If you give a boy a birthday party...

Well, for about the last couple months, whenever I would ask Burke what kind of party he wanted for his birthday, he would say "Paw Patrol, Octonauts, Curious George, Mickey Mouse..." and the list goes on.

I was at a loss as to what direction to go.

Then Shireen threw out the idea of If You Give A Boy A Birthday Party, in relation to the by Laura Numberoff and Felicia Bond, and it started coming together in my head. :)

Ryan created the invite!

I knew we didn't need any more toys in this household, so when I mentioned to Burke about having people bringing a book to donate to his classroom or having a puzzle swap, in lieu of bringing a gift, he choose the puzzle option... where (in Oprah style)... "AND YOU GET A PUZZLE! AND YOU! AND YOU!" ;)

Everyone feels like they need to bring SOMETHING to a party... and this was a way that they would, and then be able to take one home! Win. Win.

So here are the pictures of the decor. :) I mostly used what I had... and my awesome mom and Shireen helped SO MUCH! It took a village (including the men folk) on Saturday morning... because do you know what we woke up to Saturday??? Hylan Marie vomiting. 

Yup. I didn't know what to do because our families were already on their way! She only threw up once more and was acting fine after her morning nap, so we decided to go with it and just keep her out of the bounce house. (Yuck... can you even imagine?) Thankfully it must have been something she ate or else it was the shortest stomach bug known to man. Either way- I'll take it.

As soon as family arrived, they cleaned up the yard and hung my crazy Pinterest inspired ideas. :)

Don't they look so crafty?

The chalkboard said it all. :)

Burke's table spread.... full of everything he LOVES right now.

 The Octonaut cake was a Walmart 12$ investment... I just had the bakery make a cake with the Octonaut color scheme, and "Happy Birthday Burke" and then added his characters for decoration myself!

Star Wars is the newest thing around here. :) Cool cup was from Ree. 

These cute cupcakes, I saw on pinterest! 

I had these and rice crispy treats on my agenda to make (at 12am), but Shireen called to tell me she already had them baked and was icing them before I even THOUGHT about getting out by blender. AND she volunteered to make the rice crispy treats! (Yes- I scored in the MIL department!)

Didn't she do the cutest job?!

Paw Patrol

Curious George

For the actual themed table, we put out cookies, muffins, and donuts (brought straight from Krispy Kreme by mom!) to go along with the coordinating books. :)

Plates, napkins, and cups were dollar tree. Ryan printed the book prints for me and I used red frames I had on hand from Ikea.

Fabric ... ahh... that red and white striped goes way back. ;) Table clothes were ones I had leftover from Hylan's party and scrapbook paper pendant was made by yours truly.

Shireen bought all the hardback books and the stuffed animals that go with them at Kohls a couple of months ago.

The drink table had milk, water, and juice boxes.

Making use of our lovely rusty basketball post. :)

Then the party started when family and friends began to arrive. :)

Ryan had a great idea to draw the silhouettes of all the kid sized guests... that lasted for about six little humans, but looked so neat! 

I can't say enough good things about Fiesta Rental in Sylacauga! They were so awesome as to let us keep the bouncehouse until today around 1! We got some super fun family bouncing in. :)

But, back to yesterday...

Piñata fun!

We had a doughnut eating contest (a game we played at the lake house during Ree and PaPa's fall festival). :) Three year olds doing this= hilariousness.

I believe Sam won, but I think he may or may not have used his hands. ;0)

Annnnd the video...

Sweet Hobbs!

and Jack!

And AFTER the party... I realized I didn't even cut the cake (sorry everyone!). lol

So Burke got a HUGE piece...

of which he ate one bite. :)

Making sure everyone got a favor. :)

I'm not sure the day could have been better... (well, we could have skipped the vomiting phase from the early hours that sent me into panic mode.)... but other than that, the weather was perfect, there was lots of sugar, and family and friends made the day extra special.

Thanks for coming out to celebrate four years of this precious boy!