Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
1 Corinthians 3:17

Friday, January 29, 2016

Winter Campfire Birthday Party for Our New Teen

I think I just grimaced a bit when I wrote that title. How can my little boy be a teenager?!? I'm probably not more of a wreck about it because of this new baby boy coming so soon. And he better not grow up this fast!

We had originally invited some old and new friends to come over for pizza and then to see the Star Wars movie, but first we had a snowstorm, and then half his pals couldn't come on the date we'd rescheduled for. And then I blinked and it was halfway through January. I'm not sure when the idea for a campfire party entered my mind, but it ended up being so fun and SO easy to put together.


Since Caleb is past the age of cutesy decorations, I opted to keep things very simple. Balloons, a bright blue tablecloth, and some things for the party spread out on the table. At first I wasn't sure what to put the S'mores stuff in, but then I got the idea to put the candy in the iron skillet. I really liked how that looked. The tin pans were perfect for the marshmallows and graham crackers, plus they made a great caddy to bring everything outside later on.



I always keep extra sparklers on hand from the summer months. Good thing, ha!

We hung the glowsticks around the fence out back to have a little colorful illumination, but they were kind of a flop. They didn't glow very brightly, and we thought they'd died by the end of the night...until I was up at 1 am and saw these cute little lights glowing in the yard. Weird! Maybe the brightness of the campfire made them appear duller?

Roasting marshmallows and making S'mores was a big hit. If the wind had picked up, we were going to send everyone downstairs to the rec room with popcorn and a movie, so I'm glad the weather cooperated because this was much more fun. (And messy! Those huge campfire marshmallows are no joke. We all had gooey fluff dripping down our wrists and off our chins by the end!)

Little sister had lots of fun, too.

That look says it all. Fire, friends, and yummy food. Everything a thirteen year old boy needs.  =)

Afterwards, Ethan impressed them with some physics experiments he'd done back in the fall. They were mesmerized and super excited all at the same time. Doesn't that look crazy cool!?! 

I almost felt guilty about how little effort this party took to put together. Since we'd celebrated Caleb's actual birthday with family in December, I bought an ice cream cake for this party, another time -and sanity!-saver. Caleb has told us over and over again how much fun he had (and has thanked us continually...awww...), and that's the only thing that matters to me. I wanted him to feel celebrated, and in a slightly more mature way than in the past now that he's older, and he did!

If you want to read about Caleb's other fun parties, check them out below:

 

 

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