April 18, 2012

Joycie’s 2nd Birthday (Long Overdue)

 

Joycie offically turned 2 on March 5th. However, since my nephew’s birthday is on February 23rd,  my sister and I decided to have a joint birthday party this year – on the 25th of February.  One party means less work, less stress, and twice as much fun.

The theme of the party was Cowboys and Cowgirls, as chosen by my nephew Trenton.  He insisted that he have a Woody Cowboy cake and that Joycie have a Jessie Cowgirl cake.  My amazing MIL bake and decorated two cakes

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Trenton’s cake was chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. Joycie’s cake was yellow cake with buttercream icing. Both tasted amazing and were beautifully decorated.

As part of the activities, we rented a jump house that was enjoyed by children and the adults alike.

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When the kids were not jumping, they either played in Joycie’s room or swung on the swings in our backyard.  I had to laugh at the site of a dozen kids packed into Joycie’s small bedroom. But none of them seemed to mind the tight quarters.

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After an hour or so of playing, we had cake, ice cream and chips. Then we unwrapped gifts.  Following the gifts, I organized some cowboy themed games.  The first was capture the bandit – in which the kids chased M, my BIL Jason, and good friend Travis who were the “Goody Bag Bandits”.  The guys had stolen the goody bags and stashed them away. The kids had to catch them (tag) then find the good bags.  The game was a HUGE hit.  The 2nd game was the coin toss.  I divided the kids into two teams, and gave them gold coins that they had to toss into a pair of Mikey’s boots.

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The party finally wound down around 6:00 p.m. (it started about 1:00) when the cooler weather moved in and we are longed for warmth.  Joycie was amazing at her party – behaving so well in spite of skipping her nap.  It was no surprise that shortly after the party was over I found her like this…

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Face down, sound asleep on the living room floor, with a potato chip in hand.  She stayed that way for the next two hours, woke up to eat supper, took a bath and was out cold again at 9:00.

I had so much fun planning this party. I have a million ideas for next year and can not wait to share them with all of you.

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