Ender's Birthday Party

It's almost unbelievable just how perfect Ender's birthday turned out for all of us. We smiled and laughed all day, Ender genuinely enjoyed every single one of his presents, and he felt like his party was the best party in the world. We all felt grateful for the company of his party guests. I felt ZERO stress about it all and enjoyed having his friends over to play and celebrate with him. Michael and I were surprised to feel that there really was a difference in Ender, that somehow his birthday brought a magical change from age 5 to age 6. He seemed so much taller, more mature, even somehow more intelligent. And Scarlett handled everything gracefully as well, which is a big deal. No tantrums or jealousy from the little lady. We felt so close as a family, and we loved every minute we shared together.

Enjoy! LOTS of pictures...stick around for the "after party." 

The pictures of Michael and Scarlett make me laugh!

We're just lucky our door is already blue. Easy transformation to TARDIS.

(picture taken night before)

(also taken night before) TARDIS for party game.

Birthday Banner! I'm ridiculously pleased with it...

One of the best kinds of refreshments, in my opinion... ;)

Family tradition to choose a meal on the birthday. Ender's definitely a breakfast kid.

Breakfast in bed! He's making a heart with his hands. :)

He chose a great menu: Orange Julius, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and blueberry muffins.

Pre-Party Excitement! Scarlett's dancing to the Beatles' birthday song.

Making "adipose" creatures from Doctor Who. 

We figured this would be fun even for the kids who weren't familiar with the show 

(which was most of them, as I expected would be the case).

The finished creatures (which I forgot to send home with most of the kids, woops). 

The voodoo-looking one with toothpicks jutting out of it is Scarlett's. :D

Playing with LEGOs inbetween games.

(I'm not usually too bad at taking pictures, but I should have used a different setting for these fast-moving kids).

"Pin the Light on the TARDIS" game.

Ender cracking up when he saw that he pinned the light on the pantry door instead of the TARDIS.

Blake's turn...

Aidan's turn...

Kristen's turn...

Opening presents! 

Batman-Superman-Joker playset from Blake

$6 from Kristen

Batman LEGO set from Grandma and Grandpa Boatright

"sympathy present" for Scarlett

Candy bouquet and layered cake from Aidan

3-in-1 LEGO (Kitty, Bunny, Puppy...and mouse) creator set from us

Showing presents to Grandma Wahlquist and aunts on Facetime

Booklight from us (he regularly spends about an hour reading in bed each night! It's wonderful!)

Ninjago LEGO set from us

Doctor Who TARDIS from us (he's been asking for one for a year)

Charlotte arrived after this, and I didn't get a picture of the hand-drawn card and picture she gave to Ender. But it was adorable!

Okay, get ready to laugh at my cake-decorating skills, because it's hilarious how badly I did. I ended up making two cakes for Ender...which would seem ridiculous and extreme to me if anyone told me they'd done that, but it actually wasn't a big deal. I wasn't stressed about it at all. I made this cake (my first "shaped" cake) late at night, and it just made me laugh. A lot.

Michael said not to worry-- the TARDIS is simply a bit "wibbly wobbly, timey wimey." 

Doctor Who fans will appreciate that...

I'd say it was more than a BIT wibbly wobbly. This just had me laughing so hard that night.

I prepared Ender by telling him that it looked hilarious and ugly, but when I showed him he said with awe "It's beautiful, Mom! Wow!" 

What a great kid.

This is the cake we used for the party. Not bad for free-hand decorating! I know there are better cakes out there, but I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out!

Ender chose strawberry cake this year. I think he's trying a different flavor every year...and I remember doing the same as a kid (I chose strawberry for my 6th/7th birthday as well, in fact).

After Ender's party guests went home with their simple party favors (a baggie with a handful of candy and a couple balloons), we took him to see The LEGO Movie. My mom said that movie must have been made just for his birthday, and I think she's right. We all enjoyed the movie, and it inspired Michael and Ender to play LEGOs together. So when we got home, that's just what they did. They enjoyed putting together Ender's Batman LEGO set...and then Michael and Scarlett crashed on the floor. Time for the After Party!!! 

So while Ender spent hours putting his new LEGO sets together and playing with them, I huddled on the couch and read my book.

The weather was lovely during Ender's party, but an enormous rainstorm picked up and persisted through the last half of the day as well as the night. It was GLORIOUS. We opened the door and let the rainy air cool the house. Reading during a rainstorm is one of my absolute favorite things.

We welcomed the cool weather, too--although I'm aware that may sound silly to everyone living in the snow right now! :) I ended up falling asleep, too, and when Michael woke up, he took care of the kids and let them hang out on the couch and fall asleep for bedtime at their leisure. It was so perfect.

Happy Birthday, Ender!