Reliving my March Madness (2009)

Couldn't let the month of March pass me by without sharing last year's birthday festivities. You know, kids' birthdays these days have gotten a little out of hand, if you ask me. Parents (myself included) tend to go overboard for their kids on their "special day". I don't know, maybe it's because we didn't get all the hoopla when we were kids so we want to lavish it on our own now. I have to tell you, the only birthday I remember as a kid was when I shared a party with Karen Foster at Dapper Dan's and I cried when they placed the clown ice cream cake in front of us and sang happy birthday. Why did I cry? I don't know. I cried a lot as a kid. Still do, but I digress.

Anyway, last year I joined the ranks of parents who over-do-it for their kids on their birthdays and threw a homemade "Mad Science Lab" party for Wesley. Many hours went into the planning and preparation for this scientific extravaganza. And I know I was more excited about it than anybody!

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Family Fun Magazine was a huge inspiration for this party! I made lab coats from men's t-shirts. Each kid got to wear a pair of goggles, an oversized bow-tie and could get their hair moosed-up like Einstein. Their name tags were fun too. Adapted from the "Captain Underpants" books,  each "Professor got to follow the silly instructions to figure out their official names. I laughed out loud thinking up the names. Here are a few samples:

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Needless to say, every experiment I meticulously planned and demonstrated for the kids failed miserably to the point where one neighbor kid asked, "Are there going to be any experiments that actually work?".  But it was fun! Boy-oh-boy, was it fun! Luckily, my hubby, arrived home early from his swim meet and saved the day recreating all the experiments correctly. The Beaker cake was a hit and the grand finale lift-off of the U.S.S. Wesley rocket entertained the entire neighborhood in all it's carbonated glory. My all-time favorite though, was the "Build-a-bot" activity. I collected cans and miscellaneous hardware for months leading up to this moment. All the parts fit together with magnets (hand-glued on by yours truly) Each kid got to make their own robot. They loved it! Success! Check out more pics on my Flickr page.

So I'm done with the boys' birthdays this year. I was going to do a big Indiana Jones blow-out for Jackson, but I thought better of it and we just did the family thing instead. To tell  you the truth, they didn't know the difference. Whewh! And there's always next year!