The Nielsens: Happy Birthday Clifford!

Two weekends ago we celebrated Clifford's 9th birthday!

Friday I took in Minecraft cupcakes for him to share with his class. Minecraft party supplies are basically non-existent at the moment, so I did some searching on Pinterest for ideas. I found a site where I could print cupcake wrappers and toppers. Clifford's teacher emailed me later that afternoon to tell me the cupcakes were a hit with the class :)

On Saturday, Clifford had a group of his friends over for a sleepover. In the past, we've typically just let one friend sleepover, not 5!! So I was a bit stressed on how this was going to turn out. I was amazed. This group of boys were fantastic! We turned on the Kinect for them to play games. Lots of pizza and junk food was set out buffet-style. There was one boy who after having just one soda (which WERE caffeine free) was just talking up a storm. I asked him "Do your parents let you drink pop, like for fun special occasions?" His reply, "Nope". Ah, time to cut that kid off lol. We did the whole cake 'n ice cream and present thing before I took all the boys swimming by myself (Pete couldn't come because of his eyes). They spent at least a good hour swimming before they asked to come home. They played some video games until one of the boys needed to go home, then we settled them down in the living room to watch a movie. Pete and I went to bed by 10 pm. Not sure what time the boys went to sleep, though they were up shortly past 7 am. We filled them up with sugary cereal and cartoons. One boy said to Pete, "I didn't know there's blood in cartoons?!" Pete responded "Only the good ones", to which the boy kept repeating to himself "Only the good cartoons have blood". Oh boy, you're mom is gonna love us lol. By 10 am, all boys were picked up. The party was a success!

Oragami Minecraft for the cake. Very time consuming and tiring, especially
since I waited until 10 pm to put them together.

The party decor. There isn't any Minecraft decor out in stores yet,
so I had to get creative and crafty. Both boys loved it!

Party Time! Boys munching on food and playing Kinect

The cake!!

A rare moment of silence as they gobble cake and watch a movie.

Every kids favorite time...PRESENTS!! Every single gift was a Lego set!

Bed Time!!

Watching cartoons!

Monday was Clifford's actual birthday. There wasn't any school due to the holiday, so we spent the day relaxing and keeping it low-key. We did a special birthday dinner of smoked ribs and had an ice cream cake for dessert (both his choice). Then it was the moment he'd been waiting for...our birthday gift to him. Back Story: so for about a week Clifford was just soooo sure he was going to get a bb gun or air soft gun from us. He just knew it. Which was true. He's wanted one for years and with us moving to a house, the timing was right. Fred Meyer had one on clearance after the holidays, so we picked one up. BUT with Clifford so adamant about getting this gun, Pete and I decided to play a little joke on him. We picked up a handful of Dollar Tree toys and wrapped it up as his gift. When he opened the gift, you could tell with his body language that he was greatly disappointed. But we were so proud of him because he kept up a smile and great attitude, all while Pete and I are busting at the seams on this joke. I let him think this is his reality for a few minutes before pulling out his real gift. He was ECSTATIC!!