4 Years Old: A Spiderman Birthday

My baby is 4!! Tomorrow is the officialy day, but we celebrated today. Today was so wonderful. After 4 years of putting on birthday parties, we finally got a system down. The planning and preparation were nearly seemless. Especially compared to the last 3 years where everything just seemed hectic and very last minute.

The key, it turns out, is to buy party supplies (except food) and plan out all the games the week before the party. Then you have a full week in case you forget something or need a little extra time. Except for spending the last three nights in a row making my own paper mache pinata, everything was pretty stress free! It also helps when you decide not to cook and just buy everything from the store.

This was the first year Jacob was really old enough to enjoy party games. So I went a little crazy. But it was a good crazy.

First we silly-stringed bad guys.

Then we had a spiderweb obstacle course-complete with a finish line ribbon.

I wasn't sure how this one would turn out but it was a HUGE hit! The kids loved climbing through the "webs" (white yarn).

Then a spider bean bag toss.

After cake, we had a surprise guest! This was the highlight of the party. The other day I asked Jacob if we should invite Spiderman to his party. He told me, in a disappointed voice, that Spiderman was not real. Well...the LOOK on his face when he opened the door! He was ecstatic! A big shout out to my little brother who made a GREAT Spiderman! I was so worried Jacob would recognize him, but it went so perfectly!

 

Then we did the pinata. It was a little sad to see three hard days full of work unravel in two short minutes. Next year I may need to add a couple more layers of newspaper....

The party started at 11:30am, which was perfect because when guests left around 2, we still had the afternoon to hang out and relax.

Today was so wonderful! We have been blessed with such great friends and family. On a typical day, it's easy for me to look around our house and count all the things we don't have.  But, standing in the middle of the large group that had gathered in our tiny (950 square foot) house, all I could think about was all the things we do have. And those are the things that matter.

It's so touching to see your "village" come together and celebrate the life of your child.