Bug Turns 4!!

Well, I can't believe it. My first born is now a 4 year old. It's crazy how fast time flies. I feel like I can barely remember when he was small enough to lay in my arms, falling asleep soundly while I cuddle him. He's still a very affectionate little man, but his cuddling is now limited to when he wants to do it. He easily gives me hugs and kisses (constantly saying "oh, you forgot me a hug and a keeessss" - exactly how he says it when he wants some love), but cuddles come only when he doesn't want to be jumping off the walls, playing with his toys or just being the goof that he is!

I started off his special day with a little surprise in his room and the hallway just outside. I blew up a bunch of balloons and placed them all on his floor while he was asleep the night before. He has a whiteboard in his room that we change the date on each day, so I also wrote him a big happy birthday greeting. Then in the hallway, I hung a bunch of multi-coloured streamers from the ceiling and a happy birthday banner he got to walk through, throughout the day. He woke up and was thoroughly surprised, with his big smile that melts my heart on a regular basis! I also got him some funny glasses...he's obsessed with sunglasses so these were perfect!



Once he was awake, we made birthday pancake casserole...a new tradition I started with our family this year. This is the recipe that I got off pinterest. If you haven't tried this yet; seriously, you must. It is so good, and you don't have to make individual pancakes. You get the pancake flavor with perfect texture and fluffiness with one cooking process. I added sprinkles to my mixture just for the birthday pancake theme. When I make this breakfast on a regular day, I leave those out. Bug likes anything that resembles a cake, so this is always a hit!

Then we went out for the day, ran a few errands for his birthday dinner and went to a toy store. I promised him that on his birthday we could go to the toy store so he could pick out a special toy. He was all excited for it the days leading up to his birthday; but once at the store and I prompted him to go pick out a toy, he told me "no Mommy, I don't need a toy. I have too many"! Haha...I was shocked!! So we just looked around for a bit, and I finally convinced him to pick something. He found an Etch-A-Sketch and was sold instantly. Great choice my boy.

Once we were home, Bear went down for a nap and then Bug and I started preparing our dinner for the night. We made homemade pizzas, with homemade dough and homemade pizza sauce. With the dough, I also added 1 tsp of thyme, 1 tsp of marjoram, 1 tsp of onion powder and 1 tsp of garlic powder. Bug loved rolling out the dough and putting the toppings on! We also made a jelly roll of sorts for his cake as his big cake was planned for his party on the weekend.



We ended the night with opening presents and some family cuddles. It was a great birthday, and Bug just loved it. He kept saying how he was now 4...again reminding me how quickly this is all going by! So I got in a few extra squeezes that night from Bug and Bear.

Now to his party, which was 4 days after his actual birthday. I really wanted this party to be lots of fun and gear it around entertaining all the kids that were coming. I'm sure we will have more boy themed birthday parties in our future, but we did have a few little beauties coming to the party so I wanted to appeal to their feminine side too. We are a very crafty family, so it only seemed logical to have a painting party. So with the theme decided on, I had to start thinking of a cake. I really wanted to try my hand at baking and decorating something you could potentially find at a bakery. I designed my own cake, in the shape of a paint pallet, with a rice krispie easel and chocolate paint brushes. I try not to be one to brag, but I was so proud of myself for this accomplishment and amazed at how well it turned out! I also made a dozen cupcakes in case there wasn't enough cake to go around. I made smaller chocolate paint brushes to embellish the top of the cupcakes. Honestly, I keep looking at the pictures and I still can't believe how well it turned out. Especially for it being my very first themed birthday cake!

As for the rest of the party, I organized 7 painting stations. Each station had paint, disposable plates to put the paint on and some painting utensil. I wanted to make it fun and a little out of the ordinary for the kids, so what we painted with were items you wouldn't normally think to paint with. We used plungers, a small brush from a dust pan (a really bristley one which left awesome brush strokes), a paint roller wrapped in bubble wrap, small condiment jars filled with paint for drizzle bottles, a rubber sauce brush used for splatter painting, sponges, and a fly swatter (the imprint from this one was actually really cool).  All of these items were purchased at Dollarama and cost about 15 dollars (I bought a couple of each to ensure each kid had something to paint with). I, unfortunately was to busy helping the kids and enjoying myself so I only got a couple of pictures of the action. The first is of Bug painting with the brush, and the second is of him doing the splatter painting.

All the kids had a blast and the finished products were amazing! Bug's is the bottom left corner canvas.

I also went a little overboard and bought some cute canvas aprons from Michaels (they come in a 5 pack and are a bit expensive, but I bought them over the course of the month and used a 40% or 50% coupon each time). I wrote "Artist" on each one with their name underneath, so the kids had a little memento to take home with them and reuse.

For this birthday, and probably ones in the future, I really want my boys parties to be focused around having fun and spending time with friends. I don't want it to be gift oriented; for many reasons. 1) my children have too many toys as it is, and they honestly don't need more. The will get gifts from us and family so getting more from friends just seems to be redundant and a waste of money as many of the toys will probably be forgotten by the end of the day. 2) as a mother of 2, I understand how pricey it can get to buy a toy. I don't want parents to feel obligated to get my son(s) a gift, especially since I just want the kids to come over and have a really rad play date! 3) I want my kids growing up, enjoying the company and excitement that comes with a party...not the expectation that they get a gift. And last but not least 4) kids get bored after opening a few gifts, and they get irritable because they want to actually open the toy and play with it. But we tell them they can't because they have a handful of other gifts they have to open and again, are not allowed to play with. This process alone can take an hour; and really, who has time for that, when the kids can be outside playing or eating paint! Plus, you are left with an ornery kid who is actively thinking about how to make your night full of attitude, temper tantrums and crazy behaviours because you tortured them by dangling new toys in front of them that they have to stare at in it's packaging until their friends leave. So this year, what we told the invitees was to bring a toonie. I bought a little jar to collect the money, and then we would take that money and let Bug go pick out an item from a toy store or buy ice cream or whatever he wants to do with it. This way, we could start teaching him about money, and then he could go to the store and get something that really held his interest and wouldn't end up in the bottom of his toy box! Some how, he still ended up with $51...and I'm not crazy, so 20.5 kids were not invited to this party...hahaha...I'm not that brave!

Once the party ended, and it was just down to the VDV four, Mommy VDV had a nap! Haha...honestly, I did. It was a busy day yesterday preparing so that the day could be pulled off stress free (which it was, and it was truly amazing). And I also like to torture myself and made myself work out after only have 3 hours of sleep (it was my first day off yesterday, getting off of a nightshift). So my husband was awesome and watched the boys while I caught up on some much needed zzzz's (but here I am tonight, catching up on my blog, negating the catch up of my afternoon nap...oh well, I know my priorities). Once awake, I got some cuddles in with my love muffins and Bug and Bear did their daily wrestling, giggling and goofing around.

Bug ended the night cuddling with me, talking about how fun his party was and telling me "I like you, I love you"! My life never feels more fulfilled then when I see the joy in my sons' eyes and smiles...and truly know that I have made their day! This is what I strive for as a mom, to create moments like these.

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