Our 5 Year Old All-Star

The weekend after Koko's wedding was our son's 5th birthday party.  The date also happened to be St. Patrick's Day, as well, so you'll see a lot of green in these photos.

Our son has really developed an interest in all types of sports this past year, so it was a no-brainer when deciding what theme his party should have.  We invited several families with kids 4-8 years old to come out to Grandma & Grandpa's backyard to play different sports with us in the afternoon. Sounds like a pretty fool-proof plan, right?

It started pouring rain all night Friday and Saturday morning.  We were stressing out since we'd planned the whole party outdoors, and there were too many little kids for us to want to let them all run loose in my parents' home.  We started thinking of ways to improvise (in the garage, on the porch?) but it didn't look promising...

Thankfully about 10 minutes before the party started, the sun began to break through.  Halleujah!  As the first guests arrived, the kids just began playing in the yard & they never stopped (well, except to eat cupcakes...)  Our friends wisely dressed their kids warmly and my husband arranged for some friends to help be "coaches" for the party, so we had separate soccer & football training areas for the kids to do drills, and another area for different lawn games with tossing, etc.  After rotating through the different sports, we ended the game time with a tricycle race and everyone got a gold medal for participating.

Here are a few photos of the action:

I tried to keep the food part of it simple.  Our son wanted cupcakes, so I made them with soccer balls, basketballs, baseballs and footballs on top.  I should say that my husband and I made them, since he stayed up late with me the night before decorating them...  We had simple munchies and sports drinks to provide some refreshments for those active athletes!

The food table (after everyone had gone through it!)

So grateful for all our friends who helped us celebrate!

Thankfully the nice weather lasted until the end of the party!

What a privilege to celebrate 5 years with our son. In some ways, the time has gone by so fast, but in others, it seems like he's been with us forever. It's difficult to imagine (or remember!) life before our little boy. Since he came along, life has not been the same. He's brought so much joy into our lives, and we continue to be amazed at the gifts and talents that God has given him. It is so humbling learning to parent him, and hoping that we aren't screwing it all up! As challenging as it can be, we also find so much reward in seeing him grow and becoming a sensitive and conscientious child. We are so proud of him, and look forward to the coming years!