Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Birthday, Birthday!

What do you do when your kids have birthdays 3 days apart? Because I will tell you what I do--make them share a party, easy peasy. In the past we have kept it mainly a family event with aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. But with Bentley in Kindergarten meeting many new kids, we felt like we could host more friends this year. For both kids. At once. We may have been feeling a little overly ambitious at the time, but we decided to host simultaneous parties--one for Cares and all the girls and one for Bentley and the boys. With the stormy and freezing weather we are so lucky we had 3 floors at our disposal. And we even did pinatas in the newly orange garage!

We had 20 kids here on Saturday! It was soooo busy. And I had a feeling it would be so we recruited A LOT of help--all 4 grandparents AND my big sis. And thank goodness they were all here because those kids kept us on our toes! (Livs included--luckily she took a nap during the second half of all the festivities.)

The boys were Lego maniacs on Saturday afternoon while the girls were fancy, accessorized ladies:



The boys colored a picture of a Lego cement mixer, went on a hunt for hidden Lego bricks in the backyard, built a ship/weapon/base with a bowl full of randomly assigned Legos, and guessed how many Legos were in a pre-filled jar.


the girls made beaded bracelets, colored butterfly pictures, had their fingernails painted, went on a hunt for hidden supplies and then made flower and rhinestone hair bows.




and both "parties" let loose on pinatas



a little LeBaron time when Joe's siblings stopped by to pick up their kids...

And that was our wild and wonderful day on Saturday. Until next year then...


8 comments:

Krista said...

Holy smokes!! 20 kids! You guys are amazing. What fun parties. I'm sure the kids loved it and I'm sure you wanted a big nap afterwards. ;)

Lizzy said...

You two are AMAZING! I can't even imagine doing that. Both parties looked darling. What great ideas.

Heidi said...

You guys are so ambitious! Looks like such a grand time. And v. Lucky to have so many hellers.

Flori said...

Wow. I'm exhausted just reading about that. You are amazing!

Heidi said...

ha ha ha ha ha ha hellers. I am such a good typist

Bobbi said...

The invitees were surprisingly well-behaved partiers, and your activities were engaging and fun. We loved being a part of it, especially for those 2 sweet birthday kids!(I love being a "heller").

Marianne said...

You are amazing and my girlies just love loved it. I have to say you have the most darling children and Julie thinks the world of Bentley. Do you believe in arranged marriages? J/K

Angela Jensen said...

Carrie, when I look at pictures of Caroline, I seriously feel like I am looking at you. Crazy! You have an adorable mini me. She's a lucky gal.