Aeden's Little Birthday Party

I have always tried to do parties for my kids for their birthdays, but I couldn't get my stuff together last week to have Aeden's party, so we did it this week instead. He invited 3 of his little buddies from Sunbeams, plus Zerin, Liah and Asher. His only requests were a cars party and party hats. Fair enough. We played a bunch of silly games, did presents and cake. His only complaint was how short it was (1 hour 45 minutes, it was the perfect amount of time if you ask me). It was so much fun...I love this age. Aeden blowing out his candles for the 2nd time

(he blew them out the first time before we even began singing)
Ashton, Dean, Simon and Aeden
I love how they're each doing their own "thing"... the cool look, the monster face, the hat on the ear, the cheezy grin...awesome :)

Dean and Aeden.

Ashton and Aeden.

Ashton was SO funny...this was the closest thing to a smile I could get out of him :)

Simon and Aeden

The Ben 10 Birthday Bash

So the party was a success! :) Seriously, I don't think I have ever had so much fun at one of my kids' parties! And I have to say, I could not believe how well-behaved all the kids were! I went up into the loft after they had been playing and all the toys were put away!!! I couldn't believe it, seriously. They were all polite, and just cute. And the thing that absolutely blew my mind, is they put their shoes and coats by the door, and as they would get little prizes, they would go upstairs and put their stuff in their shoes. There was not mad dash or last minute meltdowns because they couldn't find things. What a good bunch of kids!

I made these omnitrixes for all the kids. I just had some thick velcro that I used for the bands, and then I cut 3 pieces of craft foam for the watch top. Not the most professional looking things, but the boys loved them.

We had pizza and alien-ade (green koolaid)...you can't go wrong with pizza and little boys I've decided.

For those Ben 10 officienados, we played a Fourarms Stacking game. This one is kind of hard to explain, but if you want to know how to do it, let me know :) It's not hard...I am just take 10 minutes to explain a 10 second thing.

Then I got those sticky shooting bugs (you can shoot them like a rubber band and they stick to the wall) and we played flick the alien. There really wasn't an object, it was just a free-for-all of flicking-sticking alien bugs. Good times.

Then we hooked up the projector, and the kids watched Ben 10 cartoons and ate popcorn and omnitrix cupcakes. I offered to take the kids home, and I was SO glad I did! It gave me time to get to know his friends a little better, and let's face it, 7 year olds are the funniest age...or at least they think so. It was wonderful. The only downside, is I was so involved with playing, that I didn't remember to get many pictures. A for effort :)

Birthdays.

Today, Zerin is having a couple few friends over for a birthday party. I think I am more excited than he is :) I used to think that having a birthday party was a right of passage, a necessity, something every mom did. But I am finding that may not be the case. More and more, when I tell friends I am getting ready for his party, I hear "Didn't you give him a party last year?" Well, yes, but so? I love parties! I won't profess to throw great parties, but I think my kids usually have fun, and that's all I care about (mostly).

So bring on the chaos, the sugar rush, and the blizzard of wrapping paper pieces...

(FYI...The kids had the blindfold on, and couldn't dent the pinata... we let them take it off. I always laugh when I see this pic because they are all smiling, yet it looks like Zerin is about to knock their heads off with the bat :))

Liah's 5th Birthday Party

It's hard to believe that my only daughter turned 5 yesterday. She asked for a scrapbooking birthday party, so scrapbook we did :) It was a cyclone of stickers, scraps, and scissors...but a lot of fun. Later, after we opened presents, there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find Princess Alyssa! She came in

and gave Liah a gift (a watch) and talked to the kids. The little girls were all a little shy at first, mostly because they couldn't believe that a real princess would come to see them. But after about 5 minutes, they peppered her with questions. Some of their questions were:

• Do princesses live in houses or castles?


• Do princesses have phones?


• Do you drive a car or a carriage?


• Do you know Giselle (from Enchanted)? Can she come with you next time?


• Are all of your friends princesses?

When she left, they all scuttered to the front door to see her leave. I think they half expected her to drive away in a horse drawn carriage or get sparkled away by a fairy godmother...my list of resources fell short on that one :)

Later that evening, we had Barbie cake and ice cream. I had sworn I would never give Liah a Barbie, mostly because I've been hardpressed to find one modestly dressed. But, I found a cheap ballerina one...so I added sleeves to appease my conscience :) I was proud of myself because Bryan couldn't tell that I had made any changes...I think he was just being nice because I can TOTALLY tell.

Earlier in the week, Bryan came home sporting Liah's gift...100% his idea. I had to smile, because in a month of Sundays I never would have come up with it, but it was the most perfect gift for her ever...a karoeke machine with a Hannah Montana cd. She LOVED it! Actually, all the kids loved it. She let them each have turns to jam with her.

Watch out Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marsha, Jan and Cindy....here come the Skeltons :)