Saben turns five

On the morning of Saben's fifth birthday, he woke up to a present in bed with him (which he did not actually open until we got there) and balloons on the floor. Last year we filled his room with balloons while he slept and he kept asking about it this year. It might become a mouth tiring tradition.

Anyways, his present was a box of mini "sugar cereal" boxes. Normally we never ever buy that junk, but him & annika both love the mini boxes and so we relented. He was sweet enough to share them with his sister and mommy taught him the art of using the box as a bowl to hold the cereal and milk.

After breakfast Saben opened the rest of his gifts from us, a marshmallow shooting gun from Annika and the Wall-e movie, star wars lego set & bunk bed tent from mommy & daddy.

Saben immediately set to work building the lego set and had it finished by lunchtime. My heart melted when Saben requested a fresh mozzarella and pesto panini for his birthday lunch. Ahh, a boy after my own heart. (stomach)

Someone dropped off another lego set gift and he had it 1/2 built before his party. I think Saben would have spent the entire day building new lego sets if we hadn't forced him to do another things. He loves that initial first build of a new kit.

(sneak peek of our new office too!)

Saben had specifically been asking for a birthday pinata, so we had one, filled with candy, markers & lego pieces. As usual, mommy crafted an absolutely gorgeous cake, just perfect for the occasion.

Then the kids arrived....we invited 12 five year old boys to the party and I think ten of them were able to come. YIKES. When they arrived, there was a huge pile of legos set out and they went to work building. Most of the boys participated and spent about 30 minutes building.

Then it was cake time...

Then pinata. Let me tell you, they make these things tough. And nothing is scarier than ten five year old boys hopped up on sugar, swinging a baseball bat inside your house. Everyone got a couple turns, to no avail, so eventually I just ripped a hole and started shaking the goodies everywhere.

In a crazy Lord of the Flies moment, the boys all pounced on the empty pinata at the end and ripped it completely to shreds. Then it was gift time....

Then it was....uh oh, that was all I had planned and we still had 30 minutes left!!! I quickly improvised a game of balloon volleyball that was fun for all of 5 (10?) minutes. Two of the boys kept hitting kyle (HARD) and all of the boys were completely pumped with sugar and testosterone (from hitting the bull).

I finally herded them downstairs to our play room because things were starting to get sort of crazy. Saben had gotten a toy (not real) light saber and he was wielding it ferociously. Another boy grabbed his mickey mouse light saber, two more grabbed nerf swords and the rest just started hucking plastic balls at each other. It was mayhem and amazing no one got hurt. Those light sabers are not soft.

For dinner, we talked Saben into going to Shari's, instead of his very favorite restaurant, Dennys. Let me tell you, the Bellingham Denny's is not nearly as nice as the Arlington one I grew up going to and hanging out in until the wee hours of the night. I hate the Bellingham one, it's like a sleazy tavern. Shari's was much nicer, but seriously - expensive! - and we had a great time eating breakfast for dinner.

We love you Saben!