shhh . . . it's a birthday party

in april, miller turned 5! i really can't believe it. we planned to go to chicago like we did when his sister turned 5, but 3 weeks before his birthday, he decided he wanted a party. like a real party with friends and a theme and what not. um, okay. what kind of party? 

his first idea was super heros. i envisioned hours and hours of sewing capes and "eyes" for each kid, combine that with easter and the dress i needed to make his sister for the week before and our first ever family photo shoot the week after and i just saw crazy. me crazy, that is. 

any other ideas? a book party. huh. i think we can do that. and, so, we did. a book party it was, specifically, focused on the library because he loves to go and read and borrow books.

the invitation . . .

 a hand painted canvas directing guests . . .

welcome . . .

the library . . . complete with our personal favorites . . .

because everybody deserves a birthday banner . . .

they began by enjoying the library . . .

and making their own personal book plates . . .

we read one of miller's favorites, i wanna iguana . . .

then, headed outside for a few games . . . a book carrying relay

and, a character matching game . . .

 we taped a character on each person's back and they had to ask around to find out who they were and then find the character they matched

 like the man with the yellow hat and curious george

or peter pan and tinkerbell.

then, we headed back in and read harold and the purple crayon . . .

and then made a mural like harold.

one of miller's favorite things to do is make books. he staples paper together and draws his own story inside. he shared one of his recent books with his friends and then we invited them to make their own.

at every birthday party there is something that doesn't go as planned. whether good or bad, it just goes differently than you expected. this was it. i thought they would zoom through this activity, but instead, they thought carefully . . .

 drew intentionally . . .

 and, even asked to share their creations. it was quiet, it was inspiring and it was really cool to see their imaginations unfold.

then, it was time for cake . . .

a very specific cake request from the birthday boy . . . an open book.

we headed back outside to eat and open presents because it was too pretty outside not to.

and, as the party came to a close, each child received their own treat:

a library bag freezer paper stenciled with read., a book, bookworm glasses and some gummy worms complete with googly eyes.

i think book nerds were created in all.