Weston's 4th Birthday

I don't know why I feel like I need to throw my kids a party every year. I don't necessarily WANT to, they just LOVE them and talk about them all year. It's as exciting as deciding what you want to be for Halloween... picking your birthday party theme. And it's not like there's much to do around here. I can't bribe them with a fun day out with a friend or cousin, because there's nothing to do here. Soooo, we have parties. Weston LOVES Spiderman so it was a no brainer. He got the traditional donuts to start his day. (Oh, and his birthday isn't until Feb. 6, but we let him think it was on Jan. 26. His best friend was going to be out of town that weekend, we were going to be out of town the next weekend and the weekend after that was Valentine's Day. So he gets to be 4 for 2 extra weeks. )

 

He had preschool at Rubi's house that morning, which was perfect. Made his day even more fun and gave me some time to prep. Travis also took the day off work for other reasons, but it worked out perfectly. I never want to throw another party without his help! He was indispensable. The two hours before the party, he was driving around town with the kids, picking up the cake and doing other errands. Essentially giving ME two hours without kids to finish getting ready. I love that man.

 

The party started at 2pm. He invited Everett, Rubi, Clara, Kreighton and Collin, of course.

We cut out capes from dollar store shower curtains so they could color their own cape to start.

Fail.

For some reason, they weren't interested in this AT ALL. We got Collin out of school an hour early so he could participate in everything and he was the only one that cared enough to decorate his cape.

Fail number 2 came when they all ripped. I had sewn Velcro to the tops so they could wear them, but the capes were so thin and flimsy, they just tore when the kids tried to take them off. Should have bough a real shower curtain that was thicker!

 

I had also seen this "photo booth" idea online and tried it out. We had each guest put on the Spiderman outfit and take a picture. Well, I didn't post them because they looked ridiculous!! Total Pinterest FAIL! It was laughable. After the party was over, I looked online again and tried these poses with Collin and Weston. Not quite as bad, but still not how it was "supposed" to look.

The guests!

OK, finally something that went right! They were supposed to crawl through Spiderman's "web", grab the "bad guy" (I had several laminated pictures of Spiderman's villains taped to a door), then crawl back through the web. The kids loved it. 

 

 

On to the next bust! I had tied each string to a little, rubber, light up spider toy and hidden it in the living room. Then strung each piece of yarn all around the room like a maze. We tried to explain it to them, but it just wasn't clicking. Collin got the idea but I guess I had too  many strings wrapped around too many things because even HE got frustrated to tears!! Bahhh!!! It was actually pretty comical. I think Rubi just held her string and stood in the middle of the room, sucking her thumb the whole time! We basically had to guide them through it, one by one, and then just started pulling out the toys and cutting the strings and handing them to them! Trav and I just looked at each other and did the bullet to the head motion.

 

 

Once the yarn was all cleared out we started a game similar to a cake walk. I made these glittery webs and laminated them, each with a different villain on them, and one with Spiderman. I would play the Spiderman theme music and the kids walked in a circle, going from one web to the next until the music stopped. Then I'd draw a bad guy from a pile and whoever was sitting on the corresponding web, had to sit down. Then we'd play again until only one person standing (on the Spiderman web)and that was the winner of that round! OK, how did this turn into such a complicated game?!! EVERY time the music stopped, we'd have to direct the kids on what to do and EVERY time the music started we'd have to coax them into moving again. And every time, one kid would loudly complain that he wasn't the winner and when would HE finally win?! Another child seemed so perplexed by all of it that for the ENTIRE time, she just stood idly by until we specifically directed her what to do. Ay yi yi! I got all these games from a 4 year old party. Not sure where I went wrong!! ;) 

 

Scavenger Hunt time! They each had a loot bag and I had hidden a bunch of Spiderman toys/stickers/favors outside for them to find. They sort of got the idea but still needed help. I really thought 3 year olds would be better at these games!!

 



This next game was fun, but kind of pricey. At least, paying $15 a piece for posters from Wal-greens was not ideal. They put on the Spidey mask, ran to the first villain, sprayed it with "web, ran to the slide, then on to spray the next villain. They liked it, but a few of them couldn't quite push down the nozzle on the silly string on their own. 

Time for presents! I tried to prevent the mob of kids on top of the birthday kid, by having them sit on the ground to watch while Weston sat on the couch. Everett was the only one with the willpower to stay seated! Oh well!! He got some fun toys and was thrilled with each one!

I thought I would try to simplify in at least one area... we only had cake and ice cream and not a barrage of Spiderman themed treats and food. I think it was a good choice.

I froze little, plastic spiders in their ice cubes.

 #3,290 FAIL.

 Well, they LOVED the idea, but it meant that 6 little kids had their hands immediately inside their sticky, lemonade drink. No matter how many times I told them to just look at it and not try to touch!! :)

Finally, it was piñata time! Every kids' favorite. Even Olive gave it a whack, after getting tangled up in it! Travis finally beat it hard enough to have the candy fall out. And we ended right on time! Two hours never felt so long. After everyone had left, Travis said, "3 year olds can't handle a party. They just want to run around and eat candy. That's all you have to do." I'm afraid he's right. But Weston really did seem to have fun and enjoy the spotlight being on him. I'm glad he appreciated it, because this may have been the party that broke the Mama's back!!

 



We went to the wonderful Big Cheese for dinner that night. He requests it on the daily. They have like 4 games, but it's still the best place ever, in their eyes. Then we went to the church to set up the Pinewood Derby track. It was a pretty packed birthday!

My heart honestly aches when I peek on him sleeping and see such a big boy. He's not supposed to grow up! For some reason, I'll always see Weston as my baby. He is such a kind heart. Very sensitive and sweet. He's observative of those around him and always wants everyone to be happy. If I'm cranky and speak to him in an angry tone of voice, I can expect a quaky voice say, "Mom, I asked you a question and you sounded angry with me." With tears on the brim. I guess they sang to him in Primary last week and he got to pick a giant sized candy bar. As we were all piling into the car after church, we excitedly heard him say to Collin, "Yeah, and I got this big candy bar to share!!" He would never think of keeping any treat to himself. He always wants to share with Collin. He LOVES trains, soup, wearing his jacket with his hood on, saying prayers before bed that "bless the bad dreams to go away and the good dreams come back", and snuggling stuffed animals, (and he'll offer me a stuffed animal and ask if I want to snug it [the present tense of snuggling?? haha]... like he's offering me comfort). He absolutely LOVES animals of all sorts! He just brought in a potato bug from outside the other day and burst into tears when I told him to leave it outside because, he "just wants it for a pettttttt!!!!" If I EVER cave and get a disgusting animal it will be because sweet Weston wore me down. He even tries to snuggle paper pets in books. He loves his friends, Rubi and Everett and always asks to play with them. He is so innocent and kind. I can't even bear to think of sending him to school all day where he'll be exposed to all sorts of language and bad things. I just want to shelter him and keep him like this forever!! Weston, you'll never know how much your mom loves you!! Thank you for coming to our family 4 years ago with your peaceful nature and loving personality! We are so lucky to have you!!