Happy Fourth Birthday, Sawyer!

 

Sawyer’s birthday fell during our Thanksgiving vacation this year, and we had plans to be in southern Utah with the Bates family. So we started the celebration off the night before we left with Sawyer’s request birthday dinner. He asked for pizza with sausage and mushrooms, with broccoli and green beans on the side.

Here is our homemade pizza before going in the oven.

 

 

It was a big hit with both kids, but Fielding gives much more jovial faces while eating than Sawyer.

 

 

Since Sawyer is such a pizza fan, I thought it would be fun to do a fruit pizza for dessert. I added almond flour to the crust and it was excellent.

 

And then we let him open a few small gifts.

 

 

The weekend after we got home from our trip we had his birthday party proper, with friends and games and cake. My friend Meredith had given me a Wilton Lightning McQueen pan, so I gave that a go for his cake. Man, this took forever, and was way harder than I thought it would be. I skipped the star tip, cause I’m not into the shag carpet look for cakes, and I’m not sure if that slowed me down or sped me up—either way, it was a labor of love, like all of my special cooking projects for family are, I guess.

 

We woke up the day of the party to one hell of a snow storm.

 

 

 

But despite the weather, most of the guests still managed to make it. We had several activity stations set up for the kids. The first was an art table where they painted ceramic cars to take home as their favors.

 

Another was where they made their own pizzas for lunch. I had made whole wheat dough, then had a variety of sauces and toppings for them to choose from. They were so adorable with their mini-rolling pins!

 

 

Lunch!!

 

 

 

And when we called them for cake, they came tearing down the stairs like a band of rabid cake zombies.

 

 

A few shots of gift opening.

 

 

One of Sawyer’s gifts was something that Chris had been saving for years for his own kids: a Playmobil Polar Expedition set. He took Sawyer outside in the snow to set up an arctic play land with the little dudes and their vast collection of equipment.

 

 

And then there was some snowy horseplay. Chris shows Sawyer that there’s nothing scary about the tunnel.

 

Stella is very fond of the mini-sledding hill we built in the back yard.

 

Happy birthday, sweet little man. You are AWESOME, and we LOVE YOU.