This past Sunday
was Owen's 5th birthday. Owen was originally going to have a
"Cars" themed party, but Keith, getting tired of Owen's infatuation
with Cars, convinced him to change it to a "chess" theme. I
thought for sure the chess theme wouldn't last (he's only been introduced to the game in November), but to my surprise, and a little to my chagrin since I had already
started planning some Cars details, it stayed.
I love themes, and, given a theme, will gladly go overboard with
it. But I wasn't sure what to do with a chess theme until I looked around
online for ideas. Since I do tend to go overboard, I made myself promise
to keep things somewhat simple, and for the most part I did (well, kind of). We had hats for the kids to decorate (kings, queens, rooks, bishops, and knights), some play swords (1/2" PVC pipe shoved into a pool noodle) for the knights, a punching bag alligator to serve as the dragon, some chessboard table clothes, and 2 chess boards. Oh, and dark/light appetizers, some of which guests didn't eat because it looked too fancy. I did allow myself one splurge - the cupcakes. I went online to
find some really good sounding recipes for vanilla and chocolate
cupcakes/frosting, and we bought a mold which I used to make chocolate truffle
chess pieces. Owen said he wanted jello at his birthday, so we added some of that to the vanilla cupcakes. It took a lot of time and effort to make 64 cupcakes, but
it was worth it! It's a good thing I gave up chocolate for Lent (I did allow myself one cupcake and one chess piece), or else I would have gorged myself on the leftovers.
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| From Owen's 5th Birthday Party |
We've never spent money on birthday parties (like hiring
entertainment), but we decided there was going to be enough kids at the party
that we wanted to make sure they had something to do, so we rented a bouncy
house. One reason I wanted to rent one instead of borrowing a friend's
was so the adults could go in. If you didn't already know it, BOUNCY
HOUSES ARE SO MUCH FUN. And good exercise. Owen had a lot of fun in
it, and Sophie *loved* it! I actually went in the bouncy house by myself
after the party and was a little sore the next day. A few days before the
party Keith asked at what age do the parents stop coming to the party; I'm not
sure what age that is, but I'm glad we're not there yet. Our kids' circle
of friends (outside of school) is for now primarily our friends' kids, so we
enjoy the parties as much (if not more) than they do.
For past birthday parties we stated on the invitation to not bring
any toy gifts; our kids already have a lot of toys and this
was one way to control what they got. For Owen's third birthday, we had a art/creativity/music/book theme for gifts, and last year Owen had a costume party where we told them to bring something to add to our dress up bin (the best idea EVER.) We might be able to get away with that one
more time for Sophie's birthday, but Owen is at the age where he cares a lot
about the presents.
Despite our attempts at telling Owen that he could open his gifts from his friends *after* the party, he started opening them himself *during* the party when we weren't looking. His favorite gifts this year so far are the Scrambled States of America game and a set of Legos from the Lego Creator Series. I'm not surprised he likes the States game given his history of liking the United States floor puzzle and the Scrambled States of America book. Owen's Aunt Katie was a little concerned how much he'd like the game since it was something Keith put on his wishlist a while ago and that he hadn't been clamoring for. But after coming up with some modified rules, Owen ended up playing at least 7 games in the first few days.
I am a little surprised at how much he likes the Lego set. A school friend gave him a play-doh set he got for Christmas, so after the party, Keith took Owen to Target to exchange it. Owen likes to go to Target often to look at the Cars, even though their selection is very limited. The week before his birthday, however, he wanted to go to the Lego aisle to look at a Duplo set that matched up with two others Sophie got for Christmas. After receiving that set from Sophie for his birthday, he told Keith he didn't need to go to the Lego aisle anymore. After some time looking at the Cars, Keith was able to convince him to head back over to look at the Legos. After discussing three different sets, Owen picked the one with a car, a plane and a robot. He had a small Cars Lego set, but this was his first large set (if you consider 235 pieces a large lego set). The small pieces are not easy to work with, so I didn't think he would have the patience for it. But Owen often surprises me with his ability to concentrate (when he wants to). In five days, he did all three constructions, starting off with (of course) the car when he got home. He did most of the actual assembly himself (at least 85%), and never really got frustrated, even when he struggled to get a piece in. Keith provided most of the support, helping him find pieces and laying them out (for the sake of efficiency) and getting him to focus on following the instructions, which Owen found harder to do as the construction neared completion, as it became harder to see where the pieces went. I foresee a lot more Lego building in his future! Assuming we can afford it--they aren't cheap!
Despite our attempts at telling Owen that he could open his gifts from his friends *after* the party, he started opening them himself *during* the party when we weren't looking. His favorite gifts this year so far are the Scrambled States of America game and a set of Legos from the Lego Creator Series. I'm not surprised he likes the States game given his history of liking the United States floor puzzle and the Scrambled States of America book. Owen's Aunt Katie was a little concerned how much he'd like the game since it was something Keith put on his wishlist a while ago and that he hadn't been clamoring for. But after coming up with some modified rules, Owen ended up playing at least 7 games in the first few days.
I am a little surprised at how much he likes the Lego set. A school friend gave him a play-doh set he got for Christmas, so after the party, Keith took Owen to Target to exchange it. Owen likes to go to Target often to look at the Cars, even though their selection is very limited. The week before his birthday, however, he wanted to go to the Lego aisle to look at a Duplo set that matched up with two others Sophie got for Christmas. After receiving that set from Sophie for his birthday, he told Keith he didn't need to go to the Lego aisle anymore. After some time looking at the Cars, Keith was able to convince him to head back over to look at the Legos. After discussing three different sets, Owen picked the one with a car, a plane and a robot. He had a small Cars Lego set, but this was his first large set (if you consider 235 pieces a large lego set). The small pieces are not easy to work with, so I didn't think he would have the patience for it. But Owen often surprises me with his ability to concentrate (when he wants to). In five days, he did all three constructions, starting off with (of course) the car when he got home. He did most of the actual assembly himself (at least 85%), and never really got frustrated, even when he struggled to get a piece in. Keith provided most of the support, helping him find pieces and laying them out (for the sake of efficiency) and getting him to focus on following the instructions, which Owen found harder to do as the construction neared completion, as it became harder to see where the pieces went. I foresee a lot more Lego building in his future! Assuming we can afford it--they aren't cheap!
Keith says I should post less about the party and more about my
feelings about Owen turning five. Truth is I don't really feel mushy
about it. I don't feel sadness about my baby boy growing up too fast.
I'm not sure why not. Maybe it's because he still comes into our
bed at night. Maybe it's because he still asks me to kiss his boo boos.
Maybe I've been so busy planning the party that I haven't had time for it
to hit me. Maybe it's because he's not the youngest. Or maybe it's
because I've been too busy enjoying seeing him growing: learning about outer
space; showing off his moves at dance class; learning to read; taking cooking class;
building things; experiencing a hail storm; dressing up as Merida and
pretending to shoot arrows. Whatever it is, I love him with all my being
and I look forward to growing along with him!
(But don't worry; I'll probably be a mess of tears when we drop
him off at Kindergarten next Fall!)
