After 7 long years of waiting, Livie FINALLY got to have her very first "Friend Birthday"! It's always been hard for me to figure out when to have a birthday party for a girl whose birthday is so close to Christmas. We decided to go a week late and have it before school got back into session and it was perfect! In all the years I've been doing bday parties, we've never had all the invitees attend. This year, we did! All 13 of them! That means I had a house full of 16 kids running around here and it was awesome!
We usually decorate the night before the birthday child's birthday, but we were in IN, so we waited until the night before the party. I got it all up while Pete was at poker last night.
Livie went with a gnome theme this year. They get to pick out their own theme every year and she picked this out early last month. We loved the little wall clings that came with it! Those will probably stay up for a while. :-)
She woke up this morning so excited about her party. I think she asked me a half dozen times when it started.
Right as people were starting to arrive, we started getting these fantastic snowflakes! Sadly, the snow didn't last long, but it was so fun to have the kids come in with it snowing like that. Tater REALLY loved it!
As they started coming, the girls started hanging out in Madie and Livie's room, before making their way down to the basement.
They spent most of their play time down there, of course.
We hired the magician., Mr. Burke, from the Sabic Party to host Livie's party. We booked him from 2-3:30, but he got their pretty early, so he started early and left at the regular time. He was as fantastic here at the house as he was at the christmas party! The kids loved him!
Because Livie was the birthday girl, she got to go first a lot and got to help do some of the magic tricks, but he was really good about spreading the magic love with nearly all of the kids that were there.
He did many of the same tricks, with a few new ones.
Everyone clapped and cheered and were loving the whole show.
As he finished up his magic show and got ready to make the balloon animals, we let the kids get some snacks and made up Livie's donut cake. That's become our specialty around here. They sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew them out.
As the kids sat around and ate, Mr. Burke walked around and started making everyone a balloon creation. He told them he would make everyone one first then go back for doubles if they wanted them. Livie got a cat hat for her first one.
It was so fun to watch him make the balloon things he made. He's really an artist. Such cool things! Definitely worth the money to have him for that hour and a half. I could sit back while he entertained and take pictures or talk to my friends and the kids. It was perfect!!
Love those happy faces!!
Nearly all the girls had him make them hats with different animals on them. :-)
The boys wanted dragons and swords, of course.
I swear, nothing makes me happier than a room full of happy, excited kids!
After everyone got their first creation, he said they could line up and get a second one. As you can see, most of them wanted a second one.
We've had friends that weren't able to afford to bring a birthday present for our kids before and they were embarrassed by that and almost didn't come to a party we had. Made me seriously look at why we have people bring presents for our kids. Our kids are more than blessed with gifts from their family. They don't need more presents from their friends. The experience of the party itself is more than enough of a gift for my kiddos and that's why we have them - for the FUN! So, we decided, moving forward, that we aren't going to ask our friends to bring bday presents anymore. Instead, for Livie, she wanted them to draw her a picture and boy, did she get some really great pictures!!
All the kids (and even some parents) made her the cutest pictures! We're going to make a book out of them and put them in her memory box. What a great way for her to remember this special day. :-)
My friend Donna made this for her. Isn't it awesome?! Yep. This turned out to be one really amazing first "friend party"!
2 comments:
LOVE that you decided to ask people not to bring gifts ... I was just thinking last week that I want to do that with our kids when they start having real birthday parties. They get SO MUCH from family ... who needs more stuff??? And great idea to have the kids make something for her instead. Totally stealing this. :) You're the best mom, btw!
Suzy - still trying to figure out creative ideas on how to go forward with bday parties and NOT including gifts. The kids and I talked about a possible food drive, where kids bring food for the local food pantry or even bring in loose change to donate to JDRF. Maybe you can help me brainstorm on some fun ideas, other than just the picture thing. Noah suggested that everyone could bring a box that they could all make into a robot together during the party. Thought that was a fun idea!
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