Miles's 7th Birthday!

This kid. Man, what a stud. I can't believe he's already seven. He was looking forward to his birthday all January and agonized over all the details. When we'd snuggle at night, we'd go over who he wanted to invite (EVERYONE, including his primary teachers) and what games he wanted to play etc. I'd run an idea past him and he'd have to ok it. Turns out, we pretty much threw out all of the original ideas because I didn't have the energy to follow through. And luckily, he was happy with what we ended up with. Honestly, this was the most last minute birthday ever. I literally hadn't done anything for it except buy some plates and cake mixes, until the night before. Ha! An hour before all the kids got here, I was still in my pajamas painting a giant mario for pin the mustache on mario, hoping that it would dry in time.

When the kids walked in, we gave them either a Mario hat and mustache, or a Princess Peach hat and a star. Then they all lined up for the punch board. They are supposed to look like the bombs in the game. Inside they got Mario fruit snacks and gold coins. Then we played "pin the mustache on Mario". Both games took up about 15 minutes. I looked and looked on Pinterest, but couldn't find a lot of do-able activities for this theme. What's up with parties these days being only about the themed food you serve??? Makes me angry.

Then we opened presents. Before the party, I reminded him to make sure he showed his gratitude for all his presents, no matter what. He took it to heart. He did really good,but I had to laugh when one girl handed him her present. It was an envelope, which obviously had money or a gift card inside, but he didn't see that. He says, "What? Just a card?" *doh! Besides that, all day he kept telling us, "Thanks for the best birthday party ever!" "Thanks for this wonderful party." "I love you guys"
After presents we had cake and ice cream, and then we let the kids play Mario Kart until their parents picked them up. The boys were ecstatic, the girls, however, asked to go downstairs and play after about 2 minutes of the video game. Cracked me up.



After all the kids left, we realized we had forgotten to give Miles the present we bought him. We got him a new, bigger bike. I can't believe how fast he out-grew his first real bike. He had been complaining all summer that his knees kept touching the handlebars when he rode. He'll be all set for this summer.

Here's a few pictures of him playing with one of the toys a friend gave him. He's never really had army men, so it was fun to watch him be creative with these.

On Sunday, we celebrated Miles at the Garner's home for Sunday dinner. He got a new outift, new ties, a cool star wars book, and a chess set. He was recently introduced to the game and fell in love. Guess I should learn how to play chess now.



That night when I said my prayers, I thanked Heavenly Father for sending me Miles and for his goodness. I knew Heavenly Father was proud of Miles and shares that same intense love that I have for him, although probably more. I think one of the great blessings of being a parent is that you realize a little more, how much you are loved by your Heavenly Parents and how much they love these little people they have entrusted you with. It's completely mind-blowing, and wonderful.