Sunday, December 22, 2013

Boys Birthday Bash!

This year we decided to just have ONE birthday party for all 3 of our boys who's birthdays all fall over a 5 week time period- with Christmas in the mix as well. The theme was simple, small, classic, colorful, birthday fun! I didn't even create or send an invitation. SIMPLE! Which is so unlike me when it comes to throwing a party, but the boys really don't care, and I don't think our family minded either. An email with details would suffice! 

The party was held at our house at lunch time after church last Sunday. Even though I wasn't going all out, I still tried to incorporate a few special and fun details! 

I wrapped the kids table in white butcher paper and gave each family crayons, markers, and colored pencils as favors. 

I found this colorful felt banner at Target and thought it would be perfect and durable for many birthdays to come! 

I let each kiddo pick the flavor of their cakes. 
Nolan chose Funfetti.

Heath chose Chocolate. 

And we chose Cherry Chip for Brooksie as a third flavor option. 

I saw this idea on Pinterest of simple white frosted cakes topped with just their age in sprinkles. I thought this would be super cute for my boys and their even ages this year. I drew out stencils on paper to use to shake the sprinkles into. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and I baked and decorated all day, but I still think they turned out cute! And the boys LOVED them! 

I just bought simple plates and napkins to go with the multicolor theme. 

The decorations were simple too. I just picked up a few balloons from the party store that day. 
I placed a few on the mailbox. 

And then I set out number balloons to indicate where each boys' gifts were to go. 
Brooksie's

Heathy's

Nolan's 

All three...super fun! 

When everyone arrived the kids played for awhile and then they sat down to do some drawing & coloring! 




It was really fun to see the progression of drawing skills- from Landon not wanting to draw at all to Payton's cat family! It was so fun! 

Next it was pizza time! The boys each picked out a favorite snack as well: Nolan- pretzels, Heath- Cheetos, Brooks-Doritos. We had Cuties and juice boxes as well. 

The adults and little guys ate in the dining room. It was nice to all be together to eat and chat- we've all been through a lot the past couple of months, making our time together that much more special. 

Nolan ate and ate and ate and was the last one at the table scarfin' down every last bite! 

Then it was time for GIFTS! 
So excited to open! 


I was hoping to have Brooks open one, and then Heath open one, and then Nolan open one and then so on and so forth. But it didn't really end up going that way! They each just kept opening one after another. But it was fun and they couldn't contain their excitement long enough to wait! 


Ninja Turtles are still a HIT with these boys! 



Brooks got this cool airplane from Oma & Opa. And 2 identical Nerf basketball hoops & balls from Uncle Brad & Auntie Jayne and Uncle Wes & Auntie Cara! He LOVED them both of course, so we put one in his bedroom and one in the boys' bedroom. We also have a sturdier hoop on our main floor and a Little Tykes one in the basement. 4 hoops- one house! The life of a mom of boys! 

Of course new TMNT weapons from Cohen & Arie meant they needed to get out their masks too! 

Then all the cousins got in on the mix! 
They were running around together and then Nolan stopped them and said, "Come on everybody put your hands in!"So they all put their hands in and shouted, "Go team!" So cute! I think he's ready to start soccer again in January! 

After a little play time the boys were ready for CAKE! 
Heath was smiling so cute! 

Here are some videos of our singing for each boy! 


I had no idea Nolan's candles were sparklers or trick candles, I just happened to have them around the house. But they didn't seem to want to light or go out! He was a good sport, poor guy. He kept trying. I like how when he finally got them out he said, "FINALLY!" Ha! 

They sure loved their cake! Only crumbs were left! 

The rest of the day was spent playing with balloons and all of their new games and toys! 


Nolan had fun with this Ninja Turtle game from the Syers fam! 

And they got Hungry Hungry Hippos from Oma & Opa! 

And Connect Four from Payton, Brady, and Landon. We've been teaching strategy around here this week. So fun! And we've been doing a lot of game playing every day! It's so fun to get new games- they bring the family together! 

Thank you Jansen Family for such a fun day! Thank you for loving our boys. They love each of you so much and felt so celebrated that day! 

It was nice to plan and throw just one party this year. We aren't sure we will do it every year, maybe we will, maybe we won't. But this year it was needed and ended up being very special. On each of the boys actual birthdays we planned something special for them and did/will do our Birthday Chair tradition! We still want them to feel celebrated for the unique and awesome boys they are! So stay tuned for posts on Brooks and Nolan's birthday too. We are SO blessed! 

2 comments:

Jill Sloothaak said...

Adorable!!!! Love the special touches for this party! The cakes, the butcher paper, the balloons for the gift spots...all of it was so sweet. And, of course, your boys are just the cutest! Such a fun party. Love this post!

Cara S. said...

The party was great. Simple, but still classy with touches that made all the kids feel special. Thanks so much for being such an incredible support system over the past few weeks. The fact that you can be such a rock while still recovering yourself says a lot about the kind of person you are. I am so blessed by you, we love you, Mark, Nolan, Heath, and Brooks so much. Happy Birthday dudes, hope you had a great day.