For dinner on Asher’s birthday, he got to invite one friend to Chuck E Cheese! Ella was so sweet to Asher and pressed the pedal for him on the “big boy” racing game that he really wanted to play!
I think Ella started getting claustrophobic down there, because then she started doing it this way!
poor Ella, she could hardly reach the pedal either!
Asher made these faces during each game he played!
still into making faces
Cheers to Asher’s 4th! (I love how Ella is video taping it for daddy to watch later!)
Asher, four years ago today, you took your sweet time to enter the world. On mommy’s schedule, you were supposed to arrive around 3 or 4 p.m. like your sisters, who were also induced. But not you. You held out until almost 9 p.m. Those 5 extra hours seemed like eternity because I wanted to meet my firstson! When I held you in my arms I thought, “I actually have a little BOY!” I dreamed of football, playing trucks, and getting really dirty.
In these four precious years, you have still proven yourself to take your sweet time on things. Whether that be taking a bottle (11 months old) or potty training (3 1/2) or eating dinner, or learning to buckle your seat belt (still working on!). You are not motivated by competition, (something your dad and I scratch our heads on!) and so we still are trying to figure out the best way to motivate you. You are smart, knowing all your letters, upper and lower case, and most sounds by 3 1/2. (I have educational cartoons to thank for that!) ;) Your love for cars is pretty intense. Another area daddy and I don’t know where it came from! But daddy is ready when you are to take you to your first Formula 1 race! When we are in a parking lot, and you see a “race car” you ask me if you can “look at the back” and you walk around the car and ooooo and ahhhh at the spoiler or racing stripe. You are particular, insisting to sleep with the same baby board book on the right side of your bed for the past year. And you need exactly two cars on either side of the board book. :) It’s hard for mommy to stop “babying” you because you are my baby! But when I think of the girls being four years old, I remember thinking how “old” they were. Perception is a funny thing. You LOVE to cuddle with me, and for me to sing to you each night before bed, and you always tell me “I love you” and how I look like a princess. No doubt you will follow in your daddy’s footsteps, and be very romantic to your wife one day. You love to laugh and make others laugh (usually by pretending to burp or toot!) When you are around your friends, and especially your cousin, your naughty level goes up a few notches! ;) I can’t wait to see what God has in store for you, my little man! We love you!!
After Asher’s soccer game, in which he scored twice-yay!, his Oma and Papaw gave them their gift, a Radio Flyer – Flyer 500! I think he liked it, what do you think?
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
You can also use it as a racing ramp for his cars. Perfect!
Finally, it was time for Asher’s party!! We had it at a local bounce house, and really you can’t go wrong with having a little boy’s party at a bounce house! Asher played his heart out with his 20 closest friends!
another wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (lots of wheeeeeeeeees on Saturday!)
They had this slide there that was as tall as a two story house!
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
climbing up the two story slide is hard work!
A slide like that can cause some issues going down…
and they all came tumbling down!
I loved seeing the joy in Asher’s face during the whole party! It makes all the stress of party planning worth it!!
Asher and his cousin
A bunch of spidermans!
Kian, Asher, Caden, and Caden
There were many dog piles at the end of the slides in which they purposely did…(learning that this is “normal” boy behavior!)
Asher has lots of big boy friends too, and one who has a very tender heart, came up to Asher during the party and gave him an unsolicited hug. Love!!
This place had a block room too, which Asher enjoyed knocking the towers over (and having them fall down on him too)!
this might hurt!
We had a soccer themed party and my best friend, Jen, made these cute soccer ball cupcakes for Asher!
she used 100 calorie Oreo thins on the cupcakes
Happy Birthday to you!
note to self: always get these for parties, they were a HIT!
The party favors were sweat bands for the boys. I realized I should of passed them out at the beginning of the party versus the end, because everyone was so sweaty from playing!
When we got home Asher got to open all his presents! The big gift for him this year was Legos! We now have Legos in the Paquette house!! Entering a new stage…
Thanks to all the family and friends that came to celebrate our special four year old!
