Live. Laugh. Love.: Will's 4th Birthday Party

Will's 4th birthday party with family was held on Saturday the 11th - a cooler, overcast day with a few minor sprinkles. This year has definitely been an increase in his awareness and excitement leading up to the party. I think he had a good time and did a good job greeting his guests and visiting with them. He still needs to work on slowing down, acknowledging and saying "thank you" for his gifts... but I'm sure that comes with time too.

I went to Target awhile back in hopes of finding some of the Paul Frank ("Julious") monkey stuff. I love that silly, monkey face and it was the one with the sundae on his head that struck me as a cute party "theme". So off I went and lo and behold, did they have some cute stuff!

I got a little carried away and ended up returning a bunch of things that never got used after the party. :) But the color scheme was so fun to work with.

Awhile in advance, I started making a sort of decorative garland to drape on our mirror and window. I cut out cardstock circles in red, yellow, blue and black while watching a movie with Craig to start with.

Then I used these to attach a smaller size circle to a larger one sort of off center:

I attached stickers to some and affixed them all to a long strand of red yarn. It reminded me of a circus for some reason.

I draped one strand in the dining room window...

...and three on the mirror.

Next, I washed up 18 mason jars and tied circle tags around the necks using red yarn. I stuck blue and yellow straws in each for our adult guests.

On party day, I put out a red pen and a note asking everyone to write their name on a tag to keep track of glasses. For the kids, I had disposable sippy cups with animal prints and faces on them.

Craig's glass

This time, I opted to have the dining room table open for our grandparents and other adults to eat. It had been difficult asking everyone to eat with plate in lap at Sophie's party.

Instead, we served food in the breakfast nook. Don't know why I'd never thought of doing that before! It worked out perfectly - I think? (Please disregard the shoes and dog bed that Craig left under the stools.)

This party was definitely the easiest of any we've done so far and I felt completely prepared when our guests arrived. Perhaps it comes with practice or maybe I just picked an easy meal. I prepared beef and bean chimichangas a week in advance and froze them. Then I was able to defrost on Friday and bake the day of the party.

I also served a taco bar with homemade salsa and my grandma brought a Mexican corn salad for me.

And finally, mom brought a big fruit tray to serve along side.

Gifts from mom and dad.

Will wore a Julious monkey tee for the party too.

Before/as our guests arrived, I took Will out to the birthday yard sign to snap a few pics of him on his party day. As you can see, the result was his typical forced smile... so I decided to change it up a bit.

I asked Will to just make silly faces for me instead... and I like these so much better. :) Really captures the personality. Haha!

Haha. So funny! Apparently Will associates lots of arm movements with being silly.

Just a couple of Craig and I with our big 4-year-old!

And a silly pic.

How come whenever someone decides to take a silly pic, I was always look the stupidest? Maybe 'cause I don't have to try that hard? Haha. Note to self: don't cross eyes in "silly pics" anymore. It's NOT flattering.

Uncle Taylor & Uncle Zach

As a sort of last minute activity, I remembered a game my mom had done at my brothers' birthday party when we were kids. She hung donuts from a string suspended from a clothesline and the kids had to eat them without using their hands. So I just bought a package of small powdered sugar donuts and this is what the kids (and my mom and brother) did while we waited for my sister's family to arrive. :)

Haha - Cora really wants to use her hands.

Sophie barely tried. She just yanked the donut off the string and shoved it into her mouth. LOL

Thanks for participating, Taylor!

Haha - the kids table isn't just for kids.

And our grandparents got to relax a little better in the dining room. I love our little house, but it is just not designed for entertaining... indoors. :)

Uncle Steve and cousin Cecilia.

Such a difference from Will's first birthday when he was the only child in our family! I love having all the cousins play together.

Stella & Mya looked so cute in the Target dresses I got them for their birthday. Do you love Sophie's booty right in the middle of this picture? Mya is like "Get out of the way so I can go down this slide already!" Sophie thinks slides are mostly for climbing UP. ;)

Will with Great Grandpa and Grandma Konesky.

Will could hardly restrain himself from opening all the gifts before eating. Nana let him open one at the beginning of the party because we thought it would be something all the kids would like to play with. I didn't get a picture of it, but it was a soccer/hockey net with ball, puck and sticks that change from hockey to lacrosse with snap-on pieces. Papa worked really hard to put it together for us and we appreciate his efforts! Will seems to prefer playing "hockey"... with the lacrosse ball so far. :)

Craig did the honors of supervising gift opening this time. It always seems to be "mom's job" and I wanted Craig to be in the pictures while I watched and photographed this time.

A hug for Cora after opening her present. :)

A funny t-shirt from the Rethmans. It says "What's up, dog?" :)

Stella and Cecilila playing with Sophie's pom pom "game".

Lincoln was there too!

Sophie received a pretty substantial gift to open while Will was opening (from Grandma & Papa Riedeman)! A new sleeping bag and fold-out "camping" chair! She LOVES them!

She chilled in her chair singing Happy Birthday to herself for most of the gift opening. Haha!

Cecilia wore my favorite dress from Sophie's first year. The same one Sophie wore to her first birthday. I LOVE it! And it looks so pretty on Celia with her big blue eyes. Isn't she cute?

Also, I haven't mentioned this on my blog yet, but Cecilia is going to be a big sister shortly after Christmas!! Kelly & Steve are expecting baby #2 three months before Celia's 2nd birthday! Whoa! :)

New OSU jersey!

Somehow, Sophie managed to get so sweaty during the party. She was busy.

In lieu of a traditional cake, I opted for an ice cream sundae bar for dessert following gift opening. Sort of in keeping with the Julious monkey with the sundae on his head... sorta' just because cake is typical (and not my fave) and I thought this would be a fun change of pace. I set out glass dessert dishes for adults and I found the white sundae cups from the Wilton line available at Meijer that seemed the perfect size for kids.