THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR A TEEN BOY

I feel like I've been talking about Jonah's birthday a lot, ha. But I like to document the details so I'll always have a way to look back and remember it all. I mentioned on Instagram on his actual birthday, Thursday, that we kidnapped him and surprised him with lunch out. My Mom and I picked him up from school (he's taking two classes there) and literally blindfolded him, ha ha. We met up with my Dad and Ethan at a local restaurant. This was So Much Fun!

 Then that night, he had a basketball game, so of course I had to do something! I mean, how often do things like that fall on your actual birthday? Usually his is sometime during winter vacation week, so this felt like a big opportunity to embarrass him, ha ha. And they won the game! Woo-hoo!

Here we are singing, right before handing out cupcakes to everyone.

What a great night!

So onto the actual birthday party, which was the next night...

I know boys (especially older boys!) don't usually care as much about party decor and decorations as we ladies tend to, but I really enjoy doing simple things to make our house look festive for the occasion. And I think they appreciate it, too. A few inexpensive banners, some crepe paper swags and bright balloons, and festive plates and cups to get the par-tay started. Jonah batted his beautiful hazel eyes at me and requested a Whoopie Pie cake. Again. It turned out so well last year that he wanted another one. Okay, so he didn't bat anything, but he did ask nicely. =)

For family and friends, I made regular sized whoopie pies and frosted the other dozen cupcakes I'd frozen, leftover from basketball. In case you're wondering, the giant whoopie pie bakes really nicely at the same temp and for around the same time as the smaller ones; the two larger "mounds" of batter fit on one large baking sheet.

Our naughty cats kept getting a little close for comfort after I put the rest of the whoopie pies and cupcakes out, and I spent the hour before friends and family arrived shooing them away. Carb junkies.

I waited as long as I could for the "sparkler" candles to sparkle... and they were duds. The occasional little burst of flame here and there, but the candles were melting so fast and I couldn't just stand there snapping pictures hoping to capture sparkles. Dumb candles.

This pretty much sums up the evening. Lots of smiles and laughter. It made me so, so happy.

Bill and I would be in the kitchen prepping things and then this completely insane bout of laughter would erupt from the other room, and we'd just look at each and smile. That was my absolute favorite thing. We set up the island as a pizza making bar- they loved that!- and had snacks and drinks on the small table in the kitchen. I don't have even one picture of any pizzas because it absolute chaos and cuh-razy!

While the pizzas cooked, they watched funny soccer videos and such on YouTube- hilarious! In past years, we've had science experiments, scavenger hunts, and Olympics-type competitions, but now that Jonah's older, we didn't need a "theme" or specific activity; he just wanted to hang out with his friends and play video games. Which they never ended up doing because they were too busy tossing balloons, eating, and laughing. Such a wonderful group of friends! I am so thankful for each of them because I have watched Jonah, in particular, struggle in this area, and that is so hard as a Mom.

Here's an action shot. None of my pictures came out very well. Ugh. The boys won the championship on Saturday!

Isabelle was annoyed (really mad) at me when I wouldn't let her go play on the other side of the gym because one of her friends was over there. But this friend doesn't listen to her mother and is really obnoxious, so, um, no thanks. There were other kids over there too, climbing all over equipment and such, and I don't think that's right, at least not during the basketball game. She absolutely beamed when cutie pie cousin walked in with my sister-in-law and her parents to cheer for Jonah. Whew! Cute cousins for the win!