It was a hard decision this year. What type of party to have?!
Preston waffled back and forth between several things before finally deciding {maybe with a little coaxing} on LEGOS!
I was excited because I had seen several ideas floating around on the internet via Pinterest for C.U.T.E party ideas! Have I mentioned my adoring love for Pinterest and the Internet?!
Since this was the 8th year of big, themed parties, I decided to scale this one back just a bit and focus on one small area of the house and to limit the number of friends that I let P invite. It sounds really harsh, but it made for a much LESS stressed out mama on party day!
The first thing I couldn't wait to make were the party favor bags! I saw this idea and thought it was PERFECT! My bags were much smaller, but I think they turned out just as cute! A special thanks to my friend Lindsay who bailed me out when I ran into a problem...I didn't have any pop-dots! She came to the rescue and helped me out!
I also googled LEGO fonts and found the one that I used to make the "PRESTON" banner. I printed it out in size 500 on white cardstock then cut it out and added it to 6x6 pieces of blue and red cardstock. Then I threaded them together with yellow string. The lego men on the end with the #8 I also found on the internet. I printed the HUGE LEGO head out and just cut it out and taped it on the wall. The LEGO bricks that I stacked the goodie bags on are just Capri Sun and Kool-Aid Jammers boxes that I wrapped in Dollar General wrapping paper.
Preston isn't a fan of cake or cupcakes, but I knew that a lot of his guests were, so I made a few for them and some sugar cookies for the birthday boy. My mom has a cupcake pan that is square so I used that to make the cupcakes, frosted them with Lego colors and added M&M's.
Same story, second verse for the cookies. Only for them I used a pizza cutter after rolling out the dough to make a variety of different square and rectangle shapes.
I had a couple of LEGO themed games planned and the kids obliged me for a minute. They were really having fun just playing though.
The first game was to see how many LEGOS they could pick up with a straw and put on their plate. It was a LOT harder than it looked, but they got the hang of it pretty quick. It was definitely a game that had them thinking strategy...
Sometimes they sucked so hard, they LEGOS had a hard time coming off the straw!
Looks like Kirstin had the most suction power! Look how BIG that LEGO is!!
The second game was to see who could build the tallest tower in 1 minute. Jasper had quite a strategy for his tower.
When time was up we set them up on the table to see how they compared. The birthday boy was happy to see that his tower was the tallest!
Cambree's tower had a bathroom on the top...she told me so!
Dear Preston,
I have a hard time believing that I have been a Mama for 8 years now. You are definitely doing your part to keep me young! A love of reading has developed and nothing makes me happier than to see you sitting on the couch or in the chair reading a chapter book! I also really love seeing you read to your brother and sister. I know you are creating memories that the 3 of you will cherish when you get older.
You are learning what it means to be a loyal friend. Though it's a struggle some days, you are learning what it means to "have" someone's back. You are also starting to step out of your shell a little concerning your faith. I have heard you on more than one occassion talk to your friends about Jesus. That warms my heart. While I know there is so much more I should be doing to grow your faith, you are obviously taking it in and making it a part of who you are. Your heart is still soft and you don't like to see others hurt or upset.
However, you do have a very competitive spirit and you don't like to be on the loosing end of anything! Being a good sport is something we work very hard on. You are already talking about college and what sport you want to play when you get there. I am NO where near ready to send you off to college, but I am proud that you are thinking about your future!
I hope that your 8th year is one of great blessings and great accomplishments for you! You are turning into the young man that God desires you to be. Always keep Him in your heart and you will achieve great and wonderful things! I love you more than you will ever understand!
Love,
Mama
