The Fifth

Birthday parties usually stress me out. Being pregnant and having the party at my house was the making of an emotional breakdown, yet all was avoided. The night before the big day Brian had an alumni dinner for ROTC at OU. Thankfully our church had a Parents Night Out and we were able to drop the boys off to play, as Jon & Jessica drove down to pick them up and babysit the rest of the evening(thanks guys!). Saturday morning Cooper had a soccer game that Brian took the boys to as I ran around town getting everything we needed for the party. With the party being at 4:00 pm I had plenty of time to get it all together. With three extra kids and two extra adults I was expecting chaos, nope none of that either. I was shocked at how smoothly the afternoon went leading up to the party. The kids played great, the house stayed clean and I stayed sane putting the finishing touches on everything. Jessica was a HUGE help wrapping presents and tidying up where it needed(thanks again!).

This was his second year being able to invite friends to the big day and the first time he was actually allowed to invite anyone he wanted. He decided on his soccer team(6 boys) and some church friends(Luke, Kyle, Whit & Hope) Cooper decided on a Handy Manny, which turned out to be a nightmare to find anything with that particular theme, other than the invitations. A month before the party I hit every Lowe's and Home Depo looking for extra build-it kits from their kid workshops. We had enough for every child plus extras for the siblings that attended too. Each kid was able to build with their own hammer and then once that part was completed they could paint their creation. We set up tables in the garage and it went very smoothly as most of the parents stayed to help out. Cooper decided to build a castle and Wyatt chose a bird feeder. Each turned out super cute. Each invitee was able to take home what they built at the end of the party.

As each child worked at their own pace and complete their project they headed to the backyard to work off energy as they ran and played with each other. The parents were able to have complete conversations for about thirty minutes, until we called them in for presents. It is so funny to watch the kids as Cooper opened each item carefully. I thought they wouldn't be interested in this part, yet there they all were holding the present they brought to give to Cooper and "ooohhhh" and "aaawwww" over each thing. Cooper was very grateful for each toy he opened and remembered to say "thank you!" to the giver. Wyatt was the most dramatic little guy and seemed to get the most excited after each opening.

See what I mean?;~)