so Little A has been planning his birthday party since the day after his last one. he has talked about it endlessly and changed his mind on theme a bazillion times but rainbows and knights have been pretty constant so we’re going with that. it’s been fun planning and sometimes more than a tad overwhelming but he’s really into it…i’m guessing this stems from his love of magic treehouse books and history? “you know like other times and other lands” he says… anyhow, it’s been ‘project birthday’ all around here these days.

we’re making a pinata and filling it with treasures and treats, based on this little tutorial;

we opted on extra layers of colored tissue paper rather than painting and “Dob” still needs scales, wings and maybe fire;

without spending too much i wanted to fill it with less treats and more treasures. Little A destashed his sticker collection, we sewed up parchment bags and filled them with yogurt raisins, chocolate blueberries, kosher jelly beans and dried cranberries. we also tossed in some gold Canadian coins, colorful foil wrapped barley candies, wee viles of glitter and i don’t know - it seems like a lot. i think the dragon’s belly is full;

in the night i’m up sewing drawstring gift and storage bags for some of the Ostheimer castle pieces Little A’s been wishing for (and i’ve been saving for) this past year. also i think it’s my own tradition to make birthday pants and this birthday Little M gets a matching pair since Little A loves for them to match;

maybe he’ll wear them with the rest of his ‘get up’ - the shield is from a thrift sale 2 years ago, the sword i purchased on line some time ago as with the bamboo chain link hood and the rainbow play silk was Stacy’s good idea. it’s so funny for me to see him play up this role…ah my near 7 year old is changing right before my eyes;

much of our planning goes on while Little M naps but he’s in on some of it and playing up the dragon role quite willingly;

for the cake - Little A peered over my shoulder one day and caught sight of some of the rainbow cakes i’ve come across on the web. i was only flirting with the idea of actually making him one but now i’m committed. From the reviews i’ve read the color gets a lot of wow but the flavor not so much. For me a cake’s gotta taste yummy right? and not too sweet so always with reduced amounts of sugar. i’m modifying this yellow cake recipe as i’ve done for past birthdays. also i’m adamant not to use commercial food coloring and so recent experiments have been to find colorful foods in all the shades of the rainbow;

blue (blueberries)and indigo (blackberries) - these were much more colorful on the inside;

green (spirulina) and yellow (carrot) which i was planning to use for orange so now what?

we’re open for more suggestions for orange and violet and we’ve resolved that red will likely be more pink with pomegranate juice. looking forward to next weekend….