birthday party = organized? chaos :-)

On Sunday, we celebrated Ivy's 4th birthday. It was the first birthday party we've had for Ivy where we invited some of her friends to join in the fun. Four of the six families we invited were able to come (sadly, Ivy noticed that her "favorite" friend, Emily, did not come :( ) which meant there were a total of 10 adults, 9 kids, and 2 babies in our house! (We actually thought our house was fairly big UNTIL we had that many people under the roof at one time!) :-)

The theme for the party was HEARTS. These are some of the decorations Ivy, Gramma, and I made which Ivy and I hung all around the house...

The party started with a cookout lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and all of the yummy food that comes with a barbecue.

After lunch, the kids enjoyed playing the games we had planned while the adults could relax and chat with one another (or watch the kids have fun). First game was pin the arrow in the center of the heart (instead of pin the tail on the donkey)...

It was so fun to watch all of the kids go in so many different directions to pin their arrow on the heart. AND, as you may notice, many of the kids didn't find the heart at all! :-) Our winner was, of course, the oldest kid of the group - Caleb!

Our next game was a classic. For all those who lived in the 80's and maybe the early 90's(?), remember Bozo the Clown and the show that he had most likely on the public television station? We incorporated the throw the ball in the bucket game to get prizes for all of the kids. Of course, the buckets had hearts on them! Each kid took turns tossing the balls into the buckets, and every time they got a ball in the bucket, they got a prize! (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures!)

And then, we played a balloon tag game where all of the kiddos had balloons tied around their ankles and each child had to pop the other child's balloon. The one having the last balloon that hasn't been popped wins! Only one problem with this game...it was quite hard for the kids to pop the balloons in their bare feet and on carpet! Oops! Let's just say Ivy's Daddy did a lot of the popping! (AND, we didn't even think to take the game outside!)

Next game...PINATA!!!! (We made our own pinata - note for the future 4 or 5 layers is definitely enough! AND, do not use a hairdryer to dry the pinata if using a balloon for the mold...let it dry on its own!)

And, because it was such a gorgeous day outside and we had all been shut in our houses all winter, the kids enjoyed getting to play outside for a while.

Then, we were back inside for cake and ice cream... Ivy wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for her birthday cake and cookies & cream ice cream.

Then, Ivy opened all of her birthday cards and presents. Since we have been OVERLY blessed with lots of toys in our house, we asked that the kids just come to play and have fun and not bring any presents. They did, however, bring very special homemade cards/gifts or specially decorated cards - each unique in their own little way! Ivy enjoyed each and every one of them!

Finally, Ivy got to pass out the goody bags she had prepared for her friends and then they all played some more...

I felt like the day was filled with nothing but chaos...I hope it was organized chaos though! It seemed like all of the kids (and adults) had tons of fun...I know Ivy enjoyed her day with all of her friends! Thanks to all for the many memories!

Happy Birthday, Ivy!