Everett's teacher rewarded him for displaying leadership (or whatever else the qualifications are) by giving him the privilege of bringing a stuffed animal to school the day before his birthday. He was ecstatic. Of course he brought his Ewok. And he had to wear his shirt that matched.
James wanted to get in on the picture.
So very exciting!
Everett wanted me to make a large cake with a realistic-looking redwood forest as a background and Han Solo, Leia, and Luke on speeders in the forefront. He also wanted me to add some Ewoks for good measure.
I declined. But I did decide to make him something that had to do with Ewoks. Because cutting out and frosting an Ewok out of cake sounded like a total nightmare, I made a big sugar cookie instead. It was so, so, SO much easier. I might have to always go this route from now on.
Everett wasn't disappointed that I didn't create the scene he originally had in mind. He has way too much faith in my abilities.
Trick candles are always good for a laugh!
Everett got a few fun presents, like this beanbag chair.
We also gave him some Iowa Hawkeye apparel. He is wearing the jersey here. I don't know why he decided he is a Hawkeye fan, but he is adamant about it.
Everett's grandparents, as usual, were extremely generous. He was thrilled with every single gift they gave him.
Everett wanted to have a birthday party. He asked if we could do the same thing we did last year, and I thought that was a great idea. Last year we invited a handful of friends to donate a used toy or two to a children's crisis shelter, and after we turned the toys in, we went to McDonald's. Simple, but fun.
Everett was so excited to get toys together. He was on fire, man. When I went down to our basement to check on him, he was almost jumping around with excitement. "This is just making me feel so good and giving me so much energy!" he exclaimed.
Everett even very lovingly guided his brother and sister into putting some of their toys in the box. I did have to take out several things that we were still using, and yes, I felt a little bad about it. I didn't want to dampen Everett's fire. But he was happy about whatever I suggested and between what we chose and the two party guests brought, we filled a large box.
We found a nice children's crisis shelter in Des Moines and trekked on over. I had made prior arrangements for the drop-off, but when I asked the woman assisting us if she could talk to the kids a little bit about their shelter, she looked at me warily. I wondered about that until she explained that often parents of unruly children come in as an attempt to scare their kids into thinking they need to shape up or be left there.
In the end, Everett and his friends were given a great explanation and really were happy about what they had given away. Then we went to McDonald's where everyone had a great time playing in the playplace. I had wondered if seven year olds were too old to enjoy something like that, but they definitely were not!
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