Super Mario Birthday

The invitation.

Mario and Luigi hats I made for all his friends. My sweet friend did a Mario party for her little boy last month. We figured out this pattern together and both made hats for our boys' parties. She taught me some great tips. I love how they turned out.

Party favor coin boxes. My same friend, Brittney, made these questions marks out of vinyl to put on the boxes. Super cute huh?

The Cake!! I was so pleased with how it turned out. My friend from Illinois gave me some good tips on making fondant. It certainly wasn't perfect. But I liked it and so did Luke!
If I keep using fondant, I need to invest in the smoothers I think. Plus I learned when I put the second layer on it made the first layer squish, so the the fondant wasn't as smooth. But all in all, I was happy.

Now for the games. Game 1: Yoshi egg race!

Left: Tres Right: Emery

Game 2: Mario Bingo

I loved these Bingo cards I made!! The kids loved playing this too. I got a few, "This is the best party ever!" from a few of the kids. Haha, you know I ate that up!

Game 3: Bob-omb Blow-up. (Like hot potato)
This was the least favorite game for the kids. But I thought still fun. I would work it differently next time, but live and learn. I made this cool bob-omb pillow for it. Jake made a CD of mario music that we played. Luke LOVES the CD. Surprise, surprise! :)

Game 4: Find Boo!!

What started as a balloon boo hunt and find game ended as a balloon boo fight/dance to Mario music. By far the kids favorite part...mine too. It was hilarious. Like Jake always says. You can over plan. Sometimes the things that happen spontaneously are the best. It won't keep me from planning, but I am still happy when unexpected fun breaks out!

Jake blew up a bunch of these white balloons and I drew on the faces. They turned out awesome!

Game 5: Goomba Fire-ball throw My friend found this pattern online for me and I made it into a pillow. The kids took turns trying to knock him off his brick box with "fireballs". In theory one of the games I thought would be great, but turned out not as much fun as I thought. But at least Luke gets to keep the pillow I made.

Party goers:

Me and my boy!

SO CUTE!

The first to arrive. Ty, Luke, Brycen, Tres.

Everyone:Emery, Brycen, Luke, Tres, Ty,

Alex, Adam, Isaac.

What a great time!!

"They Say It's Your Birthday"

Friday the 25th was Luke's 5th birthday. I kept thinking a lot the night before of 5 years previous. Instead of preparing cake, presents and such I had been preparing for induction. I was so excited for that day. I told Luke this year about how long we prayed and waited for him. I started to cry as I told him that the day he was born was one of the best days of my life. Having him made me a mother and Jake a father. It was the culmination of my life's dream. I have never wanted anything more. I am more than grateful for Luke. I wish that I was more eloquent at expressing the joy he has brought to our family. Luke, we love you more than you will ever know...that is until you one day have your very first little baby, then maybe you will understand. Happy Birthday you crazy kid!
Lily likes cake too!

Silly Daddy sporting one of the "prizes" from our evening at Chuck-E-Cheeses.

Delicious!

My handsome boy! Can't believe he is 5!

Mario cupcakes.

Going to Chuck-E-Cheeses.

Cute Tyger.

From Ty and Lily, a Mario shirt. "I got it!"

Star Wars toys. Jake and I commented that as the Mario obsession has taken hold, Luke has started to veer away from Star Wars. Kinda sad to me. We have enjoyed that with him. I think he will always like it and still play with his toys. But Mario is number one right now.

However, he was happy to get new sets of the Star Wars toys. I think he likes the idea a completing another set as much as anything.

Saturday night Jake and I took just Luke bowling and out for pizza. We decided when the kids turn 5 and from then on, around their birthday they get to have a special "date" with Mom and Dad doing something of their choice. We had a great time.

Florida Vacation

In the airport waiting to get on the plane! What a goofball!

So tired after the beach.

Lily did not love the beach the first time we went. Finally she fell asleep. So cute!

Uncle Ben, Daddy, Luke and Ty building a sand castle.

Ty and I made sand creatures.

Ty by our sea creatures.

Lily and Nee-Nee.

Lily getting her "Coke" fix from Nee-Nee. Hopefully she doesn't go through withdrawals since I normally don't let my kids have it.

Playing outside.

Everyone. Notice Luke behind everyone else. He is like a fish. He LOVES the ocean. He could swim there every day. Plus he is really good at it. Thank you swimming lessons. The floaty was just for precaution.

Tyger. Liking the ocean better when he can do his own thing with all his floaties on.

Learning to like the ocean. The second day at the beach we went to a more shallow low wave area. The kids liked it much better.

Relaxing with Nee-Nee and Papa.

Fishing with Papa off the back deck. The boys loved it!

In about 5 minutes they caught 4 fish!

We had a great week. Thanks Nee-Nee, Papa and Uncle Ben. It was great to see you!!