Xav's 3rd Birthday Party

We did something a little different this year, we had the birthday party on Xav's actual birthday - something I'll be avoiding in the future! We normally just have a family day for the birthday, Duane takes the day off work and we do something fun and stress free. But this year the day fell on a Saturday, so we thought we'd just do the party then. I didn't like the stress of organising, decorating and cleaning up though - when I'd much rather be enjoying the birthday and leaving the big celebrating for another day. I've learnt for next time though!

The morning was spent finishing off the party decorations and tidying up. We gave Xav his present that Nanny had sent up, and he excitedly unwrapped it to reveal some new lego! He's loving lego at the moment, so it was perfect for him. He spent the rest of the morning zooming the garbage truck around the lounge room floor, filling the back up and dumping it out.

Grandma and Poppy came up early to help and also to spend some time with the birthday boy. He was spoilt with a digger for his sandpit and also a beautiful wooden bulldozer.

Xav had requested a racing car party, so I searched and searched trying to come up with ideas on some fun things to do in that theme. He also asked for a racing car cake, and presented me with one of Duane's old remote controlled car - saying he'd like one just like this one, Mum!

I had planned to finish of the baking, decorations and cake on the day before the party, but a last minute dash to save the GC birth centre put those plans to rest. Instead I spent the night before frantically finishing everything off and throwing icing mixture at the cake - Literally! Decorating a cake properly takes time, and I didn't have much of it so unfortunately. Add to that the fact that I didn't have a pattern to go by, just a damn remote controlled care and it was a recipe for disaster! I spent the whole night just looking at it and laughing, it was so pathetic it was hilarious!

Xav loved it though, and when asked about his party, mentions his awesome cake first!

The kids and I also did lots of baking for the party. We made yummy vegetarian sausage rolls, banana pancakes, mini scones with jam and cream and apple slice. We also made biscuits which where then decorated to look like traffic lights. I did the first one to show Xav how it was done, and he finished off all the others. Diligently applying icing and then carefully putting on the MnM's in the right colour order.

Meanwhile, Grace was busy decorating her biscuits into little cars. I had to help her a little with these ones as keeping the wheels on proved a little tricky!:

Going along with the car theme, I also made Pit Passes for all the party guests.

Each child was presented with their pass upon arrival and wore them proudly for the rest of the day. I'd also divided the guest list up into 2 teams - red and blue, and asked each team to come dressed in their team colours. The babies were also allocated a team to "cheer" for. Halfway through the party we held the Big Race. The kids and I had spent the day before making very sophisticated (!) cardboard cars. I'd let the kids each go nuts painting one car red and the other blue. They then painted paper plates black for the wheels. I added a few extra details: numbers, handles for the kids to hold onto and the race name.

So, the big race was started. The teams were lined up and then the chequered flag was waved and they were off! Each car did a lap of the backyard and then went back to the start to swap to the next team member. The older kids did really well, and the younger ones loved it too - just needing a little extra help. It was a close race, but the Red team were the winners in the end. They were all presented with a medal, whilst the blue team were all given a sticker! The race was definitely a highlight for the kids, and such simple cardboard cars were a huge hit!

We also did pass the parcel, which is always a party favourite. I'd decided this year to just go the old fashioned, probably politically incorrect route and just have 1 present at the end. The kids were fine with this, each one just excited to unwrap the newspaper and pass it on when nothing was revealed!

The kids spent the rest of the day playing and running around. I also gave the older girls face paint and let them go nuts with decorating each other. They loved it! Xav unwrapped all his wonderful presents, where he was very spoilt. He received so many lovely gifts, and has played and loved each and every one of them.

After a big sausage sizzle for lunch, the kids started getting crazy and it was time to wrap it up. Grace and Xav had helped me make up little noodle boxes full of goodies for the guests to take home. We'd put in each box a packet of sultana's, a freddo frog, some chocolate balls and a matchbox car.

So, the party was a huge success! Xav loved it, and so did all his little friends!