Now we are three

Charlie turned three on Friday. We squeezed his party into Friday afternoon.


This is the cake - my orders were for a diamond shaped cake, with strawberries, chocolate with brown icing and cream. The stars were my idea and were a hit. The cream was mock and between the layers. Charlie doesn't actually like cream. The cake itself was a dodgy recipe and suffered as a result, but as predicted, the kids didn't care. I love the fact that my kids ask for the world's easiest cakes.

We had some left over jelly, which I turned into trifle today. Ben told me it was better than chocolate. I'm not sure there is higher praise...


I am still getting over Friday. Our day:

6:15am: Get up, shower, clean bathrooms make lunches for the little ones, just recess for the big one

7am: Get the kids up, feed them breakfast, dress them, pack their bags, get the little ones to day care by 8:30am. Meanwhile, send big kid outside to do pooper scooping. (He likes it, and gets paid for it, everybody wins!).

8:30am: While I drop little kids off, Crash begins the BBQing of 130 sausages. We are helping with Special Lunch for the 64 kids at Ben's school. They have no canteen, so once a term the P&C puts on a special lunch. This one was sausages in buns, oranges and jelly.

8:35am: It begins to pour with rain

9:15am: Drive big kid to school due to the rain, throw him out of car, don't go to morning lines.

9:20am: Start mopping, vacuuming and dusting. He is still BBQing

9:50am: Take the first load of sausages to another mum's house and help cut up oranges and bread rolls.

10:20am: Go back for the second load of sausages, and then put them in the rolls.

11:15am: Go to school for the serving of Special Lunch at 11:30am

11:32am: It starts to pour with rain again - about 2 minutes after we set up outside.

11:35am - 12:15pm: Serve Special Lunch to 64 kids in the weather shed - an area marginally larger than our dining room.

12:15pm: Come home desperate for a stiff drink, instead, make mock cream (twice, because I dropped the hot water in to the first batch and it separated). Make icing. Decorate cake. Finish all the cleaning and party prep.

2:40pm: Drive to Castle Hill to pick up party guests, since I chose to schedule this party for a time when their parents couldn't possibly get them here. The drive up is by far the calmest part of the day.

4pm: Crash goes to get our three kids, little ones first.

4:30pm ish: Party starts.

6:45pm ish: Kids are bundled into the bath and I start dinner for 9 adults. Steam boat - I only have to chop and peel, and I have assistance.

Later: Everyone goes home and I crash into bed.

Now I signed up for all of this, I don't regret it, and I wasn't actually pushed for time. It all fitted into the time allotted. But it was full on, and the sheer level of excitement in every child I came into contact with was so exhausting. What a day. But Charlie had the best time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.