Ahoy, Mateys! James is FIVE!

So a month ago, sweet baby James became a FIVE YEAR OLD! A whole hand! How did that happen?!

We celebrated with a fabulous pirate party.  His actual birthday fell on a Saturday (just like the day he was born!), so the party was held that afternoon.  Here is the invitation (I had made a birthday card for James's pal, Chase, like the front last summer, so decided to use that design again!)

We had a great crew of six boys join James to celebrate.  A church friend, an "old school" friend, two neighbor friends, and one of his "original" friends and his little brother.  (Baby John slept through part of the party, then hung with Grandpa and Grandma--out of the way.)

The party was held mostly in the "tennis room"/"music room"/"living room"/"playroom".  We cleaned out the abundance of stuff that has been collecting there (including some of the random furniture), and created a great space for the kids to get their pirate on and the parents to watch.

 Other pre-party prep included cutting out cardboard hooks (the kids made their own hook hands) and swords. Oh, and cutting slots into the bottom of Solo cups (for the hook hands). James helped me figure out the proper sizing of the swords and also put together a hook (so I knew they'd be able to do it and find it fun).  Dan was the sword-smith.

 I also put together the goodie bags.  They had small bags of Pirate's Booty (the cheese puff snack), pirate stickers, and chocolate gold doubloons in them.  The kids added to the booty during the party.

I made the cake the day before the party.  I was pretty pleased with how it came out, and James had a great time helping me apply the decorations.

After James went to sleep Friday night, I personalized the bunting he had helped me hang on the wall. Instead of having only Jolly Roger pennants, I added a special birthday message.

The morning of the party we had rehearsal for the Christmas pageant, so in the couple of hours between that and the party, we ran around putting out snack foods, hiding pirate treasure, and making the pirate map.

The first activity once all the guests had arrived was to make pirate spy glasses.  The boys each wrote their name on a paper towel tube and used a rubber band to attach a blue cellophane square over one end.

 Then we looked around with our spyglasses to see if we could find a pirate map.

Once they had the map, they went on a scavenger hunt around the house.  Each red X on the map lead them to another treasure.  Each treasure was a piece of a pirate costume: mustache, eye patch, bandana hat, sash, jewels.

So much fun!  Especially when they couldn't find the last treasure (the box of jewels) even though they were all standing right next to it.  That gave the parents a good laugh!  (so did the facial hair)

Speaking of laughs, Dan shared lots of great pirate jokes throughout the party.  How much did the pirate pay for his hook and his peg? An arm and a leg!

The boys then played How Many Pretzels Can You Pick Up With a Hook Hand which was pretty fun.  Then they made their own hook hands and swords.  After a snack break, they grabbed their pirate gear and headed outside for some pirate play.  This was kid-lead.  They did a lot of running around the house and yelling "Argh!"  My favorite innovation was when they stuck pieces of firewood between the slats on the deck as cannons from the ship.  Clever!

Then it was time to head inside for singing and cake. (By this time most mustaches had been abandoned. They stashed any costume parts and/or swords in their goodie bags for safe keeping.)

After cake, it was time for all the little pirates to gather up their booty and head home.
Then the family (Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma and John) enjoyed watching James open his gifts (and joined him to play with some too!).

It was a fantastic day.  I had so much fun putting it all together and having fun with my favorite little pirate boy.  I can hardly believe he's five! Time certainly has flown.  I love you, James!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we went to Cora's house for what has become an annual tradition: a playdate/NYE party wherein we count down to noon. So fun!

This year's festivities included 2011 sandwiches for the kids,

hats, beads, and glasses,

s'mores! (marshmallows roasted in the fireplace by mommies),

and, of course, the annual group photo.

James was very happy to have Ezra come for a little while as well before heading back to DC.

Happy New Year!

Toy Story 3 Birthday

Since James has been so fond of Woody, Buzz and the gang since seeing "the movie" last summer, and he's turning 3, we had a Toy Story 3 birthday party for him today.

Grandpa and Grandma were ever so gracious and let us have the shindig in their home.

As the guests arrived, they played nicely together with some of James's toys. The magnifying glass was a huge hit. Once everyone had arrived, we played pin-the-tail on Bullseye (Woody's horse). That was a pretty great time.

Then we made bracelets/instruments/ornaments with pipe cleaners, bells and beads. This was not really Toy Story themed, but the kids liked it and could do it independently. I had kid-tested it on James earlier in the week, and he had a blast. Today I guess he was over it because he just kept pushing the beads all over the place with a truck or his hands. Nice.

After that it was pizza time (James ate fruit, veggies, crackers and cheese). I had planned to play Hot Mr. Potato Head, and to make toilet paper roll rockets (in honor of Buzz Lightyear), but oh well.

There was some more toy playing and general merriment (especially on the part of James & Chase) then it was cake time. Everyone returned to the table and donned their alien hats.

James quite enjoyed having his buddies sing "Happy Birthday," and he popped right up in his chair to blow out the candles on cue. Then the kids got their special Toy Story alien cupcakes while the parents had the layer cake.

After cake, there was more free play which mostly involved playing with the helium balloons. Then James was a gracious host and thanked each of his guests personally whilst giving them their goody bag.

He opened his gifts a little while after everyone left. Well, I should say he started opening his gifts. The first item he opened was a set of four puzzles all of which he put together before moving on to the next gift. Gift #2 was a crane truck which he proceeded to play with for quite a while.

"James, do you want to open another present?"

"No, I just like my truck."

Once we told him he could keep the truck and the other gifts, he was game and opened the remaining gifts all of which were quite fantastic as well. He played his heart out with his new toys all afternoon and evening. Then the exhausted Birthday Boy fell asleep on the way home and is snug in his bed now.

Such fun!

More Halloween Fun

Today was Isabella's third annual Halloween party.

It is fun to see how it has evolved each year as the kids get older.

This year James boycotted the group photo (oh well) because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving the playroom. He did come out for the project-- making paper bag monster puppets.

The kids also appreciated the fun food more than in the past-- pumpkin shaped pb&j sandwiches, jack-o-lantern oranges filled with fruit salad, cookies, and rice krispy treats. And this year they could drink out of festive party cups (rather than straw cups or sippy cups).

After dining, James and Chase returned to the playroom where they had quite the dance party with the Sesame Street "radio."

When Chase showed James this dance move, it didn't take long for James to join him.
We had a great time!