Party Time!

We celebrated Lance's 7th Birthday on September 22nd. George had to work all day, so he missed the festivities, but Amy drove down and spent the day with us which was a treat!

Lance had a soccer game that morning that we were late to (we arrived at the wrong field on time) so Lance only got to play 3/4 of the game. He wasn't too heartbroken.

The Elmers were there, much to Jude's enjoyment. :)

Yum!

My kids LOVE their Aunt Amy. You can see why.

Lance did a good job bringing some energy to the game, something that he struggles with.

After the game, we hurried back home to put the finishing touches on the party. Thank goodness Amy was there to decorate and wrap presents as I gathered last-minute supplies.

We of course had to take one last picture of our pinata we worked so hard on.

I think he turned out really cute!

Lance had asked for a crab cake for his Birthday (he actually wanted several small cakes in the shape of crabs, but I managed to talk him down to one big one), so this was my best attempt:

Lance wanted me to take his picture pretending to punch the crab. I think the cake turned out pretty well. The table cloth I made by appliqueing some fabric onto a bed sheet. It's supposed to look like the ocean. That "sand" is blonde oreos I put through the food processor.

My big Birthday boy!

Eye.

When all the kids came over, we got started with a craft project. I had 8x10 canvases for each of the kids and tons of paint. The idea was to paint an ocean scene and then mod podge on fabric fish/dolphins/turtles/sharks I had cut out onto their ocean.

Jude had been waiting and waiting to paint and was so excited he got his own little canvas and artist palate.

Lance opted to paint his own sea creatures instead of using the fabric ones.

All in all, it was fun and successful. The kids all thought it was great, especially Lucy and Caroline who painted very elaborate ocean scenes complete with rainbows, sand, and sea weed.

More of Lance's sea creatures. He's really into manta rays right now, which is what that blue guy is in the middle.

Cole was eating up all the attention from Aric and Rod.

You can see the little fabric fishies in the bowls. They took a LONG time to cut out, but it was worth it.

I was so grateful for all the extra hands, since George had to work and wasn't there to help out.

While the paintings dried, we went bobbing for rubber duckies.

I ended up having to use our cooler because I couldn't fine a baby pool. The kids didn't mind and I'm pretty sure the water-filled cooler was the best part of the party for some of the younger kids. Many little bodies went home very wet.

Finally, the pinata!

Lance got to go first. He wanted to punch it instead of hit it with a stick.

I just like this picture because you can see the underside of the dolphin.

Good job, Lance!

Next up was Jude:

He did a great job, even blindfolded.

We went youngest to oldest, each kid was blindfolded and got to get in a few good whacks with a broom stick.

Here's Lucy.

Killian managed to stab a hole right in the side!

I made sure when I was constructing the pinata to make it a little bit weaker than last year's. Last year we had to have the men break it because the kids just couldn't do it. This year was perfect. Everyone was able to get a turn hitting the pinata and Lance got a second chance to break it.

He opted for the stick this time and after a few good hits, he broke it right in half!

Quick! Get the candy!

Woo!

Love the head band/blindfold. Don't you feel a little bit sad for that cute dolphin?

Then it was cake time!

7 candles! Can you believe it?

"Happy Birthday to you...!"

Yay!

I let Lance cut his cake. No surprise he opted to cut right down the middle of the crab. :)

Jude was in heaven with chocolate cake and Starbursts. Please just ignore his nasty nose. We've all had cold after cold.

And last but not least, present time!

Slushy Magic! Lance has been begging for one of these for a good year now. Thanks, Killian and Kendall!

Nano speed racers. These cars are so super cute and tiny.

A torpedo from Aunt Amy, plus a voucher for an animal hat of his choice.

Kirby's Epic Yarn. This game is so fun to play.

Candy! Thanks Jaclyn!

Edible boogers and bugs. That has Lance written all over it! Thanks, Lucy and Bennett!

Scott came down for the party, so after Lance opened his gifts, Scott got to open his Birthday present from Lance. Their birthdays are only two days apart.

Lance picked out a couple Lego Star Wars sets that they didn't have yet. Scott did a great job being super excited about it.

Good job, Lance! Great presents!

See that little stuffed manta ray on Lance's hand? Each of the kids got a little goodie bag with a sea creature puppet like Lance's (we had sharks, dolphins, a lobster, startfish, sea turtle, and whales). They were a huge hit!

See what I mean about the cooler being so great? Jude and Jake played in it all afternoon.

Once the party was over, Lance and Killian broke out the Wii game Kirby's Epic Yarn while the rest of us relaxed.

Poor Jude missed his nap, but managed to catch a few good winks snuggling with Aunt Amy.

We were all hungry but didn't want to cook, so I asked Lance where he wanted to go. He picked Bone Fish Grill. Great pick, Lance!

Can you tell Jude was still pretty tired? It was a great meal, although Jude ended up eating too much and threw up right at the end. Poor kid.

Amy spent the night and drove back home the next day. It was fun to have her with us and I was soooo grateful for all her help.

Lance had one more Birthday surprise that came in the mail a few days later:

An awesome gift from Callie and Bryce! Lance is one lucky kid.

Happy Birthday, Lance! You light up our life with your laughter and your crazy antics. Thank you for teaching me to be a better mother--more patient, more loving, more kind. You are a blessing and I wouldn't trade you for the world! Thank you for being mine. I love you!