Joshua's 4th birthday

At last I get around posting Joshua's birthday pictures (from early in Dec). 

I seriously have a hard time remembering my life without this little guy. It's like I've always known him, he's always been part of my life. I know he is only 4, but it feels like I never existed before him, at least definitely not as the person I am now. He made me a Mom, a better version of myself. I am amazed at how big and reasonable this little man is, and how much love I have for him. He and his little brother are my greatest accomplishment. They drive me nuts and embarrass me regularly, but they're undeniably my greatest pride. 

Picking a theme for this birthday party wasn't too hard... Do every boy go through the same stages? From Balls to Cars, to Animals/Dinosaurs, to Pirates, to Super heroes...?  I wonder what comes next (let's hope it's not football!)

I don't even know how they discover these things, it's not like we've been showing him any Superman, Spiderman, or Avengers movies, but somehow he learned about them and became an expert in superheroes. So there, the theme was decided.

Planning a superhero party isn't too hard. There's an avalanche of ideas on the internet, more than you could ever use in one afternoon. I found a few I liked and simplified them, and we were set.

Handmade masks, Homemade cake, Giant wall art to color (a city skyline and an outline of Joshua's face I traced based on a picture), a tattoo station, balloon swords, food for the adults (and kids), candy, 2 homemade capes for the boys and a fun game. I had a busy week planning all that but it was all worth it.

There are a lot of tutorials online on how to make a cape from an adult tee-shirt. I looked at a lot of patterns and ended up making up my own. I didn't want the cape to attach around their neck, so I figured out a way to have it attach around their torso. Josh loves his cape, and has been wearing it regularly. William's interest faded quickly, although he did ask to wear it again a couple of days ago.

Balloon sword fights:

Friends from school:

Chasing each other outside:

The morning of the birthday I asked Rex if he had any idea for a fun game we could play with the kids that afternoon. He came up with this idea and it was one of the highlights of the party:
The rules are simple, two kids have to race to a chair holding a balloon between their legs (they're not supposed to touch the balloon with their hands although almost all of them did), when they get to the chair, they have to seat on the balloon and pop it. The first child to pop the balloon wins the race.

Demonstration:

Watching the kids walk with a balloon between their legs and bounce with all their weight on the balloon was seriously the best moment of the day. I don't think I had laughed like this in weeks.

For most kids it took an enormous amount of effort poping this balloon, imagine them wiggling, bouncing, pressing with all their weight and nothing happened. It was hilarious. 

The Moms had to help a little sometime...

And finally after we'd all laughed and laughed, we sang happy birthday and ate the cake.

The artists at work:

The food (salad, quiche, chips, brocoli soup and bread):

William with his favorite friend (our neighbor and the Mom of Josh's school bus mate):

Our French neighbors!:

The decorated wall:

A colorful Joshua:

Opening presents at home. He was spoiled.

The ruban he got for his birthday at school:

The boys played with the new toys all evening. Josh had a great day. He started the count down for his next birthday the following day.