Sunday, May 31, 2009

Happy Birthday Dane!!!


Here's my little Dane 9 years ago. I was having some complications with high blood pressure, elevated heart rates and running the risk of having a 10+ lb baby, so the doctor decided to induce me 3 1/2 weeks early. After a fairly easy induction, Dane was born on May 22, 2000. Unfortunately his little lungs were not quite developed yet and after only holding him for a few minutes they took him to the nursery to give him oxygen and then shortly there after he was taken to the NICU and put on a ventilator. He definitely had size on his side. Weighing 8 lbs 4 oz, the nurses named him the king of the NICU. He got strong quickly and after only a week, we were able to take him home. Life with him over the past 9 years has been an adventure. Definitely highs and lows but I tell you, he is one of the sweetest, most loving, caring little boys that I know and I love that about him. Happy Birthday "Danegerous" "Danish" "Dane-o"!!! I hope you have a great year!

The Lego Party...

All right I have to admit when Dane told me that he wanted to have a Lego party I was a little bummed. What is the heck do you do for a Lego party??? I tried to talk him out of it, but that boy is obsessed with Legos and didn't want any other kind of party. So after some internet searching and creative thinking, I think I pulled off a dang good lego party. I have to say though that I could not have done it without Maggie, she was an awesome helper. I think she is following in my footsteps.

The Invite...I made envelopes out of colorful paper to resemble Legos and then glue dotted circles onto them to make them look like Legos. The invite was also printed using bright colors and invited the kids to a Lego Birthday Party at Dane's Legoland.

The Decorations...



I decorated using the same bright colors that I used on the invitations. We had colorful paper goods, streamers (which Maggie put up for me) and balloons. I then put some of his favorite Lego creations on the table as a center piece. he's been collecting all the pirate lego sets and had had most of them put together since Christmas which is quite an accomplishment.

Games...

We had some fun games planned. When the boys first came I gave them each a bowl and asked them to go up to Dane's Lego box and fill it with Legos. Then then had to come down and build something.


I swear for the first 30 minutes of the party I didn't hear a peep out of the boys. They loved it. We then gave each boy a prize for their creation. We had categories like the scariest, the biggest fleet, the sleekest, etc. then left them all out for display. 

Our next game was one that Maggie came up with and lead the boys in. She had picked out about 20 Legos and then dumped a bucket of legos on the floor and holding up one at a time had the boys search for the pieces. Another very successful event.


Our third game, I had the boys take their bowl of legos and I gave them each a pair of chopsticks. They had to use the chop sticks to take out as many legos as they could in two minutes. It really was quite humorous watching some of them try to use the chop sticks.


The Cake...


I made some Lego cakes which even though I am now where near a professional cake decorator, I thought they turned out pretty good.  Click here for complete instructions.

Presents...



And guess what Dane wanted for his birthday... LEGOS... and he got plenty. Thanks friends!!!

The Pinata...


Yes, we even had a Lego Pinata. Maggie made it for me all by herself. She is so creative. She came up with the idea on her own and carried it out till we had a wonderful pinata to smash.

The Goodie Bags...



Of course no party is complete without the famous "Goodie Bag". It's what all the kids go to parties for right? Well I made up the bags similar to the invite envelope with the circles and then printed each child's name in Lego font and tied it onto the bag. They each got a small bag of Legos, a bag of Lego candy (I was so glad I found these. Kholers is the best for this kind of random stuff), a bag of Bubble Gum (because I loved the colors) and all the candy they could get from the pinata. It was a great party with a few extra minutes at the end when all the kids played and put together all Danes new Lego sets.


Thanks to all of Dane's friends who came and made this party a fun one and definitely one to remember. Happy Birthday Dane I hope you had a fun party!!!

7 comments:

The Dillon 6 said...

first of all, can you believe our boys are so OLD?! I still remember them very clearly as 4 year olds...running crazy and wild!!

secondly -- what PARTY!! You are so talented! And clearly, Maggie is going to trounce all over you in a few short years. ;)

Marisa said...

From what I can see of it, your house is gorgeous, Tina! Thanks for all the ideas for a lego party, I might need them next month... Trey is having a hard time deciding between a lego and a mad scientist party, maybe your pix will tip the scale for him! Such cute invitations, party bags, cake, everything!

Aceves Family said...

good job!! I totally am going to steal some ideas from you because I have a boy who loves legos too.

Unknown said...

Wow, you are amazing!

Rebecca said...

Tina,
I wondered to your blog through the Dillons and just had to leave a comment on your
a-m-a-z-i-n-g party! I wish I could be this creative! Simply fantastic! You should start your own business someday. Love the Lego cake.. and the party bags.. and the invite.. and the lego game.. and the table decor... I could go on and on. :)
~Becca Kidd

PS.. Your kids are so cute!

Emily said...

I love it! But I love everything you do!

Harmony said...

So I haven't checked out blogs for a while I guess because I hadn't seen all your posts. The party turned out so cute and I love your new wall paper on your blog. Too cute!