The Letter L and the Number 2
This is the recap of Levi's birthday party. It's more for me than you, but feel free to read on if you'd like! I'm SO THANKFUL I asked someone else to take pictures at Levi's party. It was one less thing to worry about! I'm also thankful to have a brother who rocks behind the lens.
We started with these invitations which invited guests to our Sesame Street themed party. I couldn't help it; he loves Elmo. It seemed fitting given my sister's time on The Street and our recent trip to Sesame Place. The table cloth is actually two rolls of wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree (so, yeah, $1 each).
We had the party at the radio station where Herb works part time. They have a beautiful new building and a cafe style room that seats 40. I was really excited about the venue and the large screen and projector to show Levi's Birthday Video. Unfortunately, the projector was not working and all 25 guests crowded around our 22" TV from home. The effect was still there, but it was a little bit of a bummer!
When Levi arrived at the party, I showed him around and pointed out all the fun things like cupcakes and veggie trays to look like his favorite characters. He kept saying, "Elmo!" "Balloons!" "Birthday!" I think he kind of got it!
We ate pulled pork sandwichs, had Oscar and Elmo Veggies, Dorothy Goldfish, and drinks. I tried to keep it pretty simple with the food. As people finished eating, the kids were getting rammy and so we cracked open the goody bags and let them color in their activity books.
Inside the (homemade and so simple to make) goody bags were a pack of crayons ($0.25/Target), Activity Book (3 for a $1.00/Dollar Tree) and Stickers (4 for a $1.00/Dollar Tree). I realized that Levi's late august birthday is perfect for buying fun (school realted) treats for goody bags!! A quarter for a 24 pack of crayons? Yes please! So each bag was less than $1.00. Score!
We played a little bit of pin-the-nose-on-Elmo ($6/Hobby Lobby). The bigger kids closed their eyes to pin, the littles just tried to get their sticker on Elmo's nose with their eyes open. (Elmo is now living on a wall in our entry way. Levi likes to high five, hug, kiss, and feed the life size Elmo poster).
Next we watched the movie. While everyone was still in their tear induced stupor, I broke out the cupcakes and we sang to the birthday boy. His big sister, Savannah, held the cupcake on the plate for him to blow out the candle; a job she took very seriously!
The cupcakes were a hit and pretty delicious. Say what you will; but you cannot convince me that boxed cake mixes are any worse than those from scratch.
Finally, Levi got spoiled with too many presents. Luckily he had lots of help ripping into the paper and the bags. He had a blast though.
I think everyone enjoyed getting a mini-tour of the radio station. The location also worked out well because Herb had to go on the air at 6pm, just as the party was winding down, so his family got to see him DJ for the first time.
I was really looking forward to making a point out of introducing Levi's birth family to our families, and it actually happened. I know it was slightly awkward and forced, but soon guards came down and everyone was chatting, laughing, and sharing tissues. I regret that I didn't invite Levi's play date buddies and their mommas, but I was thankful for the smaller crowd; we got to spend a little bit of time with everyone and it wasn't overwhelming.
One of these days, I'll get around to actually writing about Levi, the two year old and what he's up to these days.
We started with these invitations which invited guests to our Sesame Street themed party. I couldn't help it; he loves Elmo. It seemed fitting given my sister's time on The Street and our recent trip to Sesame Place. The table cloth is actually two rolls of wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree (so, yeah, $1 each).
We had the party at the radio station where Herb works part time. They have a beautiful new building and a cafe style room that seats 40. I was really excited about the venue and the large screen and projector to show Levi's Birthday Video. Unfortunately, the projector was not working and all 25 guests crowded around our 22" TV from home. The effect was still there, but it was a little bit of a bummer!
When Levi arrived at the party, I showed him around and pointed out all the fun things like cupcakes and veggie trays to look like his favorite characters. He kept saying, "Elmo!" "Balloons!" "Birthday!" I think he kind of got it!
We ate pulled pork sandwichs, had Oscar and Elmo Veggies, Dorothy Goldfish, and drinks. I tried to keep it pretty simple with the food. As people finished eating, the kids were getting rammy and so we cracked open the goody bags and let them color in their activity books.
Inside the (homemade and so simple to make) goody bags were a pack of crayons ($0.25/Target), Activity Book (3 for a $1.00/Dollar Tree) and Stickers (4 for a $1.00/Dollar Tree). I realized that Levi's late august birthday is perfect for buying fun (school realted) treats for goody bags!! A quarter for a 24 pack of crayons? Yes please! So each bag was less than $1.00. Score!
We played a little bit of pin-the-nose-on-Elmo ($6/Hobby Lobby). The bigger kids closed their eyes to pin, the littles just tried to get their sticker on Elmo's nose with their eyes open. (Elmo is now living on a wall in our entry way. Levi likes to high five, hug, kiss, and feed the life size Elmo poster).
Next we watched the movie. While everyone was still in their tear induced stupor, I broke out the cupcakes and we sang to the birthday boy. His big sister, Savannah, held the cupcake on the plate for him to blow out the candle; a job she took very seriously!
The cupcakes were a hit and pretty delicious. Say what you will; but you cannot convince me that boxed cake mixes are any worse than those from scratch.
Finally, Levi got spoiled with too many presents. Luckily he had lots of help ripping into the paper and the bags. He had a blast though.
I think everyone enjoyed getting a mini-tour of the radio station. The location also worked out well because Herb had to go on the air at 6pm, just as the party was winding down, so his family got to see him DJ for the first time.
I was really looking forward to making a point out of introducing Levi's birth family to our families, and it actually happened. I know it was slightly awkward and forced, but soon guards came down and everyone was chatting, laughing, and sharing tissues. I regret that I didn't invite Levi's play date buddies and their mommas, but I was thankful for the smaller crowd; we got to spend a little bit of time with everyone and it wasn't overwhelming.
One of these days, I'll get around to actually writing about Levi, the two year old and what he's up to these days.
Cute! I think I recognize those cupcakes from Pinterest. They look SO much better than they would have if I had made them.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea there was a Hobby Lobby around... going to have to go exploring!
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