Erik's Party

To be honest, I didn't want to throw Erik a birthday party this year. He didn't want one last year and I was half expecting him to not want one this year. When he told us he did, I almost just said no and wanted to give him another option of something fun to do with the family, but everyone else got so excited about the idea, even Jason, that I couldn't deprive him of something all my other kids have done every year since they were 4. His birthday, being the day before Thanksgiving this year, made it tricky, plus Christmas is in full force right after. I didn't want all my decorations up for his 4 and 5 year-old buddies to mess with, so we held off decorating until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Also, since I can't have his parties outside like I can with Austin's, I was afraid of having a bunch of boys running around my house.

 Since I was taking the girls to see the Nutcracker at the high school on Saturday, we had to make his party on Friday, December 2. My older kids promised to help with the party and they kept their promise! Victoria led the entire party and Austin and Karissa were great helpers! Austin started the party with his race car track, which they all loved! Victoria led them in pin-the-eye on the monster, which she made. Erik really wanted to play What Time is it Mr. Fox?, so we were able to pull that off in the living room and then they played with balloons. All the while, I made pancakes and bacon for dinner, since we had to hold the party during dinner time. Erik eats turkey bacon, once in awhile, and definitely loves pancakes and usually grapes, so the meal was a no-brainer. They all ate, then played with the cars some more before opening presents and having cake. They were all so well-behaved and it was the easiest party ever for me! It helped that they have all been to our house many times between child care swaps, play dates, and mom preschool last year. Only 5 out of the 6 friends we invited came, so there weren't too many to handle.

Car ramp

Austin showing how it's done.

What Time is it Mr. Fox?

Balloon fun!

Spencer, Nick, Braden, Victoria, Erik. Noah, Victor (Austin, Karissa. and Jason in the background)

I guess we'll have to hold his party before Thanksgiving next year since his birthday is on Thanksgiving in 2017.