The House Guests. Much like they did for his sister's birthday, Gommy and Papa flew in for the occasion. It was a quick trip, Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, but we squeezed in a trip to the zoo, a soccer game, a few good meals out and plenty of birthday fun.
The Party. I am the kind of mom that likes to throw a birthday party every year, and I plan to continue to do so at least throughout elementary school. As Sam gets older I allow him to participate a bit more in the planning, but I am still able to guide his decisions without too much difficulty. We picked a theme together and he selected the guest list himself, giving a thumbs up or down to each child I listed from old school, new school, church and soccer. He was quite clear with his choices, which is good to see. He knows who he enjoys spending time with!
I was excited to get a bounce house this year - the first time we had room in our own yard to do it! I found one that could be set up to match our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Theme and had a few extras, including a slide, to go with it. There was a good bit of practicing before the party - so much that we had to make Sam rinse off in the poo because he got so sweaty. Actually, we had to trick him into doing it. How? By allowing him to open a strategically selected gift from Gommy and Papa that we knew he'd want to try out right away.
What was the snack? Well this year I gave up on making a cake for the boy who mostly uninterested in cake. I bakes him a bunch a cookies instead! One special order cookie cutter and lots of decorating bags and tips later, I put together this display. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! Mostly, I was pleased with Sam's enjoyment. I finished them after bedtime one night (his and mine, to be honest) and received a truly grateful "wow, awesome!" the next morning. Bonus - they turned out really soft and delicious! I also served grapes and pretzels, but the cookies were the big hit!
And we did crafts! Nun-chucks anyone? I promise they're safe! Made from pipe insulation precisely measured by ninja standards to fit each child, pipe cleaners, duct tape and plastic rope. The kids enjoyed playing with them during the party and were good about respecting the rule that they were not allowed in the bounce house.
What turtle party would be complete without a shell of your own to wear home?! I combined a few different Pinterest ideas into this one, and I think we were able to turn some foil roasting pans, ribbon and paint into some pretty darn cute little costumes. The kids seemed to really enjoy painting them, too. And thanks to a blow dryer, most of them were dry by the time the kids went home.
There's was plenty of bouncing to be done after the last guest had left. While the adults were doing a bit of cleaning, Sam went off to jump all by himself , not caring that he was companion-less, but also not minding when Annabelle, and then Mommy and Gommy, joined in on the action. In fact, we ordered pizza and camped next to the bounce house until about 8pm that night. Turns out my girl loves bounce houses at a much younger age than her usually-wilder brother did! She help her own not only with Sam (who taught her to climb up the slide, and then assisted her in descending the rock wall once inside), but also with the rowdy 5-year-old guests. I will raise no sissy sister in this house!
It is worth noting a mark of growth in Sam between his 4th birthday party and his 5th: The ability to be patient for presents. Last year he melted down because he just couldn't wait to open a certain gift that was wrapped in a particularly appealing fashion. It wasn't pretty. This year we prepped him for the gift plan, but weren't sure he'd follow through. Much to my surprise, he accepted gifts from guests at the door and happily added them to the pile and then ran to show his friend to the bounce house. He did not speak of touching a single gift until the party had been over for almost an hour. And when he did, he reminded me that last year he just couldn't wait to open the really cool gift, but this year he could because he was 5. And I was proud.
(I was not proud when he melted down over the party favors - someone took one without Sam handing it to him, which he really wanted to do. Never a dull day with him!)
Wednesday was his "actual birthday," and while he understood that, he insisted that he turned 5 at his party and would not hear otherwise. He woke to streamers hanging from his bedroom door frame. This was by request, as I'd done it for Annabelle's birthday. He also requested that the decorations be different for his party. Hers were pretty, his needed to be "awesome." Wednesday are our busy day - School, bible study, swim lesson, soccer practice - so we had to work to fit some birthday fun in there! Of course nothing is more fun than donuts for breakfast, and how about 5 dozen sprinkle donut holes to share with everyone at school?!
Not a single one came home. I hope they shared with some friends outside of their classroom! There was a little surprise in his lunchbox - that would be a wrapped Lunchable. He said it was fun, but I think he was secretly disappointed that it wasn't a toy! After school we had to head straight to the pool, so we weren't able to stop for a special treat. BUT when his instructor found out that it was his "actual birthday," she led the entire pool in a round of happy birthday directed towards him, followed by a toss into the water.
After a brief stop at home, the three of us headed out to an early birthday dinner at Chick-Fil-A. Lucky us, it was family night! And the last family night before they tear this location down for a rebuild, so they graced us with a free soft serve bar in addition to the face painter. My kids, of course, think ice cream is so distasteful that they refuse to let it approach their lips, so they ate the candy off the top and threw the ice cream away. They are strange people.
After soccer it was back home for the rest of his presents. The rest? Why yes. The boy is spoiled. Not only were there presents from the party, and from Gommy and Papa, he'd also managed to open at least one present per day that had arrived in the mail...for about 5 straight days. On the morning of his birthday Chris and I had given him his presents from us. He opened to gift bags of clothes. After acknowledging that the shirts were cool, he kinda murmured a question about "maybe Daddy has a present for me?" "Why do you think that, buddy?" "Last year he got me a bike."
Poor guy. Last year he got a bike, this year a few shirts. Good thing we had a brand new, real, grown up kindle waiting for him that night. He was much more impressed by that!
At one point during the week leading up to his party he told me, "Mom I really like all this awesome stuff you're making!" It was a quick sentence made in passing, but it meant so much. At 5 years old he recognized that I was working for him, and he thought what I was doing was "awesome."
Happy 5th Birthday, Sam!
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