Trent's Mario & Luigi Parties

I did previously write about Trent's actual birthday, but I have not yet written about his parties - that's right, plural.  This was Trent's first year to have a friend party, which he was thrilled about! I did get smart this time and actually do the same theme for both the family party and the friend party. (I was not so smart when I did Ashlyn't first friend party.  Two entirely different themes. Not smart. Not smart at all.)  Anywho, Trent is a little obsessed right now with Mario, Luigi, the wii, yada yada. And since he did get a wii for his birthday, we naturally went with a Mario and Luigi theme for the parites. It turned out to be a lot fun to plan and carry out.  Funner than I expected, really. 

As luck would have it, my aunt Gretchen happened to have a Mario costume for me to wear, and my talented sister-in-law Monica had made a Luigi costume for her son a few years back, that Trent was able to wear. We made quite a pair!

I decorated with balloons, hanging gold coins, and a photo time line.  I did the same thing for Ashlyn when she turned five.  It is so fun, and amazing, and sad, to see the growth that takes place in five years.

We started off with pizza and then we played pin the mustache on Mario, yoshi egg smash, and had a pinata filled with chocolate gold coins.  Trent was pretty insistent on having a pinata this year.  The yoshi egg smash was a lot of fun.  We emptied over 3 dozen eggs, filled them with confetti, covered the hole with tissue paper, and covered them in green spots.  Some of the eggs also had a penny inside.  The kids threw the yoshi eggs at the target (Bowzer) and if the egg had a penny, they got a prize - Mario fruit snacks.  I think this was my favorite game I've ever done for a kids party, and the kids loved it too.  I will admit here that I had really no previous knowledge of Mario and had to call my brother Jake to have him explain what a yoshi egg was.  Since that time I have greatly expanded my knowledge of the Mario world.  I have gotten into a bit of a bad habit of playing the wii with Trent on almost a daily basis.  But, I only play for about 30 minutes - I've got too much to do!  We play, and Luke cheers us on.  It's a lot of fun :o) Back to the party(s)...

 After fun and games came the presents and cake & ice cream.

Day two, party #2 was a complete repeat of party #1.  I even patched and refilled the pinata.  No one was the wiser.  The only difference between the two parties was that while the kids arrived, we let them play the wii.  It was easy to tell which boys had played before and which ones had not.   

Have I mentioned how much I adore my Trenters? I'm sure I have, but I'll say it again - I love my boy.  He is such a sweet, good boy (most of the time).  Just a few weeks ago, the 2nd counselor in the bishopric told me how impressed he was with how reverent Trent is during primary.  His primary teachers have told me the same thing.  They all say that he just sits with his arms folded the entire time.  I love that!  And I love him.  I am blessed and feel so lucky to be his mom.  Right now I am dreading that kindergarten is a mere 6 months away.  He fills our home with happiness, and I love the daily kisses he randomly gives me. I hate to think about him being gone every day.  But, I know he must, and it'll just make me love him even more when he is at home.