Alexander is 8!

Someone was giving away an expired gingerbread house on the Buy Nothing Group and because it had some autumnal vibes, I figured it would be a great way to ring in this season of gratitude. So for FHE on Monday—Canadian Thanksgiving—we put it together (and worked on some leaves to add to our thankful tree). We were very lucky that the kit came with seven distinct pieces to decorate (two roof tiles, four walls, and a chimney). That meant everyone got something to decorate! The instructions also suggested decorating the pieces flat and then putting them together, which for some reason I have never thought of doing...but it did make the whole project much less crowded.

Here's everyone working on their pieces...

Benjamin did a side wall and worked very meticulously on his vines and things:

Daddy helped Phoebe decorate the other side wall and did a roof tile himself:

Alexander and Zoë did the front and back walls:

Here's Phoebe working hard—she really packed the sprinkles on quite densely!

Here's Miriam working on her roof piece:

And here's Phoebe working on a thankful leaf (after she helped me decorate the chimney piece):

All in all it was...not incredibly chaotic. These kids are growing up and the household is starting to feel more manageable somehow (sometimes). There were no huge spills. Everyone asked for things to be passed and waited patiently. The only real wild card was Phoebe...and everyone was helping to monitor her. So all in all, I'd say it was a pretty good evening. 

Here's Miriam lifting Phoebe up so she can put her leaf up at the very top of the tree:

Now, that is not to say that the day went by without a hitch. And, indeed, there would be a long lecture the very next day when some unnamed child(ren) decided to take a long and unnecessary break while "waiting" for siblings to be done so they could move on to the next subject (when they should have still been working on things themselves). It was...frustrating...and disappointing...and kind of put a damper on birthday celebrations, unfortunately, which I feel rather badly about.

But we rallied and I think attitudes turned around by the afternoon (on Tuesday). 

Anyway, here is the completed house, which Andrew so kindly hot-glued together...

Zoë did this side, and I think that is the view of my chimney:

This is Miriam's roof and Benjamin's side:

This is Alexander's side (and Phoebe's chimney):

This is Andrew's roof and Phoebe's wall:

There was a little sugar fox and a set of sugar mushrooms that came with the set as well, but the kids wanted to save those for Christmas. So...they're not on this fall-themed house. And that's okay.

Here's Alexander opening his presents on Tuesday afternoon:

There are eight presents, which he was very excited to count...though he was less excited when he realized that about half of them were individually wrapped socks. That was funny, but less exciting...

We got him the game Adsumudi, a mental math game that he's really good at. Zoë and I played it with him today and he beat us several times in a row, quite significantly.

He got a Halloween LEGO set, which he has enjoyed putting together (he may have finished this afternoon, but I'm not sure...I haven't seen the finished product yet):

He got a couple of books—a graphic novel from the "investi-gators" series (about some alligator detectives) and a science book filled with useless science facts.

Auntie K sent him a Duo plushie, which he was super excited about. He loves owls, he loves Duolingo. It was perfect!

Darla brought him a cool magnet-operated transforming car set. It's two cars and when one smashes into the other they rearrange into a big dragon. It's really quite neat! 

And, of course, he got money from Grandpa and my parents...but we're lame and typically just put that into the kids' bank account instead of picking out a gift because, well, the kids don't really need anything and I'm usually exhausted from thinking about what they might want. 

Gift giving is not my forte.

But look at this cool cake I baked!

I haven't baked a cake for years. 

Rachel has done everything. All the baking. For the last five years or so?

So I...felt a little overwhelmed at the prospect of baking a cake. Especially one that fell during such a busy time for me (having to spend the day on campus on Friday and then again on Monday really cuts into cake-baking time, not to mention some deadlines I had in that time).

Alexander wanted a "potatoes and molasses" cake inspired by Over the Garden Wall.

He requested that I incorporate molasses crinkles and make it be a spice cake. So I baked molasses crinkles for the first time in my life. I have loved these cookies for 20 years...but I've always had others bake them for me. Either Karen or Andrew or Rachel. I have never baked them myself!

So I did that. I mixed up the dough on Saturday night and baked the cookies on Sunday night. And then baked the cake on Monday when we got home from campus and then stayed up until 2:00 in the morning trying to ice the thing. I should have just gone with a standard buttercream...but I decided to try a whipped frosting...failed miserably...abandoned that project...and made standard buttercream. 

I had intended to do a frozen buttercream transfer of Greg, but thanks to my failed experiment in the kitchen, I ended up just printing out a picture of him instead (Alexander coloured him in for me). 

It turned out just fine and Alexander was happy about it!

Here are a few shots of everyone singing to him and him blowing out the candles:

Oh, I should mention that Andrew made potato soup for dinner (Grandpa and Darla joined us for that). We rushed through cake (molasses-based, so Alexander could get in his potatoes and molasses) so that Grandpa and Darla could take Benjamin to swim practice on their way home.

And then I left for the church with Miriam so she could practice the organ...while Alexander and Zoë climbed trees and ran around outside. They all had to be there to make their cars for the cub car rally they're having a in few weeks (the big ward in our building invited us to join them—they have 50 primary kids...which feels incredible). The bishop brought one of his saws and spent the evening cutting out individualized car shapes for all the youth and primary kids. 

Because we left a little late for the church, Andrew and Phoebe picked up Benjamin and dropped him off for the activity so that we didn't have to run right back out and pick him up again after getting to the church (which would have interrupted Miriam's practicing and so forth). 

I guess you could say Tuesday was a busy day. 

But we're so glad we could spend at least part of it celebrating sweet Alexander! We'll be celebrating him more at his baptism in a couple of weeks! It's great to be 8!