Happy Monday Morning!

Saturday we celebrated Micah and Gabriel turning 4. I had the perfect day planned for them. We would take them to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. See the Veteran’s Day parade. Go to RideMakerz where they would build their own cars. Take naps and then have a party where they got to see the cakes I had made especially for them from things they love the most. The whole day was pretty much awful. It culminated in a humiliating halt to the birthday party right before we brought the cakes out. Anyone been there? Anyone??

First they had their last soccer game which they refused to play in because it was too cold. Then, we went to Walmart where Micah saw a toy he wanted for his birthday and when we didn’t get it for him (because we already had something planned) he resorted to his all-time worst tantrum we had ever seen. It ended with breathing exercises in the parking lot…

We took them to a shop called RideMakerz where they built their own cars. This was the place where they had a blast and that’s what gave this birthday good memories.

Then came time for the birthday party. Cakes were made (Yes! I made the Mack cake and a Painter’s Cake for Gabe), decorations hung and family gathered. Before we even brought out the cakes, the boys had already hit 3 people and pinched someone else. By the time the last offense took place we were forced to stop everything and have a parenting moment in the garage.

Awful. Party. If I were honest, I didn’t even want to light the candles. Which, self destructed the moment I did anyway. I had this idyllic party in my head and my beautiful vision was crashing and burning all around me. The pizza had broke in half in the oven and was streaming cheese all down the racks. The coffee ran all over the counter while the boys were in their own world of sleep-deprived, four-year-old madness.

But you know, kids are kids and I’m realizing the moments I need mine to be extra good, they don’t always cooperate. As one mishap after another piled on, my desire to keep celebrating these turbo-charged, misbehaving boys declined rapidly. But, I knew if we stopped the party it would deeply wound their hearts. Gone was my idyllic party, but we don’t celebrate them because they always have perfect behavior. We celebrate them because we love them.

Though I had to pull my own emotions together in order to regain a semblance of party atmosphere, I’m glad I did. They are good kids and even on their bad days we love them.

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Pray for them

 

Let’s pray for our loved ones to be rooted and established in truth.

Father, bring (Name) into maturity in Christ, “so that [he/she] may no longer be [a child], tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, [and] by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, [may(Name)] grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” In the name of Jesus, amen. — Ephesians 4:14-15

Prayers taken from the daily prayer on the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

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Mack Birthday Cake

• 1 Cake Mix
• 2 cans Frosting (or 1 homemade recipe)
• 24oz Red Fondant (ready to roll)
• 2oz Grey Fondant (ready to roll)
• 2 oz Yellow Fondant (ready to roll)
• 2 oz White Fondant (ready to roll)
• 6-10 Chocolate Covered Cookies

Pick a cake you want and bake it on a large cookie sheet. (Reduce the baking time.) I opted for a delicious Texas Sheet Cake Recipe.

Cut 5 long sections to identical size, 2 smaller sections the same size, and 3 short sections that will be the same size. Stack long sections with frosting (not icing) in between so that each upper layer lays flat. I made a simple peanut butter frosting for mine.

Stack the second section with a layer of frosting, and add two of the short pieces on top.

Cut out a piece of red cardboard for Mack’s hat bill. Set it on top so that the front of the hat does not extend over his nose. Layer the last short piece on top of the hat.

Roll out red fondant and drape and smooth over the body of Mack. Do the same for his face.

Roll out the other colors and cut to fit the different areas based on your design. Lightly brush water onto the back of the fondant piece to adhere it to the red fondant.

Use your choice of chocolate covered cookies for wheels.