With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility...

Happy birthday Ethan!! Ethan turned 4 yesterday and we all had a great day. While we were in the hospital, one of his nurses asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He looked at me and shouted out "SPIDERMAN"!!! I had already been toying with attempting something of the like, but now the pressure was really on. My friend Des lent me her Spiderman cake pan and warned me it would take a while, so I decided to tackle it Saturday afternoon. FIVE HOURS (including 2 attempts at the web)later and 3 very excited boys watching over my shoulder, I declared it done:



Sunday morning began bright and early with Ethan confirming over and over again, "I'm 4 now??? I'm not 3 any more???" When we came downstairs for breakfast, a new easel was blocking the entrance to the kitchen and the breakfast table was stacked with presents (which he didn't actually notice until he'd had a chance to draw on BOTH sides of the easel). After breakfast, Pete took the boys for a birthday swim, which we followed up with a family picnic in the backyard fort (I must say, I'm impressed that it held all 4 of us without so much as a wobble!). Quiet time could not go by fast enough for our very excited birthday boy. At 3:00 p.m., we piled in to the van and headed off to the Fun Factory for the much-anticipated birthday party. He and his friends were racing around in no time and, as you'll see from the pictures below, gave me very little opportunity to snap a picture of him until we were in our party room. We all had a great time and he still refused to take his Fun Factory bracelet off this morning because he had "so much fun". Here are some of the pictures from his big day...

The easel that greeted him in the morning.

Trying it out.

Opening the stash.

Outside decorations.

Dressed in some of the new birthday duds.

At the Fun Factory!

Des and Atlee.

Jessie and Kelly in a tube (poor Kelly)!

Dinner time!

Spinning the Birthday Wheel!

The cupcakes Ethan and Mommy made for his class.

Watching the birthday message from NL.

A big thanks for all the presents, birthday calls and messages - he loves when the light flashes on the answering machine and got a huge kick out of all the messages yesterday being for him! New Liskeard clan: he has watched your video message countless times and giggles away every time.