Birthdays!

 Spencer turned 8 this year, so that meant he got to have his first birthday party! He chose "Minute to Win It" for his party theme. I had him make a list of friends he wanted to invite and then we tried narrowing it down to 6 kids, but it was impossible, so 11 kids were invited, and 9 were able to come. It was great! A little crazy, but great! I had fun preparing for it. First, I found this gal who will email you customizable birthday invitations, then I spent all week making a pinata, and finally we tried some of the games at home to make sure the kids could do them. The party was a big success!

1. Elephant March,  2. picking up pinata prizes,  3.Minute To Win It water bottles and bags, 4. Suck It Up (simplified version), 5. Face the Cookie, 6. They had a minute to decorate their cupcakes, 7. opening presents 

Spencer's actual birthday was on Sunday, so we let him open presents before church. I decided that since I put so much time and effort into his party, he would have to settle for a simple cake. He happily chose a 'skor' cake, one of our favorites. 

 Four days later Preston had his 6th birthday, and boy was he excited! He has been asking for a turtle for the past several years, and whenever he would talk about it he would say..."When I get my turtle..." it was never "if"...funny kid. We just couldn't resist getting him one this year.  He invited his friend Lizzy over to play before school, but I think he spent most of his time watching his turtle.  He wanted a Pirate themed birthday this year, and when I would tell him that he didn't get a party, he kept telling me "I know, I mean a Pirate birthday! So of course he wanted a pirate ship cake, with mermaids (the boys have been playing Lego Pirates of the Caribbean).  I had fun figuring that out. I couldn't find mermaids anywhere, so I ended up buying little baby shower babies, cutting their legs off, and then using duct tape to fashion fins out of. He loved them!

I found the directions for the pirate ship cake here.