Birthday Parties

Everyone,

Now that all birthdays are done until next year (except my own, but that's low key) I thought I'd talk about the parties.

Let's start with the boys'. It was a great party, although stressful at the beginning. (There was a food issue. As in, the lady who took my food order forgot about it. It all worked out though and there was too much food!Yay for leftovers!) Because of the food problem, we didn't get started until later than I wanted. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun visiting with friends. Thanks to my good friendLolli for taking these pictures so that I could enjoy their party. The boys each got their own 1 year old shirt to wear (Butterfly had one for her birthday too). Pirate's was blue. It says, "I think it's been a good year. But I don't have anything to compare it to." And Professor's was yellow. It says, "Put down the cake. This is my first one and it looks like you've had plenty."

They each had their very own cake to smash compliments of my good friend Lavender. Pirate's was blue and Professor's was yellow. Professor dug right into it. Pirate took his own sweet time. But in the end, they got cake all over themselves like they were supposed to. I had everyone sing happy birthday to each of the boys individually. Pirate first, and then Professor. It was somewhat emotional for me to see these boys sitting up so big in their chairs getting sung to.
After everyone ate sandwiches and had cake (it was really good cake! I recommend Safeway bakery.) we moved inside for presents. They boys were very spoiled and got some great gifts! It was also really fun to haveLolli's kids help me open all the toys and take out all the little twisty ties, etc.

We got them the little people pirate ship (for Pirate, of course) and Noah's ark (for Professor). Both were a big hit, especially with Butterfly. She asked to sleep with them the 3 weeksin between her birthday and theirs. They also got some crayola stuff from Lolli's family, a tug boat and a train and cups from my parents, cars from Grandma and Grandpa, a fish bowl and a drum from Butterfly, a shape sorter fromLala and her family, dump trucks from Anie and her family, $20 each from Nana and Papa Great (which went into their college fund), trucks from Uncle MusicMan and Aunt Angel.

We had a great time and I can't believe they are 1 year old!

Butterfly's party was fun. I made a bunch of pizza crusts in small baking pans and had all sorts of toppings on the table. The kids were able to make their own pizzas with their own toppings. Butterfly put a ton of cheese on and some pineapples. One of our friends put a bunch of mushrooms on (which she then picked off). Each one was really unique. We played a few games (freeze dance andSimon says) while the pizzas were cooking. Mostly everyone wanted to play with Butterfly's toys and go down our indoor slide. That slide was a huge hit. At one point, there were 3 on the slide and 4 waiting to go down.

Once we had lunch (pizzas and fruit salad) we had Butterfly's ice cream cake. She wanted Cinderella on it because Cinderella is blue. After cake, we played a very fun treasure hunt game where I hid little toys around the house and took pictures where I put them. This was fun except Butterfly INSISTED on getting all the blue stuff (see a theme here?) and that caused all her friends to want blue stuff too. I had 7 little things and I think it was a little too many. Or I would just take the blue stuff out of the pile and then there wouldn't be a problem.

We opened presents next and she got some really fun things! She got 2 horses, an I Spy game, Little Miss Giggles book, and a princess magnet booklet thing.

On her actual birthday, we had fruit tart (which we sang and blew out candles again), and she opened all the presents from her family. From us she got an electronic work book, from Pirate a singing dog, from Professor a little people van and twin boys, from Nana and Grandpa a little people camping set, birthday motorcycle set, and a cup, from Grandma and Grandpa a magnetic fish puzzle, from Uncle MusicMan and Aunt Angel a sing along book, from Lavender a princess towel, a pink piggy bank, and a princess car toy tote. (My personal favorite present...thanks Lavender!)

4 years old is turning out to be great! Easier than 3.

All in all, I think the birthdays were a hit. Butterfly has been sleeping with ALL her presents for the past few days. She is very entertained and I've been able to get some emailing done. But for now, I'm glad I have one whole year to enjoy these kids and plan the next parties. :)

Safire