Isaac's "First Fourth Birthday"

Around mid-May a children's birthday catalog arrived in the mail. Knowing that my former students used to love when I brought these into the classroom, I handed the catalog over to Isaac and E. The next seven days (until the catalog literally disintegrated due to the constant tug of little hands on it) those two poured over the glossy pages, dreaming of future birthday parties they could host. They each changed themes countless times a day.

When the next catalog arrived in the mail (I think we must get one a week during the summer), I quietly tucked it away until our next car trip where it will serve as a form of extreme entertainment for those two. No catalogs were needed anymore anyway, because I had decided upon a theme for Isaac's 4th birthday.

This year we celebrated turning "4" by transforming our living room into an art studio.

Let's allow some pictures to tell the story, shall we?

The 4 year old waits for his party to begin

(shirt found on Etsy, by the way)

We pushed all the furniture up against the living room walls, creating a large open space in the middle of the room. We then laid down plastic and a drop cloth, setting a big craft table on top. Paints, markers, crayons, and brushes were all laid out for children to use. I contemplated tossing in some paper strips and modge-podge but did not think the children were quite ready for such mixed-media art.

There were also smocks for the children to put on over their clothing and a bucket of various sizes of canvases to choose from. The children actually left the house for a few hours before the party so Tobe and I could get everything set up in peace. They were beyond thrilled to come home and discover a transformed living room.
On the lookout for party guests....

These blondies have been friends since the beginning. It is likely they will never be roommates at ACU like their mamas (can you say "controversy"?), however they are good buddies.

Invitations included a pack of crayons and instructions to color and bring the enclosed coloring sheets. We then hung everyone's art work along a clothesline in our living room. I had ribbons to pass out for the art, but forgot about them until hours after the party ended. Oops.


Isaac decorated his own cake this year, with a little help from me. The plan was for children to decorate cupcakes with icing and candy...but we opted to just decorate with candy at the last minute.
I do not even know what is going on in this picture.....

Isaac decorated his cupcake to look like himself. Genius, I tell you. Genius.

Isaac received his first real globe. If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that Isaac loves him some United States of America (he could ID the states at age of 2). I do not know who was more excited about the globe...Isaac or Tobe.

Isaac also received his first big boy bike...or his "motorcycle" as he refers to it. This caused a lot of confusion today at a playdate when he informed a friend of mine that he had received a motorcycles for his birthday.

Examining his loot.

The party was lots of fun and our carpet and walls came away without one drop of paint on them. Success!

We have one more mini-party for Isaac this evening (which he is calling "my last fourth birthday" ) before winding down the celebrations.

Good times, my friend. Good times.