Happy 7th Birthday Ryker.. It's his (and my) very 1st birthday party!! :)

First off I need to say, HOW DO OTHER MOMS DO IT!!! This is my very 1st year throwing a birthday party for one of the kids (I don't like to start them out on this too young:), and WOW can I just say IT AINT EASY! The amount of time and work that go into, even the simplest of things, is OVERWHELMING!! I'm sure it didn't help that Kaj and I are going out of town tomorrow so we literally had to cram in 3 birthday's, a party, packing, and preparing to leave the kids for 8 FULL DAYS!!!

Anyway all that aside I think the party was a HIT!! Ryker loved every minute of his party and it was soo fun to see all of his neighborhood and school friends come celebrate with him. (Ryker was worried no one would come, needless to say THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN). Ryker had decided on a "Policeman" theme party and I thought that would be EASY PEASY, a few badges, some plastic handcuffs, a baton. a poster size picture of a cop.. ya know the usual cheap easy stuff.. :) That couldn't have been farther than the truth.. Do you want to know who sells plastic handcuffs? Well I cant tell you because I called a million and 1 stores and NONE OF THEM carry them. :) Do you want to know who sells little black batons? Yep you guessed it, I cant tell you that either... When all was said and done, dad and I ended up making a lot of things by hand spending hours every night, and wondering if  you were even gonna like what we came up with. Lucky for us you LOVED it!! The smile on your face was truly priceless and I'd put in all the hours we spent "cutting" and "duct taping" pool noodles (to look like batons), all over again! I cant say that I'm excited for future parties and for all of the work that goes into creating them but I can say I get excited to see YOUR EXCITEMENT and the happiness it brings you :) Here are a few of your favorite things:

- you like star wars (you must get that from Rick cause we never watch it here)
- you LOVE playing guns with Bri
- you LOVE wrestling with Bri ( I don't love this so much, you boys are ROUGH)
- you still aren't a very big eater and you almost always come home without even taking a BITE out of your school lunch! :(
- you like to get attention and you tell lots of "stories", the most recent one was you telling your teacher that I leave you home alone at nights and make you watch all of the kids.. :) Lucky for me your teacher knew that was a fib:) I think when you told this story Tallin might have still been on oxygen, haha, and you tell people I leave you home with him:) SILLY BOY!
- you are very brave. Your life has always been a little more chaotic going in between houses but you handle it way better than I probably could.
- you started after school tutoring a few months ago. Grandma picks you up from school and gets a little one on one time with you and then you do a 45 min tutoring session THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE... It is doing wonders, your reading is getting SOO GOOD!
- you don't like to do chores, but you will do them so you can go outside and play
- you LOVE to play the IPHONE and IPAD.
- your favorite color is black or blue
- your favorite show is "wild kratts" you and Bri play "creature power" games ALL DAY LONG!! You are the blue guy and Bri is the green guy and we hear about it 24/7
- you are a WONDERFUL older brother. You hold and feed Tui whenever you are asked and you love to take him into the play room and read him books :)
- you still like to snuggle when you can squeeze in between one of the younger kids.. (and I love that)
- you think that dad is "the hulk" :)
-you want to be  policeman when you grow up.. (i think that's a great idea)
- you have a very sensitive heart, you get your feelings hurt and you worry about things that most kids your age don't even think about. I think it has to do with "your unique situation" but I hope in years to come this will be something that creates a bond between us that is unbreakable.. (a special bond built on Love and Trust)
- you got a bike for your birthday and you are SOOO EXCITED!!


Ryker, I want you to know just how much Dad and I love you!! You are a VERY SPECIAL little boy and Heavenly Father has a wonderful plan for you, I KNOW IT!! I have told you this before (however, your probably to young to remember), but YOU ARE the reason our family is where we are today. You came along at such an important part of my life and the changes that motherhood had on me were indescribable! I knew from the moment I held you in my arms that I was going to do WHATEVER it took to be with you for ETERNITY! This lifetime simply wasn't enough, I wanted/needed more than that. That day FOREVER CHANGED ME and the direction that our family went. I love you with all of my heart and I want you to know that Dad and I will always be here for you.. FOREVER AND ALWAYS AND NO MATTER WHAT:) Happy 7th birthday !!

the treat table.. MMM the kids loved this table

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, to my amazing friend Tonii for making these printables for me!! I couldn't find police things anywhere and she totally threw these together for me!! LOVE HER!!!!

Dugi and Pipa's cakes on the table too :)

Yep Tonii made the cupcake toppers too :) turned out soo cute and fun!

Ryker asked if I could hang these up in his room :) looks like we know what the boys theme is for there room now :)

pin the "badge number" on the "badge".. I couldn't find any kind of poster AT ALL so this is hand made with lots of love :)

RELAY RACE!! Ryker loved this game, the kids had to dress up in there policeman uniform, run to the other side of the room. Do 5 reps with the "weights" and then 5 push ups and then run back. They played in 2 teams and they had a BLAST! !

PUSH UPS, GO buddy GO!!

weights, 5 reps:)

the game was neck and neck, sooo close!!!

after the relay we handcuffed the kids and made them eat a donut off of a hanging string.. What kid doesn't like donuts? so yep this game was a hit too!! (super messy though, just FYI)

Jake WON by a LONG SHOT!!!

He was the only one to actually get the donut off the string and eat the whole thing before there time was up.. No one else was even close... Way to go JAKE, your daddy would be proud!!

Briyler finally decided he wanted to try (but was not having anything to do with being handcuffed :)

 

Dugi wanted to lift weights "like dad".. lookin good little man!!

PRESENT TIME!! you cant see in the picture but I told ryker he could invite 5 friends.. :) That 5 turned into almost 15.... CRAZY BOYS!!

Love you buddy, hope you had fun at your VERY 1st FRIENDS PARTY!!!