This is the first year that Caleb chose his party theme and he picked it out MONTHS ago. He has been telling everyone since this past summer that he was going to have a Fireman Party! It was a lot of fun cooking up all the ideas for his celebration too. We wanted to keep it smaller this year, so we only invited twelve of our dude's pals. He ended up with nine at the party, which was a perfect number! I also wanted to keep the decorations simpler this year, so we made his firetruck surprise the main event.
A few months ago I asked Brian if he would make a firetruck out of a refridgerator box for the party, which he readily agreed to do..because he is just that awesome. My Dad brought us the box and Brian got to work on it. Unfortunately he only had one night with the project before he got the flu. So instead of having the full week to spread out the work as planned, he did it all the night before the party (we were up until 3am). But Brian never fails in his role as Super Daddy and he didn't let the late hours detract from his goals...he finished it with all of the details intact and it was perfect! The dude certainly thinks so! It will be a part of his playroom for quite some time now!
Caleb woke up ready for his party and couldn't understand why nobody was here yet. He had a lot of fun playing with his friends and taking in all of the fireman stuff. We had a cake drama too...since Brian had been sick I also lost a number of days to party prep and had to nix the 3-D firetruck cake I was going to make. So we made a mad dash to Target on Friday morning, a friend recommended their cakes, to pick out a store-bought one. I was thinking we would just get a round cake with vanilla icing and then I would put one of his little firetrucks on top with some of his no-artificial-food-colouring sprinkles. However, the "nice" lady at the bakery decided to show Caleb a picture of their firetuck cake...loaded with food colouring! So much for the pantry full of sprinkles and food colouring free of articifial dyes! But the dude loved it and he only ever eats a few bites, so we sucked it up and let it happen! The cake was a big hit with the kids and I wasn't a puddle of goo on the floor from what would have been a sleepless night making anything else.
Our favourite part of the party? Caleb insisted that he had to sit beside Trevor at lunch and halfway through he leaned over and said very insistently, "Trevor! Trevor! I'm four now!" As much as Caleb has been waiting for this day, Trevor has been too. Now they are both four and I am sure they are plotting all sorts of mischief for the year. They are happy dudes!
Oh, and not to be forgotten. Thank you Stacie. I really would have been up all night without all the help you gave me Friday in prepping for the party. You are an amazing and beautiful friend. Thank you so much from all three of us!!!!!
It's late. Brian's hard at work. Nothing is too much for our dude. We love you Brian!
Surveying the finished product. IT PASSED INSPECTION!
Caleb Fire Department
This was a great moment. We love that Caleb insisted his fire hydrant needed to go into the fire truck (so he would be close to all of the water he needed).
Caleb's banner and the flames to put out.
I didn't like the stickers that came on these hats, so Stacie and I made new ones that said Real Life Hero.
Part of the party favours. I asked my friend Colleen, who made the invitations, to make luggage tags for the kids. I think they turned out great!
These fire chief badges were supposed to be prizes for our outdoor fireman obstacle course. The weather did not cooperate, surprise surprise, so the game could not happen. I was super bummed. It involved rescuing a cat out of a tree, slides and putting out a laminated fire in Caleb's playhouse. Super bummed.
Another favour. I made these placemats for all of the kids and laminated them at Mardel's.
The back of the placemats.
Just a little decor.
The big table (we also had Caleb's little table).
The cake. Like I said, the kids loved it.
A big hit! I love that Trevor is putting out the fire!
The baby corner!
Caleb was a little tired of hearing the Happy Birthday song but he hung in there so that he could blow out the candles!
Caleb also chose the menu for the day (PB&Js cut in the shape of firetrucks, we also had some on goldfish-shaped bread, a sandwich station for the big kids, applesauce, grapes, carrots, bug mac and cheese (no preservatives or artificial food colouring), chips and organic frozen yogurt tubes, bunny crackers (also no preservatives or food colouring) and bell peppers. His favourite foods (except for the chips but I figured they would be appreciated).
The one game that we got to keep...pin the badge on Sparky the Fire Dog!
So close dude! Jillian got it dead on!
A big crowd made for a gift opening frenzy!
We had a blast! Loved it! But we are now reveling in the land of "nothing on the calendar and all we have to do is play and relax." Brian and I had a Christmas Party the night of Caleb's party, so Uncle Matt and Aunty Laurel took him over to their place for a sleepover. He loved it. Thanks y'all! We went to our party (we are co-social coordinators for the class and so we kinda had to go even though I just wanted to sleep) and then crashed. I slept 12 1/2 hours last night. That is insane!!!!
This is probably the end of our really long posts for a while. I will keep them shorter...thanks for hanging in there!!!
