Birthday Week

Noah's birthday week didn't quite start off on a good note...  On Wednesday, a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through our state, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, killing hundreds of people with many others still missing.  Cities and towns such as Huntsville, Phil Campbell, Cullman, Tuscaloosa and several others were hit the hardest, leaving these areas in a state of devastation.  It is considered to be the second deadliest series of tornadoes to have ever swept through our nation.  Thankfully, the Shoals area was spared with very minimal damage.  We were very blessed.  Also, Jamie's uncle Freddy had been in the hospital for over a week with not much hope for recovery.  Thursday, he passed away with his visitation and funeral scheduled for Saturday morning.  With such sadness and turmoil going on around us, we considered postponing Noah's birthday party to a later date.  However after some consideration, we decided to proceed with our original plans so that we would have something to celebrate to take our minds away from everything else going on around us.

One of Noah's favorite toys is a remote control race car that my dad bought him for Christmas so I quickly decided that we would center his party around a race car theme.  And it was an obvious decision to have the party at Forest Jumps since Noah loves playing there.  I love all the little details that go into party planning so I had fun coming up with a "race car themed" menu.  Since the party was from 3 - 5pm, I decided to go with light snacks, in addition to cake.  I chose to serve Traffic Light Rice Krispy treats (cut into a rectangular shape and decorated with red, yellow and green M&M's), Nuts & Bolts Party Mix (Chex Mix with M&M's) and Fruit Wheelies (an assortment of fruit cut into the shape of tire wheels).  Our Fueling Station was set up with lemonade and bottled water. 

 (and yes, I didn't even realize it until I looked at these pictures... but I had one of the trays of traffic lights set on the table upside down! ooops!)

  

I asked Beth Ledbetter to create the adorable cake.  She does a great job and her cakes are DELICIOUS!  Seriously, best icing ever... not too sweet, just right.  And if anyone around the Shoals area needs someone to do a cake, she is very, VERY reasonable and never disappoints. 

I appliqued and monogrammed race car shirts for both of the boys.  Noah's car had the number 4 on it and Collier's had .5 (I wanted to put 1/2 but my monogramming machine wouldn't let me do the "/" so I did .5... Jamie didn't get it, he kept saying why didn't you just put 6 for 6 months?? Oh well... I tried)

The kids had a great time jumping and playing on the inflatables.  There are two rooms with inflatables: a double slide, an obstacle course, and a huge steep slide.  They also have Chuck E. Cheese type games in the main room ... so lots of fun things for kids to do!

This is Noah's buddy, Windsor Grace.  She is PRECIOUS and so sweet to him.  She told her mom that she loves Jesus, Santa Claus and Noah :)

After an hour of playing, we gathered the kids together, sang Happy Birthday to Noah and dug into the yummy cake. One tier was a yellow cake and the other was strawberry!

I didn't have to worry about Collier... my grandmother and aunts were glad to watch over him.  Some even stole a few kisses leaving their lipstick behind on his forehead! :) After our busy morning at the visitation and funeral, he was exhausted, so he fell asleep and Derrick, my sister's husband, held him for the last half of the party.  He's such a good uncle!

After eating cake, it was time for presents.  Noah got lots of fun toys and clothes... several polo shirts and shorts, some cute t-shirts, a bathing suit, a police cruiser with lights and sounds, a t-ball set, a motorized dump truck, a Chuck the Truck Stunt Park playset, several books, an Alabama t-shirt and basketball, Batman and the Batmobile, a Monster Truck, and a Race 'n Load Car Carrier.  Jamie and I got him a basketball goal and some clothes, my parents got him a tricycle, as well as a few polo shirts and shorts, and Jamie's parents, along with Ma Maw (Jamie's grandmother) got him a Power Wheels Ride-On Jeep Rubicon (we have ordered it and are waiting on it to get here).  Thank you to everyone!  He has had a ball playing with all of his new cars.  

 

By this time, it was almost 5 and the party was coming to an end.  Everyone had a great time, including the birthday boy!  We sent the kids home with Red Velvet Cake Pops and Balloons.

After the party, we went for a birthday dinner at Logans with my parents, Lindsay and Derrick. 

 

I'm glad we proceeded with Noah's party... he had a great time and lots of sweet memories we're made.  Thank you to EVERYONE who attended the party and helped in celebrating Noah's 4th Birthday with us!