The party report

So, I went completely sick in the head over cleaning my house ... meaning that it was pretty darn close to spotless. Or as close as I get.

I even cleaned the master bathroom. JUST IN CASE. And we stayed up to fold the mountain of laundry in our room. JUST IN CASE.

Friday, we went to the zoo. It was SO COLD. Cold enough that a good deal of the animals were inside, sleeping where it was warm. But, on the bright side, it was nearly deserted. Which was great due to my emotional state (Dear Mother Nature, I hate you. Smoochies! Signed, Allanna.) ... And the tiger was out, walking around, which was nice.

Then we went to the party for my Roxy's youngest daughter, since she's born three days before Bruise and Bucket. Good times. Pizza, pinata, cartoons, Sunny Delight ... My kids did NOT want to go home. But, alas, we HAD to ... Michael and I still had to make their cakes for THEIR party.

Bruise asked for a chocolate cake with a Decepticon symbol on it. He also wanted it to be a round cake. Thank goodness for my Pampered Chef round cake pans. I made his cake from scratch (but we used storebought frosting on that one. Except for the Decepticon. That was homemade buttercream. Dyed purple. Which is the hardest color to make, I think. I'm SO buying purple gel coloring for next year). It turned out well enough that my mother-in-law was raving about its texture! Go me!

Bucket's cake was made from a box -- Cherry Chip. Rectangle. With homemade pink sour cream frosting (which, together, taste pretty amazing), trimmed with storebought vanilla frosting and a few of MY little Disney princesses figurines (Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, Mulan, Aurora, and Pochahontas. Bucket was sad to learn that I don't have ANY Snow White figures. It saddens me, too.)

Michael took care of the decorating of the cakes. I did a crumb coat on Bucket's cake and made and colored the frostings (the ones that didn't come in jars). I think we got to bed by around 11:30 Friday night.

Saturday, we finished cleaning, Michael decorated the cakes, then we went to lunch with most of Michael's family.

When we got back, Mom (my mom) and Julie had arrived and had let themselves in. My dad and L (my, for all purposes, stepmom... if Oregon had common-law marriages, anyways. ^_^) were out, waiting in the truck. Oops! We were supposed to be home to let them in! I was very sorry about it, since Dad was obviously disappointed. But L told me to "get over it" since they hadn't had to wait very long at all. Phew!

One of Bruise and Bucket's friends, H, and one of his big sisters and his mom (whom I get to work with at church) were able to come as well. So that was fun. Of course, Bruise and Bucket's cousins were there. They had come in the morning with Michael's folks ... so it was an energetic party. Our children are very spoiled.

Some of the presents received:

• A bouncy horse
• Dress-up clothes (Bucket)
• A dress (Bucket)
• Money
• Legos (Bruise)
• Transformers (Bruise)
• DVDs - Mulan, Meet the Robinsons, The Fox and the Hound, and season two of Transformers: The Animated Series (with the cool, Manga-esque art. ^_^)
• Paints, smocks, and paper
• They each got an outfit (Bucket's has a purple shirt and pants, Bruise's has blue/gray camo pants and a Transformers shirt)

Really, my kids are spoiled. Michael and I got Bruise some Transformers cars (they don't transform, but they do have the corresponding Transformer on the bottom of the car.) and Bucket got a pair of hoop earrings, since she's had her piercings long enough to be able to wear them.

After most people went home, we waited around for C and A to come to trade cars with Michael's folks. During that time, Dad C helped me work on my computer. And, after C and A both got here, C helped us get it running.

(So, yes, you've read that right, I have a working computer again. I even have it loaded with most of the programs that I need on it and connected to the internet. I still need to get it connected to the external HD ... get the latest pictures of the kiddos transferred onto that.) ... Of course, I really do need a new monitor. This one's older than my BAYBEES ... and is showing it. The screen is ... wiggly and jumpy. So it's good that I'm not all that susceptible to motion sickness. Or I'd be BLUUUURGH-ing all over this keyboard. Ifkwim. Aityd.

So, yes. All in all, a good success. Phew!!

Now to gear up for the next one. 364 days until the next party, give or take. ^_^ I can do it.
(For someone who can talk easily with people, I really do seem to be a bit of an introvert now. I am still so tired after being social with so many people. Crazy, huh? But it's wonderful to have so much of the family together. I was so glad that my dad and L managed to come. ^_^)