A Firetruck Party

Henry turned 3. With all birthdays I get a little sappy and wonder where the time has gone. Giving him hugs this day I realize how much he has grown and changed in just three years, and it is simply amazing. He is such a sweet, spunky, funny and energetic little boy and we love him so much!

 

We don't do big birthday parties often. We agreed early on that we would do a big party for when the kids turned one and two, but not regularly after that. When Henry turned two last year we had a party planned, but that is when Mike was hospitalized in the ICU for his cardiac arrest, so the party got cancelled. So, we wanted this year to be a special birthday party year.

 

Olivia was a little obsessive about party planning. Each day there was a different project she took upon herself to focus on. One day was getting a gift put together for Henry. It turned out to be a bag of stuffed animals (most of which were his to begin with), a box with coins, and a bag of candy from our treat bucket. I was laughing so hard at gift opening time that I was crying! She also spent hours working on banners, and stringing streamers and yarn from our top banister. Another day was spent making nametags where people would sit, and yet another day was putting together goodie bags for the guests (filled with a few balloons, stickers, candy, and pictures of Jesus she drew.) Seriously, this girl was thinking of all party details all on her own and the projects kept her busy for days!

 

So nice to have a special birthday land on a weekend! We slept in, started the morning with birthday donuts, and Henry opening gifts from us. Gifts included clothing, books, a playdough toy, superhero mask and cape that mama made, and a floor pillow that mama made too.

Our party started at the New Prague Fire Department where Uncle Brent led a tour and let us check out the trucks and equipment. If that wasn't enough, he also took us for a ride around New Prague! It was a very special experience!

Cousin Sam was a little obsessed and entertained us all with his enthusiasm and inquisitive nature.

Then it was back to our house for outside playtime, lunch, dessert, gifts, and lots of visiting and laughs. I wish I would have gotten pictures of our guests. There were 22 guests total, which included everyone in both of our families plus three! Two of Katelyn's friends came that she invited to spend the Easter weekend with our family. My teaching partner Sue also came, who is practically like family too. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life!

I wish I was able to capture him blowing out the candles better, but there were too many guests for me to get to the other side of the table. He took about 20 breaths to get the candles blown out, but he did it. We thought he was going to pass out!

What a wonderful day it was! Happy Birthday little guy! We sure do love you a ton!