Happy 7th Birthday Jon!

Today is the actual birthday of my eldest son, Jon. Not to be confused with our dinner with friends on Friday, or his kid party on Saturday or even his family party yesterday.  Today is the day.  See, if you've been tuning in since at least my birthday, you know that in the Page house we celebrate birthdays for days - they only come around once a year and one day just isn't enough.  Of course than we need to go through birthday detox because it is easy to get used to all the attention.

We started on Friday having old friends over for dinner, the Green's.  They lived in our old neighborhood and we've know each other since Jon was first born.  Their family consists of three boys, Jake (8), Noah(7) and Matthew (4).  We had pizza and Wii fun and the we all got a chance to catch up after too much time passing since the last time we last visited.

Saturday, we woke early to prepare for Jon's small party.  Last year we went had a large party at a gymnastics's studio, it was fun, but expensive.  With three children, we've made it clear that it isn't going to be an every year occurrence.  In fact the success of our little party has made us wonder if it is necessary at all!  Since Jon is a huge Star Wars fan (thanks in part to his father who rented all six episodes and sat the boys down for a marathon) we decided a Star Wars theme was best.  We invited four of his little friends, two from his class last year and two this year (one of which is the cutest little girl/tomboy you will ever meet- Jon proclaimed, if I were a girl, I'd be like Sarah, cute, but I would like boy things).  They were to arrive at 11, play and eat and get picked up at 1.  Only two hours you say, well it was just about the most perfect timing ever.  Our plan was to let the kids play for a bit and then send them on a scavenger hunt around the house to find clues to their next destination, each clue was written in Yoda-ease and had a word scramble for the actual room the next clue could be found.  They wound up at the Jedi Temple (aka-our play set) and found a box containing a light saber for each child (fewer kids, cooler treats) the final part of their journey was to battle Darth Vader (aka Ryan) to save the universe from the dark side.  Needless to say the Jedi's won and Darth got his butt kicked.  

Let me back track a minute to show you the lunacy, ahem, dedication that my husband has to our children.  He was up by eight, dressed and ready to hit a party store on 96th street because it was rumored to have an adult Darth Vader costume.  Much to Ryan's chagrin, they did not, but he did buy a children's one and took parts and pieces to make his own.  He hid by the side of the house as the kids ran outside to the Jedi Temple and then turned the corner to begin the battle.  And yes, this is all on video.  

We came in for lunch and presents, and ate the most adorable cupcakes made by my friend Melanie (who lives in Fishers, so if you live local and need a fantastic cake, cookies or cupcakes for your child I can hook you up!) We then played and all kids were picked up by one.

My dad then came later that afternoon and hung out with us and the kids as we prepared for our little family party on Sunday.  I try to make my gatherings pretty laid back and easy so I can enjoy the festivities as well.  We made homemade pizza (Jon's favorite) and had lots of snacks and of course another set of those darling cupcakes.  My brother and sis-n-law, dad and our friends the Hazelriggs (minus dad who was at a KISS convention-which is probably a good thing because being a dentist I am pretty sure he would have had seizures seeing the amount of sugar the children where consuming).  We ate, visited, played outside and opened presents.  It was a wonderful day, and best of all, Jon proclaimed, "this is the best birthday ever!"

Jon then was invited to his friend Sarah's house for more Jedi fun and hamburgers.  Ryan took our little Darth Vader (yes Drew in fact has swapped his Spiderman suit for Darth and wore it to a cowboy store) to buy himself some cowboy boots.  I got in a run and had a chance to enjoy the amazing weather. 

Today we had one last special treat for Jon when he woke up.  If you know Jon, Jon is pretty snuggly.  He loves to cuddle and be lazy.  He also has an unnatural love for infomercials and can repeat them verbatim and can give you a million reasons why you need the product. (I'm beginning to think I may need to create my own curriculum to sell to schools and have it infomercial based because I have heard from friends that this is a phenomenom that is sweeping their children as well.)  So months ago, he discovered the Snuggie. Yes, THAT Snuggie.  He has been bugging me since for his own, in Red, so he can play his DS without his arms being cold - seriously.  So seeing as I have a raw (and I mean raw) talent for sewing, I opted not to spend 19.95 to get two Snuggies and two book lights.  I picked out fleece that I knew Jon would love, and used a Joann coupon and made his for less than $10 and I have enough fleece left over to make Drew one if he gets real jealous.  Jon got up and we gave him his Snuggie and I said "look Jon now you can be warm and play your DS."  He said, "let's try."  Only on your birthday can you get away with playing video games before school.  I am happy to report that the Snuggie does in fact work and his arms DID NOT get cold playing his DS.  He also wore it around the house for the rest of morning, which was hilarious, but made me happy.  Ah the simple things.

I am also happy to report that it was a Lego birthday, so while I have a TON of those crappy little pieces around my house, we managed to get through the weekend with NO action figures and toys of the like.  I [heart] Legos! Can't beat them for creativity, imagination and problem solving.  See learning CAN be fun.  I will end this post with a ton of pictures, but also with this final statement.  I am in love with my big boy, I can't believe he is seven, I can still picture my fuzzy haired baby, and even though he's getting big, he still has that big dimply smile and those beautiful, expressive eyes.  I love the creative soul that he is, I love his empathetic heart and how he loves so unconditionally.  He's a quirky, friendly, adorable child and I am so very blessed to call him my son!

Thanks for letting rant on - I promise some Penny Pickles stuff later this week!

    

Do you hear the Empire's death march?

Mini-Darth

The Jedi's at the Jedi Temple

Jon introducing our guest Drew-Vader

My brother serenaded us at dessert time with Jon's guitar.

Just a cool shot - Silly Papa purchased on his last visit a contraband Storm Trooper rifle, normally we aren't allowed to shoot mom, but it made for a cool picture so we went with it, just this once.

Gotcha!

I promise I will post some pictures of Jon in his Snuggie, I am pretty sure he'll be jumping in it right after school! Once again - Thanks!