A Movie Party

 Jason and Rhiannon closed down the pool today.  I felt bad for not being more involved in that huge project, but Wade and I were pulling off a 10th birthday party at the same time!  It has been quite a busy Columbus Day! 

 

Wade doesn't officially turn 10 for another week, but today was the best time to celebrate with friends because of upcoming weekend conflicts.  Wade had the option of inviting 10 kids, but he wanted to keep it small so he invited 5 and 4 were able to come.  Jordan, Jacob, Ben, and Nick were great party guests--we had a really good time with them.

 

Today's party was movie-themed, of course:  Iron Man 3!  We watched the movie, had movie treats, opened gifts, and ate pizza and cupcakes, too.  It was simple, fun, and easy.  PERFECTO!    

 

The movie lasts 2 hours, but the boys BARELY finished it in 3 because they kept pausing for movie break-downs and explanations, potty breaks, and food breaks.  It was hilarious!  One kid said, "Man, it's nice being able to pause it!"  I had to agree! :)

 

Iron Man 3 welcomed guests at the door

Fun sign!

Hard to tell from this picture, but that's a cardboard replica of D.U.M.-E. from the Iron Man movies

You know what's pretty amazing?  There was almost no popcorn left to pick up after these guys. 
They're good kids who don't make big messes--SCORE!

Wade was super excited for "intermission" when he could open gifts!

I love this picture of his friends watching anxiously.  Boys are fun!

Say cheese!  Oscar and Samson "watched" most of the movie with us, but they were crated
once the pizza and cupcakes came out. :)



Wade was happy, and that's what matters.  So happy this movie-lovin', all-boy son is in our family!  Happy (early) 10th Birthday, Wade-O!  We love you!

Final recap on Wade's 7th birthday!

On Friday we had some friends over after school for an Iron Man 2 party.  I gave Wade some parameters this year for his guest list.  #1, he could invite 7 kids, and #2, those he invited had to be kids who were good friends and had nice party manners.  I was impressed by Wade's choices--and it made for a VERY smooth, fun party! 

We started out with a little background on Iron Man's nemesis Whiplash.  The games we played helped us be mentally and physically prepared to defeat Whiplash, as well as being able to work well in a team.  First, we went outside and did some circuit training--there were 8 stations, everything from jumping jacks to bicep curls to yoga moves to my personal favorite--boxing moves with Wade's Incredible Hulk hands. :)  We rotated every minute and stopped when each kid had tried each station.  The kids really enjoyed this, and so did I! 

Then we broke up into two groups.  My party "helpers" Rhiannon and her friend JenAi took one group outside for 3-legged races (teamwork!), and I tested the other group mentally with a "guess what's in the bag?" game.  Then we tested our hearing as a big group--one person was blindfolded and had to guess which party guest was saying "I Am Iron Man."  There were a lot of giggles in this game as the kids tried to disguise their voices as best they could. 

Then we defeated Whiplash with some water balloons (this is the third year Wade has asked to do this--it's turning into a birthday tradition)!  We finished up the party with cupcakes, present-opening, some free time, and an Iron Man cartoon on Netflix for those who were interested.  There was quite a bit of popcorn spread everywhere, but that was an easy clean-up with the vacuum!

The night wasn't over after the birthday party, though. After all the guests left, we went to another birthday party for a cute 1-year-old that we know, and THEN we came back home and watched Iron Man 2 "on Blu-Ray". It was nice to sit back and relax!

Party guests:  Matthew, Isabel, Kyler, Keagan, Jacob, Nick, and Halle,

with Rhiannon and JenAi as party assistants (they were very helpful!!!)

On Saturday Howard and Sandi came over and made the birthday celebrating complete.  We were grateful for their visit, especially since Sandi was  recuperating from some surgery!  It was great to catch up and hang out!

After that the kids and I threw on some Halloween costumes and went to the Okerlunds for another party.  Wendy had called me to see if I could come and help her by just being another adult body in the midst of everything!  Her 3 kids ran the show, and I helped a little bit here and there.

One present that has gotten a lot of use so far is the Lego Harry Potter board game from Grandma Deb and Grandpa Rod.  We put the game together first.  So far this weekend the kids have enjoyed using their imagination with it--it's very, very cool!