Do you ever have times when you sit back and say to yourself, "Wow, I pulled it off!"  Those very words came out of my mouth tonight.  I had a pretty intimidating To Do list for getting everything ready for Andrew's birthday party, so I did the only thing a mom can do under such a high stress level.  I slept in until 9.  So did the kids.     Olivia had ballet at 11:30, and we managed to get to two banks and do some grocery shopping and STILL be at ballet by 11:45!  WOW! 

Andrew was just manic.  Each morning for the past five days the first words out of his mouth were, "Am I five today?"  Well, by today the poor kid was nearly out of his mind with all the anticipation a little boy can muster up when he knows that Today is His Big Day.  He was looking a little shaggy, so after ballet he got a haircut and two new pairs of jeans. 

By the time the party began at 4:30 I had made homemade salsa and guacamole, a fabulous Hot Artichoke Dip, and onion dip (yes, the classic Lipton soup and sour ceam combo).  After hearing everyone raving about the "great spread" we had, I realized that the secret is....lots of dips!  I'm not kidding.  The only other food we had out were vegies and dip (store bought) and hot dogs.  Oh, and a disaster of a birthday cake.  It was supposed to look like this one at Family Fun.com.  My white border of frosting kept rolling off the crushed chocolate graham crackers.  I finally decided that the cake was speaking to me and telling me that, in addition to tasting good, it should also teach a lesson in driving safety.  So I positioned a third Hot Wheels car plunging off the edge of the cake right where the white border had rolled off.  Indeed, it looked as though the unfortunate vehicle had broken through a barrier and plunged over an embankment.  Quite impressive, if only to me.  LOL  Believe me, the next time I'm driving a race car on a figure eight track, I'll remember to use my brakes!

All in all, we had a truly fabulous night.  Andrew was just overwhelmed by the variety and number of gifts.  He had been lobbying for a hamster, but he just isn't mature enough to take care of a pet, and our four Basenjis would probably terrorize the poor little animal.  I'll post some of the birthday pics here soon.  My SIL and her gf were the last to leave.  You know, there must be something about our home and family that draw them to us.  Tonight the gf said, "I just love coming over here."  She feels accepted, and I'm certain my SIL feels the same way.  I know there will come a day when dh and I will have to explain their relationship, but God has that covered, already.  I'm certain of it.