Jesse's Birthday

My baby boy has turned 6.  Crazy.  Yesterday was an insane day.  I had planned to do some grocery shopping, then use the rest of the day to prep for birthday festivities.  Instead, after getting the little ones on the bus, I took off for Poulsbo to bring the Mountaineer in for a brake job.  After looking the car over, the technician informed me that the front driver's side tire was so bad it was at risk of a blow out at any time.  Since it is an all-wheel vehicle, it is necessary to replace all four tires at the same time.  They quoted me $800 for tires.  After the $360 brake job.  I decided I would wait until I got to Costco and get a quote there as well.  So off I went to Costco, another 15 minutes down the highway.  I made a quick stop at Trader Joe's then went to Costco.  I purchased two carts full of groceries, then popped over to the tire center.  They quoted me only a slightly better total for the tires, but it was necessary to order them.  The guy asked me how bad my tire was and I told him exactly what the previous technician had told me.  He took a look and couldn't believe the folks at the other place had put such a bad tire back on my car and let me drive down the highway with it.  So he ordered my tires, and put my spare on for me so I wouldn't blow out in the meantime.  After waiting for the spare to be put on, I hurried home to go with Lincoln to pay to get his car out of the impound lot and make sure the tow truck came to haul it to a garage o be fixed.  Lincoln had to be there because the car is registered in his name, and I had to be there because the AAA card is in MY name.  But after a frustrating phone conversation with the lady at AAA, we realized we would not have time to go and get back before a friend was dropping off Jesse, and three of her kids.  So I had to run to the school and pick up Julia an hour early so she would be here to watch the kids.  After getting her home, Lincoln and I took off, back to Poulsbo, for the impound lot.  After arriving and paying the charge to get it out, we made another call to AAA for the tow truck.  Sometime during the hour that we had to wait for the tow truck to arrive, we realized Lincoln did not have the keys to his car.  We hoped they would arrive with the capability to tow it without the key.  Sadly, when the guy arrived, he very grumpily informed us he had to have the keys.  At this point, it was almost 4pm.  I made a quick call to Kennedy's flute teacher to let her know we would not make it for her weekly lesson. Luckily, the driver informed us that the guy starting his shift at 4pm has a truck that could tow without keys.  In a quick consultation with the lady at the impound lot, we were told that if the tow truck didn't arrive before 5pm, it would be an additional $95 for an after hours pick up.  Thankfully, the other tow truck arrived at about 4:45 and we were finally free to go. 
By the time I arrived home, I was beat. As much as I wanted to just crash for the evening, I did take the time to bake Jesse's birthday cake and make a double batch of marshmallow fondant. 

This morning, Julia and Renie got up extra early to put up some decorations and make a menu for Jesse for breakfast.  They put on aprons and served him his meal.  It was so sweet.  I'm so proud of these kids for being so thoughtful.  Especially Julia.  She is usually the one behind these kindnesses. 

I still hadn't prepared anything for Jesse to bring to school for a birthday treat.  I figured I would use a cake mix to bake some cupcakes in the morning.  First thing this morning I emailed his teacher to find out what time snack time was.  When she told me it was 9:15, I knew I wasn't going to have time to get cupcakes done, and I hated to even take the time to run to the store to buy something.  Then I remembered I had all the stuff on hand to make Rice Krispie treats.  I threw together the treats with some chocolate chips and confetti sprinkles tossed in.  After a quick delivery to the school, I came home to work on the cake.  I didn't get very far when it was time to pick Jesse up from the bus stop already.  I picked Jesse up and we took off for Poulsbo...again.  On the way, Jesse got his birthday phone call from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Chrissy.  We stopped at the bank to make a deposit, then I took him to McDonalds for a birthday lunch.  Jesse got his usual- chicken nuggets Happy Meal with chocolate milk, and then spent some time on the pretty awesome playspace.

After lunch, we stopped by the garage to drop off the keys to Lincoln's car, then made one more stop to pick up a few groceries we still needed for the birthday dinner. 








So, I tell all of this to paint the picture of how crazy the 24 hours leading up to Jesse's birthday celebration were.  I still had all of the cake decorating still ahead of me.  I worked for a few hours on the cake, and thankfully I had three willing and happy helpers in the kitchen when it came time to prepare Jesse's chosen birthday dinner- tacos. 

Cake got done, dinner was delicious, and I even got Jesse's gifts wrapped.

 My sweet baby boy had a wonderful day, and amid all the craziness, I observed how big he has gotten, and reflected  on how quickly time has flown since he was just a babe in my arms.  He is funny and sweet and brings so much joy to our family.  I'm so very glad I was blessed to be his mommy!