Nemo Birthday Party

We celebrated N's Birthday with family and friends last Saturday. I had fun shopping for all the Nemo paper products, decorations and utensils while D found a really cute set of removeable Nemo wall stickers at Menards. D and I were like little kids decorating the house while N napped. It was so much fun.

The party started about 4:00. We chatted and N opened gifts. Then we ate dinner. We had seven kids ranging in age from two to eight and overall we had people ranging in age from two to....well... maybe I shouldn't say the age of the oldest person because I'm not too sure of the age and wouldn't want to offend anyone. Ha! Anyway, it was a nice mixture of people, ages and backgrounds, so we had lots to chat about. This was the first party that we hosted where the kids filled the entire kids' table. They ate really well together. They kept their hands to themselves and didn't eat of each other's plates (that I saw anyway) or fight over drinks. I think I am mainly speaking of my child when it comes to snatching food off other people's plates. We're working on that....and many other things. :) After dinner the kids played upstairs, downstairs and outside. I was really glad to have my toy room project mostly done so the kids could romp around down there w/o worrying about them. One major part of the toy room project was getting a solid, sturdy shelving unit to store toys, games, art supplies in. Not only did we get the unit put together, but we also got it anchored to the wall so it won't fall over on anyone. I'd still like to get more baskets/bins to store toys and supplies in, but I need to shop around to see what colors and materials (cotton bins, more woven wooden bins or galvanized bins) I can find. Anyway.. I digress. The toy room was safe and functional for the kids to enjoy. I think because of that the adults were also able to enjoy themselves upstairs away from the noise and commotion quite honestly. Our stairwell is set up nicely because it blocks the majority of the noise coming from the basement, but lets you in on the jist of what's going on in case someone is crying or fighting.

The weather was gorgeous the day of the party (64), so we all eventually moved outside. The adults stood on the driveway and sat on the wicker furniture on the porch and watched the kids play. The kids actually shared the toys really well and didn't fight too much! I think between our neighbors collection of toys and ours, each kid had something to ride, scoot, operate at all times. (Thanks for sharing, neighbors.)

Thanks to everyone who came to the party. I really believe it's the people who make the party. We sure appreciate having you here to celebrate N's Birthday with us. He had a great time and recounts memories he has from the party on a daily basis. So cute!