Happy 4th Birthday Landen!

Landen is finally 4! He has been talking about turning 4 for months. Even though Landen is so little, he has seemed older than 3 to me. He is always hanging out with Gage and Zach and kept up with what they were doing.

Since Landen is Mr. Sociable, I had to throw him a birthday party and invite some of his friends. I thought I kept it small, but everyone showed up and it wasn't quite so small. I also had to do a party on a budget, so I had to get a little creative with some of the games.

Landen is still obssessed with cars, but for some reason he picked out transformer invitations. For Landen, this didn't necessarily mean he wanted a transformer party. Gage would have had to have everything match with the theme, but Landen could have cared less. I asked him if he wanted a transformer cake, and he said no. He wanted to pick a cake out of the cake book so I could make it. He picked a bear for some reason. I am still trying to figure that one out. I asked him if he wanted a transformer pinata, he said he wanted a Thomas the Train one (we opted to skip the pinata in the end). Landen is certainly one of a kind.

We started out by coloring transformer pictures for the boys and princess pics for the girls. As you can see this activity didn't last long. It took about 30 seconds to scribble and these are the last two cuties finishing up.

I wanted to play some sort of game where we popped balloons, but Landen absolutely hates the sound of popping balloons. One accidentally did pop and this picture is Landen running away from the noise. Instead, I played Landen's favorite song from Alvin and the Chipmunks and the kids were "supposed" to try and keep their balloons in the air for the entire song. Maybe 12 kids in my living room running around watching their balloons wasn't the best idea. Glad nobody got hurt.

Next, onto pin the mask on the transformer. What a rip off! Look how small that poster is! Zach was the proud winner of this game. He did admit however that he could see through his blindfold.

I thought musical chairs would be a hit. Not so much. I didn't foresee the fact that most 3 and 4 year olds don't know how to play this game. I also didn't look ahead to what might happen when those same 3 and 4 year olds didn't get a chair and they were "out." I thought the first kid out was going to cry. I made a big deal about how he got to push the button on and off on the radio. Kids like to push buttons right?

Gage was the winner of this game. It might have been due to the fact that he was the oldest player and he had played this game before. He had a strategy in mind from the get go.

Ok, flashback to the 80s. My sister Brandy remembered playing a game at our parties where we stood on a chair and dropped clothespins into a jar. Remember, I'm on a party budget. I wasn't able to use clothespins so we dropped crayons instead. I thought this game was going to be lame, but the kids actually had a blast. It was so hard to do. I let them lean over the chairs as far as they could and they still weren't able to get many crayons in. I think the winner only got 3 out 5. Gage was the tallest, therefore leaned over the farthest and I want to say he only got 1.

Next, I let the kids decorate cupcakes. Thankfully, it was a nice day and we were able to do this outside. That would have been quite the mess if we hadn't.

Since Landen started preschool, he always talks about the boy with the cowboy boots and how he had to get some just like it for his birthday. Mike and Landen went down to Reams where he picked them out. He had to open them before the party so he could wear them that day. He looked so cute!

We then opened presents. I coached Landen prior to the party about how he was to say thank you and that he like the present no matter what. He was so cute and rehearsed for me saying, "Mommy, I will say thank you, I luv it." And he actually did a pretty good job of doing just that.

Blowing out the candles on the Bear Cake.

I made Landen pose with his Bear Cake before the party so I wouldn't forget to get a picture.

So I scheduled the party from 1-3pm and after all of the games, decorating and eating cupcakes, and opening the presents, it was only 2pm! I had an hour left with 12 rowdy kids! Again, thankfully it was nice outside and they played great for the last hour. Thanks to everyone who came and who helped! Landen had a great time.

I really can't believe Landen is 4. He has grown up so much since he started preschool and has become a much more obediant child. We have had a lot less outbursts and tantrums. He is learning a lot at school and he continues to be best buds with his "Gager." He has started to get slightly better with Tanner and will occasionally share cars with him. Landen's favorite thing to do is simply play with his hotwheels. He loves watching Scooby Doo, Dora, Max and Ruby or anything Gage is watching. He takes after me and my sweet tooth. We have shared many spoonfuls of cookie dough together after Gage has been long gone after just one scoop. He loves his Daddy and wrestling with him. He still has his Blue Blankie and insists on taking it most places we go.

I love ya buddy! Stay tuned for Landen's doctor appointment and his growth chart results. I can't wait to see how much he's grown. I think he's had a growth spurt! We'll see!