Mason's 4th birthday party

Since Memorial Day weekend was the only weekend Kelly, Brian and Danny had to come up to Michigan for the summer, I quickly planned a birthday party for Mason. On Sunday, after services, we were going to go out for lunch, then to Riverside Arena to skate for 3 hours. Then after that, we were going back to our house for Mason's party. Ever since Karsyn (Joy's little girl) had her birthday party at Rollhaven, Mason had been saying he wanted to go skating for his birthday. So, the entire family (minus meemaw and peepaw but plus Pam and the boys) went skating. Well, not everyone skated. The only adults who skated were me and Chris, of course, Danny, Kelly, and Linda. Joe and Brian were too sore from roofing. :) Chris really was too, and probably Danny as well, but Chris HAD to skate. It was his son's birthday party. And Mason begged his Uncle Danny to skate, and who can say "no" to that?! :) He couldn't resist his sweet nephew. Linda hadn't been on skates in over 20 years! She did very good! We couldn't believe she actually skated! It was so much fun. I asked the dj to announce it was Mason's birthday and Mason got the biggest grin on his face when he heard his name. The place was practically empty! It was so nice! There were two parties that day, but they weren't very big, so we practically had the place to ourselves. The boys did EXCELLENT! Chris and I were so impressed at how well they did on their skates. Especially Cole on his blades. Having them skate for two days straight when they got them definitely helped. I was worried about Cole and his blades. Especially since a month ago he wouldn't even stand up straight in them! Mason just skated along with everyone else! He had a perfect little stride going. He'd get those arms swinging and those feet going! He fell a few times, but he got back up on his own and kept truckin' along! After about two hours of skating, he started wearing down. He wasn't skating very fast and he was getting whiny cuz he couldn't catch up with Haley. :) A few times he would just stop in the middle of the floor and put his hands over his eyes cuz he was so tired. So, Chris and I decided to take Mason, leave early to get his cake from Aunt Gerry, and head home so Mason could get a decent nap in the car. Cole stayed with everyone else til 5 and skated.
Sorry there aren't pictures at the roller skating rink. I was worried I would fall with my camera and break it. :)

The Party:
My side of the family and Chris's side of the family all gathered at our house around 6:15 for the party. Luckily, Mason blessed me this year and asked for pizza for his party. So, I didn't have to cook! :) Tisha and Nathan picked up the pizzas for us on their way over. It was so nice having everyone over. We love to entertain and have parties at our house.

After dinner, it was time for presents!



(It looks like there is no one there watching him open his presents in these pictures because the couch is empty except for only a couple of kids. I assure you - there are 24 people crammed behind me and the camera. lol Everyone moved off the couch as soon as I pulled out the camera. lol)








(Listening to Cole read his cards.)







Mason got a lot more presents, but he was excited and wouldn't sit still for his pictures, so most of them turned out blurry. He was so happy with all of his toys! With almost every present he opened, he would squeal from excitement! I loved it! He even squealed and got excited because he thought his grandma and grandpa Stuve gave him two cards - the front of the home-made card just fell off. lol

The cake:
Aunt Gerry is awesome! After I found out I was going to have to have Mason's party Memorial Day weekend, I started stressing about the cake. I am NOT a baker! I don't do fancy cakes like Kelly does. It's too much work and I'm not very good at it anyways. I only had 5 days to try to come up with a cake. Mason wanted a Backyardigan's themed party too. What kind of cake was I going to make for the Backyardigan's?! I told Chris on the phone Tuesday that I wanted to call his Aunt Gerry to see if she would make me one. He said it was probably too short of notice and she probably had plans for the holiday weekend. I said it didn't hurt to just ask. All she had to say was "no". Then Chris said, "It's my Aunt Gerry. She doesn't say 'no'." To which I replied, "Then what's the problem?! It's a win win situation for me!" LOL







Mason had a great birthday! He absolutely loved all his presents! My parents got him an Ironman helmet that lights up and makes noises. He had been wanting that for months and months. I was going to get that for him until he saw a commercial for a Toy Story action links set. Then I decided to get that instead. Luckily he was able to get both! He was very excited to have the helmet put together so he could wear it. The only problem was...his Aunt Tisha was just as excited to play with it too. lol After he was done opening all his gifts, he asked to open that one first. Tisha grabbed it right away and started opening it. Mason was excited and he kept saying he wanted to wear it. Tisha finally said, in a disappointed tone, "Ok, Mason. You can wear it first!" lol (She was kidding - kind of.)

Kelly got him a Cars car wash toy that uses real water and changes the color of the cars as they go through the car wash. He had seen that a few months ago at the toy store and had wanted that. I was so happy she got that for him because I forgot to put it on his list. :) Anyways, he wanted that opened up too. So, I sat down to attempt to put it together for him. I am NOT good at assembling toys. Or ANYTHING, for that matter. I don't even read maps! That's Chris's department. I sat down and pulled out the directions. It was filled with pictures and step by step directions, I'm guessing, but it was all Greek to me. I started "putting it together" and then about 5 minutes later, the KIDS pointed out to me that I was using the wrong piece entirely! LOL Chris came and took over and I went to play Dominoes. :)

The next morning, Mason begged me to put together his Hot Wheels car stunt set that he got. I just looked at him like, "You're kidding, right?" I had to try though. There were millions of pieces to this thing! I think Tisha bought him the biggest one out there that had the most instructions ever! An hour and a half later, it was assembled and CORRECTLY too! :)

Thank you to everyone for coming to his party and making it so special for him. I know he enjoyed every second of it.