, Deuce to a birthday party, and Trey to a birthday party. (I still managed to sneak away to buy a case of wine.) Saturday night, we went over to some friends house for game night, and I finished a whole bottle of wine within 1 1/2 hours. Needless to say, we never got around to the games. But, we had a great time. We didn't get home until almost 11, and the kids were completely wiped out.

Sunday, I woke up at 6, and started getting things ready for Deuce's "official" birthday. Since his birthday happened to fall on Superbowl Sunday, I decided just to invite family over for a bunch of munchies. And since I had to go into work for a while on Sunday, I wanted to make sure all the food was ready before I left.

So, I chopped, diced, breaded, and broiled to create a menu of : Chili, breadsticks, onion dip, sausage dip, spinach and cheese dip, sliders (mini cheeseburgers), stuffed mushrooms, chicken wings, onion petals, and bean dip. (all homemade of course). I have timed everything to be ready at exactly 5 pm, when all my family starts to arrive. The food is great, and we finish off with ice cream cake. By the time the national anthem starts, everyone is gone and the kids are in the tub. I get the kids tucked into bed and I settle in to watch the game.

I am snoring by halftime. I wake up just as the game ends with my husband screaming because with the Steelers touchdown, he just won $200. I stumble into bed, only to have my 4 year old join me shortly thereafter. He kicked and talked so much, that I managed to snag a whopping 2 hours of rest.

So, today, I am using toothpicks to hold my eyes open. I am on my fourth pot of coffee, and I don't think I even like coffee. I forgot to put make-up on this morning, and my new $12 "no rise" underwear have risen so far up that I can now taste my wedgie. I am pretty certain that I am actually sleep-typing right now.

And the good news? There's no school tomorrow because of state testing.

I am off to get another case of wine . . .