A 'Trashie' Birthday

There are a few things, as a parent, that I swore I'd never do.  I said I'd never drive a mini-van {I love my Toyota Sienna}, I said I'd never buy my kids light-up shoes {Andrew now has a really cool pair that have light up light sabers on them}, feed them Pop Tarts {Parker loves the Cherry flavored ones}, or allow them to watch TV for longer than 30 minutes at a time {movies are my favorite babysitter}....and, one more thing I told myself is that my kids would never play with toys that may seem 'inappropriate' to others, because we are waaaay too good for that. {ha! ha!}

But, back in June, when I asked Parker what kind of a birthday party he wanted to have, he said he wanted to have a 'Trashie' party and {worst of all} he wanted to have it at Zonkers {something else I said I'd never 'allow' my kids to do}.

 But, after I thought about it....about the clean-up I'd have to do to our house, the 22 {yes, twenty-two} kids that he wanted to invite, the hours I'd have to spend on Pinterest to come up with 'Trashie' games as fun as the games at Zonkers....I decided that a party at Zonkers didn't sound so bad after all and bit the bullet.

That may be the very best decision I've ever made as a parent.

And, Trashies, well, although they may seem 'inappropriate', my Parker-Man spends hours {literally, hours} making up games with his {nearly} 100 little Trashie guys.

With names like 'Maggot Meatball', 'Rotten Rollerblade', and 'Gunky Pumkpin', these toys are sure to make any boy laugh and wish they had them all.  And, with a sticker price of about $6 for a 6-pack, they are the perfect 'prize' for a good kid while shopping at Target.  {Yes, that's something else I said I'd never do for my kids...}

 

 So, Parker had another dream birthday party this year.

We were so happy that all of his friends could make it - they made his birthday party so special!

 

 

They played skee-ball, won tickets, rode roller coasters, and ran around like crazy for an hour or so before wrangled them up to eat cupcakes and open gifts.  Then, it was back out to the games...they had the best time!

 

I didn't do much planning for this party - my friend made the cupcakes {which Parker LOVED}, we put together goodie bags {complete with 'Trashie' labels, which you can buy on Etsy, Whoopie Cushions, and some other fun things from one of our favorite stores - The Dollar Tree}, and other than that, Zonkers took care of the rest!

As these boys get older, I'm finding that they don't care about all of the details I used to stress about...the perfect food, the perfect decorations, etc.  All they want to do is have fun with their friends and family.  So, this year, that's what we did...and although, I kind of missed the details of planning Parker's birthday party, I have to admit that I kinda like this new 'stress-free' way of partying.

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Parker's 6th birthday last weekend - we enjoyed a weekend full of family and friends - it was just perfect!

**I don't know why there aren't any pictures of Brandon...he was definitely at this party!  Just ask the all of the kids he rode roller coasters with...I think he had just as much fun as the kids!

A Six Year Old

***This morning when I walked Parker into school, we first took his cupcakes to his classroom, said good morning to his teacher, and then we headed toward the gym...on the way to the gym, we ran into three of the boys in Parker's class and he ran up to them, they all grinned, and ran into the gym...I waved good bye, but I don't think Parker looked back to check on me.  He's too big!  And...this is the first birthday that I won't be spending the entire day with him.  Although I've managed to work my way into his day at school and I can't wait to be there with him later on today!

This is what six years old looks like.

And, while I'd love to go on and on and on about how I wish time would slow down.  How I wish I could freeze this moment and not let him move on to the next year of age, I simply can't do it.

Why?

Because this guy is one awesome dude!

Everyday I love him more and more and more and just when I think his personality can't possibly get any better, he says something, does something, or someone tells me something about him, that makes my heart grow even more for my little man.

I got an email from his teacher the other day and I think she used the best word to describe Parker.

"Delightful"

And, while {some days} I wish I could go back to this very second...

Today our Parker-Man becomes a Six Year Old.  And we are embracing it.

I love this time.  I am trying my best to soak it all up, to live in the moment...but, to be honest, I can't wait for what the future holds with this guy.

Happy Birthday, Parker.  We can't wait to celebrate!

Captain Underpants

I am overwhelmingly proud of my Andrew-Man.

Three weeks ago, we (with some encouragement from our daycare provider) decided to start potty training Andrew.

Just a few months shy of three years old, I thought it was a little early.  And, I'll admit, I was nervous.  Hesitant.  With the struggles we've had recently, I was a little scared and not very confident in what potty training would do for our little guy.

But, when our daycare provider said she wanted him to come back to her house from summer break with undies on, we thought that we'd better do it.  While we had the open door.

To be honest, I don't remember potty training Parker.  I think it's one of those things that I blocked out...one of those memories that you don't necessarily want to remember about raising boys.

So, I couldn't really remember what to do.  Do we have him sit on the toilet every twenty minutes?  Do we follow his lead and just go with it?  Do we bribe him with stickers, candy, and toys?  Do we shame him into going to the bathroom?  Do we make such a celebration out of going potty, that he will want to potty all the time?

The answer: All of the above.

We've definitely had our ups and downs throughout the past few weeks with this whole potty training thing.  But, I do believe, this past weekend, my Andrew-Man got it.

The consistent encouragement, gum ball prizes, stickers, and yep, even a few new toys, have paid off.

I think we can safely say that we are done with diapers. {Even though we still expect some accidents every now and then.)

And, this guy....well, I think he can now officially be called 'Captain Underpants'!

{Andrew loves to watch He-Man and play with Brandon's 30 year old He-Man toys.  This is his He-Man sword that we picked up at a neighbors garage sale. Can't you hear him saying: 'I have the POWER!'  Gotta love cartoons from the eighties!}