Asher celebrated his fourth birthday today. His actual birthday is Tuesday, but his party day was today! Rilyn and Ella were so sweet to him this morning. Before his soccer game, they made a treasure hunt and the last clue led him to this homemade gas station/car track that apparently they have been working on secretly all week after we put them to bed. They said they’ve been hiding it in their closet. I can’t get upset at them for wanting to give something to their brother that truly was from their hearts! I love how the cars are made from toilet paper rolls!
of course Asher had to add a “real car” to the track! He didn’t quite get the “homemade” cars! :)
After that, Rilyn led him outside to show him his big present…his first bike!
I love this picture because I don’t take too many pictures that capture the love that Rilyn and Ella have for Asher.
The decoration above actually came about because as I was opening Ella’s Barbie Rapunzel tower from the box, I noticed that the packing material they used looked like Rapunzel’s hair. But I thought, it’s brown so I can’t use it. Then I remembered the 90 foot gold ribbon I bought last year for Ella’s golden birthday and thought I could wrap it around and make it look more yellow and like it was in a braid! I thought it turned out pretty cute!
My mother in law and sister in law made this beautiful 17 foot Rapunzel tower for the backyard! I was completely surprised at how elaborate it came out!! They are so talented! If you are interested in something so elaborate or crafty for your next special event, please visit my sister in law’s etsy store and message her and I promise she can make it happen!
And this is Ella when we let her see the tower for the first time!
wow!!!!
My sister in law also made this beautiful table centerpiece!
My best friend, Jen, discovered she has a cupcake decorating passion and did these beautiful Rapunzel tower cupcakes for me that we found on Pinterest! All the directions are here.
For the “pin the frying pan on Flynn” game, I printed these pans and just drew Flynn myself on poster board using Google images of the wanted poster from the movie. (Growing up, I used to draw all my siblings “pin the tail” game posters, so I really enjoy it!)
To see all the party games, etc. from this party, click here.
We had Ella’s 6th birthday party yesterday, and I must say that it was the best birthday party we have ever thrown! It took a lot of help though from friends and family, but with all of us working together, we made it over the top special! I will put a post up tomorrow on all the decorations used, because they were so extravagant, and I have many people to thank for that!
James put his video talents to use and made a 2 minute montage video of Ella’s party! It’s really cute!
the cupcakes were Rapunzel towers!
The first activity we did (while the princesses were arriving) was “decorate your own Rapunzel braid with fun foam flowers”! I made all these braids with yellow yarn. Super easy, but if you want to do it, I would suggest starting several weeks in advance as it is time consuming. I started in November, so I could make one a night in my free time!
decorating their braids!
Ella’s braid was the longest because she was the birthday girl! We attached the braids with bobby pins and a rubber band, but you could use anything.
fancy!
After all the princesses arrived, we made them close their eyes and walk to the backyard to unveil the tower!
wow!
And who was in the tower, but the birthday girl Ella!
Next, we had each girl paint a small paper lantern with their own set of watercolors (given as party favors)!
During that time, we let each girl “climb the tower” (or walk upstairs!) and get a picture in the tower window with the long hair (which were 5 plastic yellow tablecloths taped together that I bought at the dollar store.)
After they painted their lanterns, we played a Tangled game where each girl got a partner and they had to tangle their partner in yellow crepe paper in the allotted time! The judges decided which girl was the most Tangled and then they switched and let the other partner get Tangled!
I think Rilyn was letting out some sister frustration here!
all Tangled up!
The next game we played was “Pin the Pan on Flynn’s nose”!
Then it was time for cupcakes! I bought a sparkler instead of candles for the first time and I think Ella was surprised, don’t you?
what is this?
She tried to blow it out, but sparklers don’t “blow” out!
“Just hold it and watch the sparks” we told her…she looked a little nervous though!
am I going to get burned?!?
Enjoying the treats!
