Kai's 3rd Birthday

Kailand turned 3 years old! Happy Birthday, big boy!

Our rule for birthday parties is that we only have one on odd years (when they turn 5, 7, 9, etc.) We do this so their baptism is the special part of their birthday when they turn 8. It also gives us every other year, all the even years, to spend as a family on their birthdays, including their 16th year as they start driving and dating, and 18th when they are getting ready to leave the house. We feel these are particularly important times to stay connected as a family.

Well, Seth had a birthday party when he turned 5 years old, and he pointed out to Kai that 3 is an odd number, so he should also get a birthday party also. This is one instance where our kids are too smart for our own good. ;) So Kai got a birthday party. We just couldn't argue with their logic.

Kai picked Spiderman as his theme. We set up a web on the ceiling and rigged it so each kid could pull a string until one of them pulled the right string. When that happened, the web would split in two and the balloons would fall from the ceiling.

 The kids were ecstatic when it finally happened. We took the balloons and had a balloon fight, kicked them around, and generally let chaos ensue. It was a blast. We also set up a game where several villains from the Spiderman cartoons were present, and Spiderman was there to take them down!

 The kids each got a turn to throw both Spiderman balls at the pictures of the bad guys. It was an even bigger hit than I thought it would be! I'd also made a cake for the occasion.

 Do you see the anticipation in their faces? This is when we were bringing the cake over with the candles lit!

 The kids were absolutely adorable and all of them were so well behaved! We had one incident where a potty-training little boy peed all over the bathroom, and I mean ALL OVER: 3 walls, the toddler potty, the toilet, the toilet paper, the floor, the plunger, and the toilet brush. Honestly, with that many littlies in the house (two 5 year-olds and six 2-3 year-olds), I feel like we made out like bandits! I expected a fight or an injury or something. lol!

At the end of the party, we handed out some cute little favors and balloons.

It was a blast. I'm glad the boys had enough logic to convince me to do this. Happy Birthday, Kailand! You are such an energy-packed, happy little boy, and I couldn't picture our family without you in it. I'm always torn between wishing for the past that I have LOVED to share with you and getting excited for the future that I know is going to adventurous, fun, and full of love and life.