In case you’ve somehow missed the memo over the last few days, Dekker turned four yesterday. Today was his party. I had the idea planned really well, but hadn’t thought much further than that until last night.
The idea was to invite people that Dekker actually knows and likes rather than just people that Brady and I know. We wanted him to be as comfortable as possible, so we planned no activities or events, had lots of snacks but no formal food, and figured we had things taken care of.
Yesterday I began listing off the things we needed to do for the party. And it turned into a bigger list than I thought! Even just for a small, unassuming party, there was more to do than I expected. That left Brady and I flying by the seat of our pants this morning!! Brady put away laundry from yesterday, helped the kids get their breakfast, tidied the upstairs, and helped make the lemonade while I did more stuff in the kitchen. I chopped veggies, made dip, chopped fruit and stuck it on skewers, and did dishes. I only realized yesterday that I had NO plan for any kind of cake! So this morning, I made a popcorn cake. If you remember from a recent post, I flopped a nice dessert I was making for my mom’s birthday, and as a joke, I made a popcorn cake. Humorously enough, it had been yummy. So I popped popcorn, melted marshmallows, broke up pretzels, and dug around in my freezer for any chocolatey treats I could find. I’ll be honest. It felt like a bit of a mom fail that I served a birthday cake that was essentially a rice krispie cake, but with popcorn instead, covered in Christmas m&ms.
But I am THRILLED to say that the party was fabulous!! It was a windy but sunny day outside, so we left the patio doors open and the kids came and went as they desired. We put all of our big tonka trucks outside, and the boys played tirelessly. The rest of us filtered in and out, snacking, drinking coffee, visiting, and really just enjoying each others company. It was super interesting because, besides my parents, none of our friends knew each other! They are all from completely different places, and it was kind of fun to watch worlds collide, if I can be dramatic. I really enjoyed it! Though we were missing out lovely Hailey and her boys. I wish you could have made it, my dear. Next year.
Dekker’s presents kicked butt, too! I won’t list it all, but I can honestly say that everyone there today knows him very well, because everything he received hit the nail on the head. The favorite was his new bike helmet, which he wore from the moment he pulled it from the bag until we took it off to put his jammies on at bedtime. No lie. He loved his gifts, and while his thank yous were abrupt and shy, pleeeaaase know how happy he was!!! You all did so very well.
One of our more muscly guests helped me cut the pretzel-filled cake, and weirdly enough, people actually liked it! I can’t even believe it! But I’m thrilled 🙂 I liked it too. I feel like the whole “event” went off so much better than I thought it would. As one of our friends put it, it felt like family. I love that. I hope there are always at least some people who can feel that way around us.
And then it was 6:00!!!!! I couldn’t believe it was suddenly so late! The kids were all happy, no one was complaining of hunger or fatigue, and it seemed kind of disappointing to cut the conversation off. Our final guests packed up and took their windswept children home.
Jerilee stayed for the evening, as we had made plans yesterday, and even helped us clean up the place. Ok, let’s be serious. Its not cleaned up. But the garbage is thrown out and the dishes are at least stacked. We fed the kids toast and bananas for supper. They were so tired. But it was perfect. Everyone was so happy. I had no idea such a “lame” party could turn out so well. I feel like today was a complete answer to prayer. Best. Party. Ever.
Just ask the boy in the helmet.