Ivan's 5th Birthday

Ivan is 5 years old. He’s been waiting to be 5 for a long time. He wanted to have a birthday party, and planned out everything he wanted to do, and who he wanted to invite, and what he wanted his cake to be. It was adorable. Aaron and I made Ivan this Superman shirt using iron transfer paper and hung it up right outside his bedroom door, so he’d find it first thing when he got up in the morning. It was with a note wishing him a Happy Birthday and a Super day. :) He loved it.

He started the day off by taking cupcakes to preschool to share with the other kids. The mom teaching preschool made him a paper crown that said, “Happy Birthday Ivan” on it, and he was so thrilled. He talked about it all day long.

After preschool, we worked on making more cupcakes for his birthday party, and his birthday cake for after dinner. He wanted Superman, so everything was red and blue. I was thrilled, because this cake was a piece of cake. ;)

I had a stroke of brilliance, and that was to reserve the church gym for Ivan’s birthday party. It was awesome, because about 25 kids came, and they had a place to run and jump and let out all their energy, and it wasn’t in my house. It was perfect.

Aaron came home from work early, and we went over to the church to decorate. We did pretty simple balloons and streamers, and some little puff ball things; all blue and red of course, but I thought it turned out really nice looking.

We started off with the game, Pin the S on Superman. Each kid colored an S when then came in, then we tied a blindfold around them and let them try to pin it on an awesome picture of Superman that Aaron drew.

After that we played a game I invented called Superman Tag. Basically, we gave every kid a bandana and had them stuff it in the back of their shirt like a cape. Then when we said go, everyone ran around and tried to pull the capes off of people. If your cape got pulled off, you had to sit down. The last kid with a cape was Superman. The kids were all over it! I was kind of surprised how much they liked this game. We played several rounds.

After that we opened presents. It was like a mosh pit of 4 and 5 year-olds. Haha! I couldn’t see who was giving Ivan what. I tried my best to make sure he said thank you to everyone. He got some really awesome things. And he has really enjoyed playing with all of them since.

Then we did cupcakes, soda, and Cheetos. Which are the foods Ivan requested. I got so absorbed in passing out cupcakes, I almost forgot to have everyone sing happy birthday! Good thing a couple of my great homeschool mom friends had stuck around to help out, and they reminded me. (I was so grateful to have you guys there. THANK YOU!)

 

After eating the kids had a few more minutes to run around and play, and then moms started coming to pick up kids. It was a fun, successful party, and most importantly Ivan loved it. (Even though he got a bloody nose from getting bonked during the last few minutes of crazy running around time.)

The plan was that after the party we were going to get Papa Murphy’s pizzas to bake at home, and Aaron’s parents were going to come over to celebrate. But my house was kind of a disaster from getting the party stuff ready all day, and I felt like we’d been go-go-going non-stop since we woke up, and I wasn’t in the mood to try and clean up again. So instead, we went out to Pier 49, and Grandma and Grandpa Swan came with us there. Ivan wanted a pizza that was half pepperoni and half pineapple. We also ordered a vegetarian (because it’s fantastic, not because we don’t like meat) for the adults I love Pier 49 pizza. It’s my all-time favorite. Happy Ivan’s Birthday to me too I guess. :)

Then we headed back to the house for presents and cake and ice cream. Ivan’s main present was a plasma car. I think he’s really going to enjoy it. And I’m happy that he has one more reason to be outside. The first thing he said when he opened it was “Oh cool! Jeremiah (his cousin) has one of these!”

He also got a compass/whistle/magnifying glass all in one, and a water bottle from Lincoln. A giant Superman stuffed person from Del. The game Guess Who from Ollie. A Superman pillowcase and bedspread from Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry. And binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa Swan. The kid made out like a bandit, if you ask me. (We opened the presents from the grandparents on Sunday when my mom and Kerry and Aaron’s dad came over for birthday dinner.)

The older kids went outside to try out the plasma car before it got dark, and while I put Ollie to bed. Then we had cake.

Happy Birthday Ivan Boy! I hope it was everything you wanted it to be and more. I’m so glad you are 5 and even more glad that you are a part of our family.