Jason's 1/2 Birthday

We've never celebrated a 1/2 birthday before, but since the kids and I missed Jason's real birthday in May (We were in Idaho because of the flood, while Jason was home alone with all the fans and mess working from home...sad.) I felt really bad that he never really had a birthday this year, so the kids and I had a lot of fun secretly planning a 1/2 birthday party for him. I can hardly believe it, but we actually pulled it off without the kids telling him ahead of time. Jason was surprised and I think appreciated the gesture...and of course the lovely dinner and dessert as well as the excuse to just have a fun night together as a family.
Here we are getting things set up while Jason was at work. One tricky part was trying to get everything set up dairy-free. Connor can't have dairy right now...we're trying to get him on a better diet to "stay regular" and eventually get him off of Miralax which he has to take every day. Anyway, Jason didn't want Connor to have to do that by himself so he offered to go off of dairy with him. I made the cake and frosting dairy-free, went to the health food store to get some soy ice cream (surprisingly good), and got only dark chocolate which has minimal amounts of dairy.


Here's Jason with his boys and his gifts...we didn't get him anything big...it was just meant to be fun, but the kids were really excited about Daddy's gifts. The kids bought a couple of things at the dollar store for him. He also got a lightsaber, some guitar sheet music he'd been wanting, and I donated $10 to a charity off of Brandon Sanderson's website (he's finishing Robert Jordon's Wheel of Time series) to have Jason's name put in a lottery to use his name in the final book...the odds are not that great that his name will end up in the book, but still it's the thought that counts, so I put the receipt in his birthday card to show he's in the drawing :)
As a side-note, Gavin had a retainer put in his mouth that day, so that's why his smile looks a little iffy. lol The orthodontist accidentally left a sharp edge that was cutting into Gavin's tongue, so we had to rush back to the office before they closed...meanwhile Jason came home and found the surprise birthday party, but no family home to celebrate it with him! and dinner 1/2 way done. Jason actually finished the dinner (sweet 'n sour chicken) then the kids and I made it back home and we all ate and celebrated together.
Cake time.

One of Jason's gifts was a light saber that glows in the dark...he had fun playing with Gavin.