Thursday, March 6, 2008

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Joseph's Birthday Continued

So Tuesday Joseph and I went shopping for his supplies: cake mix, koolaid powder, ice cream, plastic forks, sports themed plates, plastic cups etc. Well one of the most important items that I needed to pick up was a foil balloon. Joseph saw some at Uncle Daniel's Birthday 2 months earlier, and really wanted one. So for his birthday Ben and I agreed to pick up one for him, so he can play with it.

Well when we went to the store, the balloon was the first item we got. Joseph picked out the one he wanted. I gave him 3 birthday choices. He chose Winnie the Pooh and friends, themed balloon. He grabbed the string and held on so tight, that towards the end of our shopping trip in that store, the balloon came untied from the string, and so I had to pick up a second balloon. It was hard to find another balloon that matched what Joseph wanted. But I did, after much searching. I then made sure the string was tied very tight, so the balloon didn't get lost again.

Joseph didn't let the check out lady touch his balloon, and didn't let me take the string out of his hands when I put him into the car, to drive home. He really REALLY REALLY liked that balloon. Its was pretty funny!!

So when we got home I put the balloon string on his life sized Tigger so it didn't get popped on our ceiling. And it was low enough for Joseph to play with.


Joseph's Birthday Celebration

Flip, scratch, scribble, flip, scratch scribble, flip, think, scribble, flip, think, scribble, think...

I was running out of time. February 8th was fast approaching, and I couldn't think straight. With simple celebrations for our family members, most of those birthdays will be forgotten, so how do I get this big mile stone birthday to not be forgotten for a while, without spending too much money? Well, first there were the thoughts on who to invite...family of course, should we have a separate party for Ben's family, for my family, one for friends too? Slow down, brain that's just too many parties, and we're on a tight budget. Augg!! Why doesn't Parent Mag., have any ideas for First year birthdays?

Ok, think simple...ah ha! I've got it. We'll have one BIG party, with all the family and some friends. We'll make it simple, and just do cake and ice cream, chips and dip. That'll work, and it'll be cheap. Now about the cake, we're having a ton of people over, so that means a really big cake...REALLY BIG! Or maybe I can just bake a bunch of cupcakes. Those are easier to frost, and are smaller...hum...OR I can make a cake for the adults, and cupcakes for the kids! Yes!!


And so that is how the mind of a 1 year old boy's mother ran for about 3 weeks trying to prepare for his special birthday. After inviting Ben's family, My family, the Nelsons, Seversikes, Cindy, John and Lynnette we had quite the guest list. As it turned out only 2 people were unable to attend, so that left us with 19 people, including 4 children. Our little place was packed. It was super fun, but very crowded. Next time I will need to make a better plan according to guests invited.
We played Story time Tales, where each adult picked a Disney movie and had to draw, or write one thing about the movie. Alternating the drawing or writing down of words. Then each person would pass their drawing or words to the person next to them. This continued until everyone had the chance to see up to 5 different Disney movie drawings or words. It took a little bit longer than we had planned, but everyone seemed to have fun. One down fall to having so many people playing was that it was really confusing, helping everyone understand the rules. But it still turned out well. It was very funny to see how each person portrayed their chosen movie, and how other people interpreted their drawing or words.

After the game, we had cake and ice cream, and watched Joseph eat a whole cupcake! That was very interesting. We stripped his shirt off, and gave him a bib, then let him at it. It was also pretty funny to try and get him to blow out his candle. He kept wanting to touch it, which is a Ben Stalder tradition. Daddy eventually helped Joseph blow out the fire, so he didn't get hurt. After covering himself with cake, and frosting, Grandma Stalder got the honors of giving her grandson a quick rinse off bath, before he opened presents.


Little Gracie and Tommy Seversike, and little Sam Nelson were so excited about the birthday presents, they couldn't help themselves from getting up close to Joseph. Each child helped Joseph open his presents, and also showed him how they worked, as they tried them out. It was quite entertaining to watch all four children at work, trying to play with toys, wrapping paper, and who knows what!!


After our neighbors left, it was time for family pictures. The Stalder gang, and the RLJ gang. Things were so fun, that by the time everyone left, Joseph was so tuckered out that he was falling to sleep while trying to play with Daddy, or rather while Daddy was trying to play with Joseph.

To list presents that Joseph got, we felt it was easiest to go in order of what we received first.
Great Grandma Carr sent Joseph a birthday card, and a check

Great Grandma and Grandpa Stalder sent Joseph a birthday card, a check, and 2 very cute books

Grandma and Grandpa Stalder gave Joseph Liisi's old Quiet Book, socks, books, and 3 beanbags

Grandma Rose, and Grandpa Dave gave Joseph a Winnie the Pooh ball, walrus wash cloth, and a set of 3 yellow duckie bath toys

Great Grandma Landis gave Joseph a birthday card, and two very cute books

Lisa, Paul and Sam Nelson gave Joseph a John Deer tractor toy

Burl, Ranie, Gracie and Tommy Seversike gave Joseph some sandals for the summer

Mommy and Daddy gave Joseph a big yellow truck, 4 magnetic animals, one green football.

Joseph was totally spoiled, but that just means he is loved by so many family and friends.
We thank all for joining in the celebration of Joseph's 1st Birthday, whether near or far, he has felt your love!