5th Birthday

Liam turned 5, which seemed like a good opportunity to host our first big kid birthday party (last years only had 2 kids).  Liam planned out all the kids he wanted to invite and of course we knew it had to be Star Wars themed so I took to Pinterest for help.  Unfortunately, Pinterest parties are way out of my league so we improvised~and it turned out great!  Inspired by Pinterest (but with far fewer adorable printables) we did a "Jedi Training Camp" with all activities to help them improve their Jedi skills.

 To start, we made light sabers using half a pool noodle with duct tape for a handle.  The kids were tasked with keeping the balloons in the air for as long as possible.  I tell ya, blow up a bunch of balloons and you've got instant fun.  The second game (not pictured), was cooperative musical chairs to Star Wars music.  Cooperative musical chairs means no one gets "out", when you remove chairs the kids just have to share the remaining chairs.  I love it because nobody feels sad and the kids get a kick out of fitting 6 of them on one chair.

 Next the kids had to build a rocket ship using a large washing machine box I had leftover from the Youth Fundraiser I helped with in February.

 Cardboard boxes+ tape+ markers=so much fun.

 We also did a "pin the light saber on Darth Vader" (not pictured, but Spencer's rendering of Darth Vader was awesome!) and a (hard boiled) Egg race.

 Now, the cake was fun.  Basically all the ideas I found for Star Wars cakes on the Internet were far too complicated for my limited decorating skills, but lucky for me Liam isn't too picky about the aesthetics of his cake so we decided to just put a bunch of Lego Star Wars figures on top and call it good.

 It was, however, the most delicious birthday cake I have made.  It was a cookies and cream cake with a cream cheese/Oreo frosting.

 So good the birthday boy dug right in with his hands.

 It happened to be a cold and rainy day, so we were fortunate all the activities could be done inside.  Being our first birthday party, I think it went pretty well.  Several of the kids claimed it was "the best party ever"-unfortunately all of our awesome activities ended about 20 minutes earlier than we thought so we have some room for improvement next year.

We waited to open family presents until Liam's actual birthday-and they were pretty much all Star Wars related, which made for a happy birthday boy.  His dinner request: pancakes, waffles, and bacon.

Liam at 5:

• Is about 42.75" tall (I think he was a little hunched when they measured him) and weighs 39 1/2 lbs.  
• Spends hours building with Legos.  He received several new sets for his birthday and did an impressive job building them nearly by himself with only a little help.  After a few weeks, he has deconstructed and reconstructed each set many different ways.
• Is thinking about the world and asks very thoughtful questions about the way things work and why.  He asks so many questions about things it sometimes seems he is playing the game where you have a conversation entirely of questions. 
• Liam says he wants to be an engineer when he grows up-we think he should be a patent lawyer to use those engineer skills AND his amazing ability to negotiate.
• Just finished his first session of swim lessons of the summer and he was so proud that he learned to go all the way under water and jump off into the pool.
• Is very good at noticing when I've made an effort at getting ready and tells me "mommy you look beautiful".
• Is beginning to develop spiritually.  He gives very sweet, thoughtful prayers where he will pray that "Emmett will sleep well so mommy can get good rest" or "that Amelie won't be bad" and other things that show he's thinking about it.  He has also asked me questions about what faith is and what a testimony is, which have led to very sweet conversations that I will always treasure. 
• Has some very challenging behaviors such has a violent temper and strong will.  He teaches us a lot about patience and humility in parenting.

Despite the challenges of parenting Liam, he is a smart, sweet, funny little boy and it is such a joy to watch him mature.  I just can't believe he is 5 already!