More birthday fun and Mother's Day

 James got invited to his first birthday party at the bouncy house place (our second of three birthday parties this month) and we were both really excited for him to go. He was excited to bounce and play and I was anxious to see firsthand if doing a birthday party there was worth the price. I considered it for James' 3rd birthday, but he didn't really have enough friends to invite (it is a minimum of 10). Next year he will have friends from preschool, so it would make more sense.

I had him write Owen's name and his own name on the birthday card. I was so proud of him for writing his name all by himself! I helped him a little bit on "Owen" by turning his "m" into a "w" and doing the "n" for him since for some reason he refused to try. He also informed me that I wrote the "a" wrong in Happy Birthday, that I needed to start above the round part and draw straight down instead of making a curve :)

The party started at 11am and they bounced and played for about 2 hours nonstop. They had so much fun! Rett really wanted to go down the slides, so I went with him for awhile. Then I had to cut him off because I was tired :)

 Around 1pm, we all went into one of the party rooms for pizza, cake, and presents. The pizza, drinks, plates, and napkins are all included in the price of the party. All you have to do is bring your own cake and any other decorations you want. One of the perks of having the kids jump around for two hours before eating lunch is that they all were so still and quiet while they were eating. I couldn't believe it! I don't think I have ever seen a calmer bunch of 4 year olds at a birthday party.

They had chocolate cake and vanilla cupcakes. Rett got a cupcake and only ate the frosting. Luckily he didn't get too messy.

 Attitude face!

I asked James to smile for me and this is what I got. He is such a goofball!

This is kind of unrelated to anything else, but I am so happy about it I just had to share! We finally got Rett to drink out of something other than a bottle!! I was getting so tired of losing bottles, having them leak everywhere, and having to clean all the different pieces. Since Rett will sometimes drink out of our straws, we thought a straw cup would be good for him. We already had a few, but every time we have tried before he would just throw it and get upset. Now he likes it! He hasn't had a bottle since last Thursday.

Mother's Day was wonderful this year! Anthony did such a good job making the day special, that now I have to plan something amazing for Father's day :) He set his alarm so that he could get up early and make me breakfast in bed. Then I got to lounge around and just worry about getting myself ready for church. It was so relaxing! Before we left Anthony surprised me with a present: a sodastream soda maker! He had talked to me about it a few days earlier as a sneaky way to see if I would like one, then he went to Walmart the next day saying he needed to buy something for his aquarium (which I always believe) and got it for me. So thoughtful!

Anthony's parents came up to go to church with us and we had to make sure to be on time because Anthony was giving a talk. He had been preparing it all week and I know he was ready to be done with it. It was a wonderful talk about mother's and everyone really enjoyed it. I was in charge of sharing time this week and I had asked a few moms to come and visit for a "guess the mom" game. They stood behind the bulletin board and we had disguises for their feet and skirts so that their own kids wouldn't recognize them. The kids loved it! Then we made lollipop flowers for the moms out of tootsie roll pops and cupcake liners.

After church, Anthony got to work grilling hamburgers and I put Rett down for a nap. James decided to stay out of everyone's way by going outside and playing in the dirt. He spent a good hour out there, and I didn't have to clean him up, so it was ok with me :)

After yummy hamburgers and salad we had a good time visiting and relaxing. Poor Anthony had a headache and had to rest for a little bit. I told him that I usually have a headache Sunday afternoons, but since he did all the things I usually do he got it instead of me :) It was a very happy Mother's day!