Marathon Birthday Week

Well, it's a week later I'm finally getting around to posting about Mister J's birthday celebrations. That should tell you just a little bit about how much fun we had! Admittedly, it was a lot of work, but I sure hope everyone enjoyed the end result as much as we did.

We took cupcakes to preschool for Mister J's actual birthday, and celebrated over the weekend. Grandma RL arrived on Thursday evening, and Aunt L and Grandma & Grandpa R arrived on Friday. Grandpa H and MeMaw had to steer clear since he was just finishing up his chemotherapy (yay, Daddy!) and still had some radiation treatments to go.

After a day of shopping/party preparation on Friday, the big weekend started with a cook-your-own pizza party in the evening to celebrate a buddy of Mister J who shares the same birthday.

Mister J was pretty proud of his final product! While I expected to pick up a child covered head-to-toe in flour, Mister J was spotless once he took off his apron. I think there's a place for him in my kitchen....

Saturday was Mister J's day, and the rain held off for some birthday fun! We played musical chairs, had a visit from some firemen (you may remember that we got the idea from a friend's party), and played a party-themed version of Bingo that I decided to call "Flame." I absolutely loved leading the game of musical chairs. I had some great cheerleaders who helped me with "stop" and "go" after they were out of the game.

You might remember a similar photo - only in shorts - from our friend's party.


Thanks Grandma RL for another awesome birthday cake :) She spent so much time on making it perfect so that we could just cut it up and eat it (it was yummy)!

On Saturday evening, Big J and I were at church for our Sunday school class' Christmas Dinner. Grandma and Grandpa R had some one-on-one time with the kids while we were out (thanks!).
(n.b. - Never make plans to host/coordinate two parties in one day. However, if you must, having them in the same place is a very good idea).

On Sunday morning, Mister J sang in the "Cherub Choir" at church. It was so sweet, and I'm glad that all of our visiting family could stay to hear them sing. After brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, it was time to say our good byes.

The last few days have been spent playing with the new toys and games - what fun! - and of course learning a few lessons about sharing. Some of those new 5-year-old toys have tiny parts, so we're also learning more about the importance of not losing pieces and keeping them out of reach of little hands. No real tragedies yet, but a few close calls!

As for me, I'm now the mother of a 5-year-old. Whoa - when did that happen?