Thursday, November 8, 2012

You Live and You Learn….and Then You Get Real

For Paxton’s last 3 birthday parties I have went ALL OUT. This was before Pinterest was invented (or it HAD been invented and I just hadn’t been introduced to the gloriousness of it yet).

Party 1: Halloween party:

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Party 2: Gone Fishin’:

 

 

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Party 3: “Roar Pax is 4!”

 

 

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I took these parties soooo seriously…..right down to the homemade cupcakes, and decorations. I cleaned the house diligently BEFORE the party then cleaned the house diligently AFTER the party. Then………..I crashed…….for like 3 days after, exhausted from the amount of time it took to plan and pull off said parties.

This year?

I got the meeting room at the Y, purchased some cheap plates, balloons, decorations and (GASP!)…. a store-bought cake from Walmart, and………it was just as fun for Pax, it was just as fun for the kids, and it was a TON less stress for me!!

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And ya know what? He went to bed with a huge smile on his face and he told me: “Mom, this was a great day!”

It doesn’t matter how much time or money you spend on the party, it’s the family and friends you have there to celebrate with you and the memories you make during the party that mean the most…….oh yeah, and the presents don’t hurt (wink wink).

He had a wonderful 5th birthday party. Afterwards, our family came back to the house for dinner and K-State football!! It was the perfect ending to a great day, I think Pax and I both went to bed with a clean house and a happy heart:

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(This picture makes me so happy, THIS is what means the most to me, THIS is what makes my heart so full!!)

On another note:

His actual birthday was the day after Halloween and we celebrated that day as well (like I always say, it’s not a birthDAY it’s a birthWEEK).

Josh and I bought him a swing set for his present and Papa Hall and his Great Uncles came over that day while he was at school to set it up.

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Obviously it was a BIG hit. BONUS, no more trips to the park to swing for an hour, they can go right in our backyard! It’s for the kids…………..right? Riiiiiight!!!

1 comment:

  1. You have thrown some great parties but I think this last 1 was just as great and look at the smiles on his face. He could careless wether you put hours or days worth of planning into it. At the end of the day, we were all together and he was happy. That's all that matters.

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