Then it was present time! I think Ella liked getting a Flynn doll!
And the last game we played was “throw Pascal into the frying pan”. I bought a 10 pack of sticky lizards and made the girls stand behind a line to see how many each girl could throw into the pan.
I guess it was a pretty exciting game from Cinderella’s face! Do you see the blue Pascal flying through the air?
During the afternoon on Ella’s birthday I brought her Sonic for lunch at school, and brought cookies to her class.
In the evening, we let her pick one friend, Anna, and we took them to Gattiland for dinner!
I’m six!
whooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
They were all finally tall enough to drive bumper cars! This was their favorite by far!
This next picture concerns me, because if I wasn’t so busy trying to get a good picture, I would of realized what a dangerous situation having that baby in the carrier so close to the crazy bowler next door! Ella’s balls were flying everywhere! Thank goodness, no one got hurt!
daddy helps Ella score big points!
Ella was the “score keeper” for Rilyn and Anna. She loved cheering them on!
After Gattiland, we went home to open her “big present”. (Can you tell I like to spread the birthday fun through the whole day?)
This was an empty box. We had set it up upstairs so I told Ella wait until I got upstairs and then she could come up and see her new Tangled Barbie tower!
wow!
Who knew that Rilyn would be even more excited than Ella?!? Having sisters close in age means their presents are your presents too!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
love the clip on hair extension for Rapunzel Barbie!
The tower opens up to reveal three rooms to play in.
We always start our children’s birthdays with waking them up holding a birthday donut/kolache lit up with candles and singing to them! Ella’s birthday was on a school day so it was too early for her to wake up!
trying to wake up…!
still trying…
blowing out her six candles!
Then our kids get to bust through lots of crepe paper to get to the kitchen to eat their breakfast treat!
At breakfast, the kids get to read their birthday cards from me and James and open a couple presents. I don’t remember when, but somehow, (I just can’t imagine why?!?) James and I turned making homemade birthday cards for our kids into a competition. This year, I’m pretty sure I won. I might have spent some extra time on the crafting blogs and found a super fun idea! So, here are our cards…(mine is the super cute one…okay, they are both cute, but mine is the bigger one and bigger is always better, right?!) We both chose Tangled cards because Ella will be having a Tangled party on Saturday!
Now here is why mine is so fun: I found this blog where it showed how to make a “scratch off card”. So easy too! I made the windows on the tower scratch-offs for Ella to use a coin and see who is in each window!
scratching, scratching, scratching…
Look who is in the tower!
“I love mommy’s card best!” jk, she didn’t say that, but she might of been thinking it. ;)
Ella with one of her presents!
here’s to hoping I didn’t just give Ella a future of cavities!
Her present from us was a new bike. James took her out and she picked a cruiser! No doubt she is not a speed racer, so this will suit her just fine! (By the way, she did learn how to ride on two wheels. Ella riding circles around her did her in.)
Last night we celebrated Rilyn with our community group from church at Chuck E Cheese. Rilyn also got to pick one special friend from school to invite.
from L to R: Cole, Shaliya, Rilyn, Anna, Jake, Ella, and Levi
This afternoon was party day! She picked a cheerleader theme! James made a short birthday video that is precious!
Rilyn before the party
We had a little dance party while the guests arrived! James and her made a birthday party song list on his ipod that was over 40 songs long!
most likely dancing to Justin Beiber
I surprised Rilyn by hiring a middle school cheerleader from across the street to come and teach the girls a cheer and a dance. Rilyn was over the moon!
Today my one and only nephew is one year old! I love him so much and he is such a tender-hearted, easy-going little big boy! He usually is smiling and toddling around with a ball! I love that we live close to my brother and I will get to watch Caden and Asher (15 months apart) grow up together! We got to babysit Caden last weekend and of course I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of him! (And I also couldn’t resist letting him try on his birthday present we got him! Go Angels!)
! I think he liked it, what do you think?
I thought it turned out pretty cute!
