A WILD Weekend!

Well, the big birthday weekend is over.

The Clay Cafe was a success, and as you can see from the pictures, it was a rockin' good time! I was so impressed with each of the kids' plates...they were so creative, yet they didn't stress out about not getting it "perfect"! To me, that was especially cool, since I tend to get all worked up if something isn't turning out the way I think it should! But not these kids...they were ROCK SOLID. They decided how they were going to decorate their plates, and got to work immediately. Of course, we won't get the finished products until Thursday, and I can hardly wait to see the finished products. Riley and Kayla both painted horses on their plates. Kendall made a cupcake plate, as you can see in the picture, Devin painted an army helmet and Zach painted 2 light sabers crossing. Sophie painted a pink plate with a flower in the middle. They were all great and really colorful!

Then we took Kendall's cousins back to our house for a sleepover. OMG. It was CRAZY in this house! They ran around, screaming like banshees, played hide and seek, went out in the snow for a bit, played video games, and then settled down for a *very* short bit to have some pizza. Noah was having a blast chasing the big kids around...and they were very careful of him and really nice about letting him play with them. After we got the little man to bed, I sat down with the kids to play Whoonu. That was fun, but I think I was asking a little much of the kids to sit still and play a game for half an hour. SERIOUSLY!

The next morning, they were all up by 6:00 AM. UGH. We sat them down for a movie and tried to keep Noah sleeping for a little bit. And yet, the wildness continued!!! Turning 6 is a major reason to celebrate, I tell you!

Those kids transformed this house into a bonafide army bunker. They draped every blanket in the house over the railings, used pillows for sand walls...heck, they were even having strategy meetings. And there was LOTS of screaming and running. We just tried to stay out of the way and make sure no one was breaking the rules or getting hurt.

By 1:00 the whole family was here to have lunch, cake, and ice cream. And let me tell you what...my darling little daughter was POOPED. She was trying to keep it going, but by the time we opened presents, she was just staring at the wall, zoning out. We had to keep reminding her that she needed to finish opening her presents. And, of course, we were awaiting the over-tired meltdown. Thankfully, we never had to witness it. Check out that last picture...is that one tired little girl or what?

Alas, we made it through unscathed. And now I have a whole year to rest and get ready for next year...