Birthdays, etc.

We had very late birthday celebrations this year. Michael and Nikolas invited their friends to laser tag, and Sonja and James celebrated at home that same day.  I lost track of how many dozens of cupcakes I made...plus other preparations..... But it was worth it, everything came together perfectly.

We didn't take many pictures, here is just one:

Side note on James: he's been practicing some real acting in the car these past few months.  A few times when I picked him up from school, he acted mad and wouldn't talk.  I thought, because at times he really did look angry, simply from needing sleep or because I picked him up before snack time, it was just one of those days... but then a couple of times, the moment we would stop in the garage at home, he'd brighten up and say "Prevario sam te!" ("Tricked you!") and hop into the house as cheerfully as can be!  The photo below is from just recently, when he pretended to fall asleep in the car on the way to the baseball practice.  I thought he was actually asleep when I took the photo.  But when we parked at the park, he opened his eyes and exclaimed his "Tricked you again!"  He is able to not move his face while we are talking about him and wondering if he is faking... no smile, no movement at all.  He pretended to fall asleep in bed a couple of times while I was reading a bedtime story.  The first time he got me, the second time I tickled him all over to check.