Birthday Party!

The forecast all week called for a day like this... ...but I had A LOT of people praying that it not rain from 10-12 on Saturday and guess what? Even though there was a 70 % chance of rain during those hours, there was not a drop of rain! Actually, it only drizzled briefly the entire day and all I have to say is God is good! He knew we had 19 adults, 14 children and 5 babies coming to our house to play and inside for 2 hours was just not the best plan...for everyone's sake!

The kiddos were able to jump in the "jumpies" for about an hour and had a blast!

Once we got inside there were 2 crafts, face tattoos and play time in the play room - in the ball pit! And then there was story time and pizza, but FINALLY the moment we had all been waiting for came...it was time for CUPCAKES!!!! Riley had been eyeing them all day and asking for them, so she was super excited when it was time to dig in. I made cupcakes and put them on ice cream cones and then iced them so they looked like ice cream cones. I was really happy with how they turned out. We had to sing happy birthday twice!

The funniest part of the day was once everyone was gone and the house was quiet, we were gathering them for naps and I couldn't find Riley. I kept calling for her and she was no where. Not in the family room, not in the playroom. I began to get a little worried and then I found her at the table with the greatest grin on her face (see below). She was eating pizza (from who knows plate) and what else, but another cupcake! She hardly ate anything at the party because she was so excited. A girl's got to eat before she can properly nap, right!?

After naps, it was time to open presents. We thought it was just too chaotic to try to open them at the party. They got the greatest gifts....everything they love and couldn't wait to get opened! These days it takes screwdrivers and scissors to get into just about any toy, so it took way longer than they wanted, but in the end they were so happy...and BLESSED!!

They were so content to sit on the couch and watch their new Elmo video. We like to call this the Elmo trance.

After the afternoon of playing with all their loot, they decided to try out their new sleeping bags and watch one last Elmo episode, of course. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Today was such a great day! We declared it PJ day and never left the house. We got organized and cleaned and best of all Riley and Ryan had the entire day to play with all their new toys. It's like we turned a corner...they played amongst themselves and weren't clinging to us the whole day. I even found myself wandering into the playroom a few times just to see what they were up to. They coaxed me into the ball pit with them and thought that was the funniest thing. This is what life is all about. I think this has been one of the best weeks for our family. Such happy times and very happy memories. Mommy is now declaring that I am tired and heading to bed. Yes it is before 8pm, but I'm done!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/200910102ndBirthdayParty#