The Party Part I: The Nutshell Version

The birthday banner was up:

The cupcake toppers were ready to go:

And the special guests had arrived without much time to spare:

All we needed were a couple of birthday boys. Luckily, I happened to have some handy:

Don't worry. I didn't try to make them eat cake again this year.

I stayed up late making those cupcake toppers for a reason after all. Cupcakes do not = cake by the way and in case my logics here aren't making sense it's a well known fact (and if it's not it should be) that cupcakes have a completely different cake to icing ratio. Sometimes it's all the details. Suffice it to say I was optimistic.

Nate and Seth opened their presents after their big cupcake experience was over and I'm pleased to say there was plenty of wild abandon. Unfortunately it was so wild that most of the photos are a complete blur of activity – but on the plus side, they have definitely cottoned onto the idea of opening presents.

A couple of shots from quieter moments:

The sock monkey jack-in-the-box has been a big hit, but the sock monkey hats have turned out to be an even bigger hit. My boys have always had a fondness for hats after all.

They also scored some new books which have joined their recent collection of completely out-of-reach books since book-tearing is still a hot commodity around here. Despite their reckless behavior with said books, there is little my guys prize above a good read. Nate could not be any more zeroed in here without actually boring a hole through the book (which would involve an entirely new level of destruction I'd prefer not to think about).

And despite all the birthday excitement, naptime at 2 went off without a hitch. They actually slept exceptionally well that day – including overnight – which was a good thing since planning even a small and simple party nearly wore me out.

In case it sounds like I'm wrapping things up, I am – but only for now.

I know you've been sitting on tenterhooks the whole time wondering how my sweet boys enjoyed their cake this year and now you're going to be wondering if my cupcake strategy paid off in the form of finally having a picture of icing-faced little ones to show you.

That, however, is a tale for another day.

- L.