oh me! oh my! Maddox is FIVE!!!!

Last Friday, we celebrated Maddox's 5th birthday with a Star Wars themed party!! This is the THIRD year in a row that Maddox has chosen a Star Wars party and that really doesn't surprise anyone who knows him. He loves loves LOVES Star Wars!! I was sort of worried when he told me he wanted another Star Wars themed party because I feel like over the last two years we have used all of my good party ideas when it comes to Star Wars. We had even already used both party decor "looks" available at the party store and so I was worried we would have to re-use one of those themes. But, when I went shopping online for Star Wars party decorations I was happy to see that they had come out with a new theme!! LEGO Star Wars!! Perfect!! Unfortunately, this party theme must have been super popular because when I actually ordered our supplies they were sold out of almost everything but we were able to get the basics.

We decorated the party with star shaped balloons...

and Elia wanted to take a picture in the front yard in her "party dress"!! Rae said that when Elia got this dress (I think her gramma gave it to her as a gift) Elia refused to wear it until Maddox's party because she said it was a party dress!! She's such a girl...and oh so cute!!

Instead of baking an elaborate cake I simply made Maddox's favorite...chocolate cupcakes with tons of chocolate frosting and sprinkles mixed in!! Then I printed lego Star Wars characters onto enevelope labels and folded the labels around toothpics and stuck them in the tops of the cupcakes. They turned out really good!! Oh! And Auntie Rae had a great idea to put mini reeses cup candies on top of the small cupcakes!! Mmmmm!! Reeses cups are Maddox's favorite candy so it was a great idea!!

Because every single party website was sold out of lego Star Wars themed goody bags I instead put lego Star Wars stickers onto plain white lunch sacks and filled them with suckers, chocolate, straws shaped like stars and lego Star Wars stickers! I think they were a huge hit with all Maddox's friends!!

We also put out all of Maddox's Star Wars dress up clothes in his bedroom so the kids could choose a costume as they arrived and dress up for the party, and to go along with the lego theme we set out a tub of the boys' legos for the kids to play with.

To start the party, Maddox chose to dress up like Darth Vader and Ashtyn chose Annikan Skywalker!!

Then Maddox's friends began to arrive and Maddox changed costumes!! Ha!! Maddox's friend Kade then became Darth Vader...they were all so cute and had so much fun!! While us grown ups visited inside the house (avoiding the heat!) the kids all played in the bedroom and outside...

When Gray arrived at the party he was playing in the boys' bedroom and so I came in to take his picture. He wouldn't let me take his picture at first so I tried to trick him into looking at me but only got a picture of his back...

Gray's mom, however, knew exactly how to get Gray to look at me! She simply said "don't you look at Erika...don't you dare turn around and smile at Erika..." and sure enough the reverse psychology worked and Gray turned around flashing his big smile! Good job mom!

After some playtime, we had all the kids gather around the table for a fun Star Wars themed craft!! I bought styrofoam balls and craft supplies at Hobby Lobby and had all the kids decorate their very own Star Wars planet!! It was fun!! We had neon paint, glitter, little stars and moons they could glue on, shimmering pipe cleaners and little pom pom balls!! After they were done decorating I helped the kids name their planets by taking the first four letters of their first name and the first four letters of their last name and combining them for a funny planet name!! So...Maddox's planet name was "MaddKnig" and Elia's was "EliaJohn". We labeled their planets with little flags attached to toothpicks. It was a fun, little, creative goody the kids could take home after the party!!

Maddox kind of rushed through his craft because he knew that after craft time he would get to blow out his candles and open his presents. He was asking if he could open his presents long before any of his party guests even arrived so I know he was very very excited!! I love this picture of Maddox with his cupcakes. I still can't believe there are FIVE candles for him to blow out...

We all sang Happy Birthday and then Maddox blew out his candles!!

Maddox didn't even finish his cupcake because he was so excited about his gifts and so we got right to the best part of any birthday party!! Maddox, of course, got alot of Star Wars themed gifts!! His favorite!!

After presents, the kids all went swimming!! Woohoo!! With the 105 degree temps it was about all we could do besides sit inside!! Ha!!

We had such a fun party and a great day with friends and family...but it's still so hard to believe that my baby boy is turning FIVE!!!! Time really does fly when you're having fun!! Here's to many more fun and fast years ahead!!