We were invited to attend a birthday party for one of Nathan's soccer team mates. We got there and they had the coolest inflatable train EVER!
Nathan did not hesitate to jump right in :)
Watching him open his presents looked like what story time is intended to be- guess we need to pick a book that is as exciting as Thomas and Cars :)
And of course there were cupcakes! Go buddy!
They even had a really neat swing set in the backyard, that when daddy gets involved goes "fast like a jet engine"- in the words of Nathan :)
There's the evidence- look at the hair flying!
Hold on!
Nathan switched to Hannah's side, which he was excited about but she was apprehensive at best!
But he proved to be quite the tender brother when things got rough :)
That'll melt a mommy's heart in a jiffy!
The next soccer practice those two boys were inseparable!
AND, Nathan ran the ball all the way down the field to the goal so one of his team mates could make a goal!
That's my boy!
Another result of the super fun birthday party was Nathan talking non-stop about HIS birthday (which is not until December, and will be too cold for a bounce house). So, I decided to throw a halloween party for him and his friends. We invited his whole soccer team as well as his sunbeam class and several of our neighbors. Out of the 20 invites we handed out, we had about 11 kids come- so it was quite the party!
We spent all week making cookies, cupcakes, and coloring pictures for the cake walk.
Uh-oh! Mommy's sneaking into the popcorn and carmel apples! Naughty mama :)
Nathan looked out the window and saw the bounce house inflating in the back yard and went NUTS!
They came 3 hours early for their own scheduling reasons, but Nathan didn't hesitate to take full advantage of the extra time!
Who can blame him, though- it was really cool! It had a slide and a basketball hoop inside :)
After one shot down the lightning fast slide he decided it was acceptable :)
Before the party started, I tried to sneak in a few Halloween pictures with my princess and her pumpkin. But before I got even a few shots off, another princess was coming up the walk!
Who quickly make her way into the bounce house!
It was a hit!
Before long, it was full of kids and crazy fun!
Hannah even got brave enough (after watching everyone else go) to try the slide.
About half way up she freaked out, but big brother came to her rescue.. for the moment :)
When they got to the top we was going to slide with her, but she slipped out before him and ... let's just say he enjoyed the ride more than she did :)
After that she conned Haidyn's mom into taking her. Nathan enjoyed the ride just as well, but Hannah felt much better about being a companion rider :)
That inspired a group ride... cross your fingers, close your eyes and listen to the squeals and hope they don't turn into crying from a big crash at the bottom!
Wheee!!! That was fun!
The joy in his face at the bottom, is what this was all about for me.
For the pumpkin painting portion of the party, I did my research. I googled it! And several sources say that it's best to spray the pumpkin with a "primer" before painting it, and then spray it with a sealer when finished. Well, we sprayed them down when everyone got there and when we came inside to paint the now dried pumpkins... we couldn't! We had sprayed them with the sealer, and the paint would not stick! But, we had fun trying :) Live and learn, eh?
Once the pumpkins had been painted as well as they could be, we set them out to dry and let the kids loose in the bounce house again.
Here's Nathan defending his pumpkin from me, but the real danger is sneaking up from behind!
What a lovely lot (especially considering the circumstances!)
Then, when they were sufficiently sweaty, we called them in for a drink and a cake walk :)
The concept was new to most, but once they got it they wanted to play over and over! Some of them didn't even take the cupcake the second round- they just wanted to walk to the music :)
Here's Nathan and MacKenzie eating their spoils from round 1!
Hannah decided to get in on the cupcake action as well!
Yep, she took it from her new best friend, whom she had been "sharing" with all afternoon!
After that, they diversified for the last little while they had to play. Abby chose to play mommy with the real baby- who was less than compliant!
The boys went to work on trains and tracks in the playroom... who'd a thought, eh? :)
And the guns and swords came out before too long - both in the house, the yard and the bounce house!
Nathan's costume was a favorite, and several people tried it on to test it's protection abilities :)
Even a knight needs a hug from mommy at the end of the day!
With all the knightly-ness going on, of course Jeremy had to pull his out and wow them all!
After several hours of fun and sugar- the masses left to find some supper in their homes, and things got pretty quiet. We had some family time in the bounce house, which was super fun, and then came in to behold the aftermath of a house full of sugar-crazed children and paint!
Just as we got all cleaned up, they came to collect the bounce house. Nathan was in tears. He looked up at Jeremy and said, "But dad! I wanted to keep the bounce house forever!"
Our kids went to bed shortly thereafter almost comatose from all the sugar and excitement, and at long last it was clean and quiet. Jeremy flopped on the couch and decided to play some X-box while I put my feet up and played words with friends :)
The next morning was Sunday, and Jeremy got Nathan ready while I got Hannah ready. When they stood together at the front door ready to go I realized they matched! They looked so cute I had to try and take a couple shots before heading off for choir!
It's been a busy weekend, but a great one. I am so grateful for such great kids, and that Nathan could find some good friends here in Oklahoma.
There's no recipe for love better than a little bit of family fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment