The Party's Over...and it was AWESOME!

First of all, I hadn't gotten everything ready, so it was not nearly as decorated as I would have liked. But to be honest, I'm not sure anyone but me really cared.

I spent too much time that morning cleaning my house, and not enough getting ready for the party. Plus, you know, we had the trauma of Caleb's crib fall. And we had a lady from the new church come over to bring us cookies and welcome us! (EPJ says it's creepy, but I think it harkens to an age when community was more important. When our needs for fellowship outweighed our needs for privacy. Okay, it's not my cup of tea either, but I'm trying to change!) She ended up dropping by the party as well. I thought that was nice.

Anyway, we had probably sixty people, and not nearly enough chairs! So there were a bunch of people sitting in the floor in a circle, with kids going crazy in the center! Caleb was a pretty good egg - he started off the party in a great mood, got pretty mellow in the middle, and then spiced back up into our favorite little ham by the end! I hate to call it a disappointment, so let's just say I was surprised by the fact that he was so neat when he ate his cake. Auntie Megan made him a little cake all for himself, so we stripped him (thanks, Angela!) and put him in his high chair with a whole tablecloth under him so that he could be as messy as he needed to be. Wrong-o! The kid used two fingers to scrape some frosting off, and he licked them off delicately before he went in for some more. Finally, toward the end he got a little messy, but I was hoping for some face pounding into cake action!

Speaking of cake, Auntie Megan made the most beautiful cake in the whole WORLD! (It was probably lovelier than my wedding cake - in a different way.) One of Caleb's favorite books is called Quackers' Crackers, so she made a 3-D shape cake of a duck, then frosted it to look like Quackers. Then she put that cake on top of a giant round sheet cake frosted with blue fondant, with an edible giant Lilly on top. It was so exquisite! I actually had people still talking to me about it yesterday! Methinks Auntie Meg needs to go into business for herself as a birthday cake maker! I'll never have to bake again! (I'll just have to keep her from charging astronomical rates so that I can afford her!)

And speaking of Auntie Meg, she drove all the way to Loveland on Saturday so that Caleb's Grandma could come to the party. Momma had knee surgery on Monday, and wasn't recovering NEARLY as well as she would have liked. So I went to see her on Friday, and she pretty much said that she wouldn't make it to Caleb's party. I called on my baby sis to comfort me, and she took it upon herself to surprise me by bringing her so she wouldn't have to drive herself. So she brought the cake and the Grandma. I can't tell you what a wonderful surprise both of them were!

Everyone who came was so amazing! Carie came early to help me set up - ha! I was so brain dead that I couldn't even tell her how to help! I had friends drive from Greeley, Loveland, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and all the regions of the metro area. Caleb had four teachers from his school come, but none of the kids from his class could. (Except one, who belongs to one of his teachers.) There actually weren't any people who had never seen him, like I'd sort of hoped, but there were definitely those who didn't get to see him enough. We need to get pictures up so that the people who missed it can at least see the birthday boy and the cake!

He'll never have another party like that, so it's a shame that he won't remember it. I meant to have a big, giant card for everyone to sign so I could show him when he could appreciate it. Oh well. I'm really glad it's over, mostly because I was spending so much time planning it that I didn't get enough other stuff done. Only about half of my big plans came to be anyway!

Thanks to all of you who came, and to all of you who couldn't. Caleb's is a life full of love and joy, and he deserves every bit of it. I want him to know how blessed he is, and to remember to thank the Author of every good and perfect gift. (Who I thank hourly for giving him to me!)