All about my little guy's 5th birthday yesterday!!
T-shirt and action figure from Aunt Kierstin and her friend, Austin.
My pancake lovin' birthday boy picked oatmeal for his birthday breakfast. That's ok it was still yummy.
We had a super fun Ninja Turtle birthday party that night. Nathan has a lot of friends and we had to invite all them!! Only one ended up not coming so we had a house full!! Everything we did had a ninja turtle them. We had homemade pizza, cuz ninja turtles love pizza!, ninja turtle (green) smoothies, cupcakes, and homemade ninja turtle (mint chocolate chip) ice cream. We watched an episode of Ninja Turtles, the new nickelodeon show, and played Ninja Ninja Turtle (duck duck goose). Opening presents was fun with so many friends and lots of toys. So here's the picture low-down...
I made the ice cream green with spinach instead of food coloring (it's made from petroleum, don'cha know!)
Mint Chocolate Chip (Spinach) Ice Cream (for
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, although another ice cream maker will likely do just fine, just follow individual instructions for operation)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
5 Tbl pure maple syrup (more if you like really sweet ice cream)
5 drops peppermint essential oil (I only recommend doTERRA)
Handful of spinach
Ground up dark chocolate chips
Blend the spinach and whole milk in blender for several minutes to make sure there are no little leafy chunks left. Use as much spinach as you want to make it as green as desired. Add cream and syrup to blender and stir slightly with a long wooden spoon. Grind chocolate chips in a food processor, not too much so you still have a few 'larger' chunks and some fine shavings as well. Turn on ice cream maker and pour in the milk/cream mixture. Then add the chocolate chips. Ice cream will be ready in about 15-20 minutes. Recipe makes 18 single scoops, or a little more than 1 quart.
I pre-froze the scoops in muffin tins which made for very easy serving of cupcakes and ice cream!
Homemade whole spelt flour chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese whipped cream frosting and real chocolate sprinkles (find both recipes
here) topped with plastic ninja turtle rings.
Watching Ninja Turtles and eating pizza.
p.s. All the toys were picked up before the party, but as we were waiting for everyone to get there, they played downstairs and in those few minutes I came down to it looking like this...lol. It's all part of party-ing!!
p.p.s. I was also a little OCD about so many kids eating downstairs, hence the blankets spread out all over the floor and the cups/lids/straws for their smoothies. But, hey, it worked! The few spills were very minimal and I just washed the blankets after!
Playing Ninja Ninja Turtle.
Eating ice cream and cupcakes!
Singing Happy Birthday!! I forgot to have the kids sing before they ate so we sang before presents.
Presents! I may never invite so many friends again, only because he got
so. many. toys. from everyone. So thankful!! And everyone was
so nice, just a little spoiled though... lol!
Our 2nd annual tradition of questions on your birthday:
What is your favorite color? green
What is your favorite toy? cars
What is your favorite fruit? grapefruit
What is your favorite movie? Tangled
What is your favorite tv show? Super Why
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peanut butter sandwich
What is your favorite thing to wear? ninja turtles shirt
What is your favorite game? tag
What is your favorite snack? water and raisins
What is your favorite animal? zebra
What is your favorite song? Jingle Bells
What is your favorite book? Cat in the Hat
Who is your best friend? Seth and Luke
What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios
What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride my bike
What is your favorite drink? water
What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Boo
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes
What do you want for dinner on your birthday? pizza
What do you want to be when you grow up? an astronaut
At his 5-yr check up, he weighed 44# (70%), 44" tall (60%), his blood pressure was 86/60, and he had 20/20 vision in both eyes.
Nathan is such a joy. He's very kind to his friends, calm, and patient. He's a good listener (most of the time!) and does what is asked of him. He likes to help out and wants to be like his dad in so many ways.
We sure love you, Nathan! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
