Brody's 4th Birthday!!

This post is somewhat overdue..but we didn't get to have his birthday party until this past weekend so..it worked out.

Brody Boy turned 4 on January 19th. He has been waiting to be 4 for a long time. For months he's been saying "When I turn four, I'll be able to do _______." (insert anything that "big" boys can do.) Now that he's old enough to understand birthdays, he was really excited to turn four years old.

Four years old..I can hardly believe it. I mean, he's a year and a half away from starting kindergarten. As fast as time flies around here, that will be in NO TIME at all. I can still remember many moments from the day he was born. It doesn't seem that long ago. Yet our lives look 180 degrees different than they did four years ago.

Brody boy, you are so special. You are so smart..smarter than we'd like you to be sometimes. You still have an infectious laugh and a funny personality. You love making us laugh and sometimes know how to use that to try to avoid punishment. You are an amazing big brother. Although you fight a lot with Carson, you would do anything to protect him from others and make sure he's taken care of. Baby Brooks thinks you are one of his parents most of the time. You love to cuddle, kiss, bring him a blanket, tickle, and even help clean him at times. Your "baby talk" to him is quite hilarious...and Baby Brooks thinks so too. You are still quite stubborn at times. When you get your mind set on something, it takes a lot to get you back on track sometimes, yet other times you are quick to do as you're told. We all have areas we need to work on :) You are beginning to understand more about God and his Son, Jesus. You can memorize scripture better than most adults. Now we are just trying to teach you how to apply that to your life. I think this might be our biggest struggle as parents...not only teaching you the word, but teaching you how to apply it and understand it in your heart. So thank you for being patient with us. We love you Brody Boy!

Brody's birthday party was this past Saturday. Brody has many friends now so this year we decided he was old enough for us to have a big boy friend party. He's been saying since July that he wanted a Mario Kart party. I honestly didn't think he'd stick to that, but he proved me wrong. He talked about this party constantly, and as each month passed, he got even more excited and specific about it. I asked him if he wanted a Super Mario Brothers party in general, or if he really wanted a Mario Kart racing party. He was very particular and requested it to be Mario Kart Racing. So..I scoured Pinterest and of course my favorite party ideas blog and put together a simple, but cute party for him.

Does the backdrop make you dizzy?

This AMAZING cake was made by Leigh-Leigh aka Leigh Ann. He (and mommy) LOVED it! Thanks Leigh-Leigh for all your hard work! 

The track was made out of crushed Oreos. Mario and Luigi were from Target. The star, rocket, and turtle are from a Mario Kart Kinects Race Track. The finish line sign was from the race track as well, and attached to straws.

More shots of the cake just because I loved it so much!

The plasticware caddies were cardboard boxes covered in black wrapping paper. I found the stars online and just printed them off.

This was the least successful project. In theory these were very cute..however, I don't think they turned out very great. But, the kids loved them so I guess that's all that matters.

For the table centerpiece, I printed off these question mark squares and attached them to a square box I had. 

Coming out of the box were balloons with images of the different
prizes you can get in Mario Kart when you run over a " ? box ".

A few of the boys really getting into it.

Brody and his good buddy, Scott. I wish I could have captured the moment that Brody saw Scott come in. It was priceless. Thank you Scott for loving our boy so much!

The birthday boy and his cake

Looks like its getting pretty intense!

Leigh-Leigh and Uncle Brent gave Brody a Mario costume for Christmas. So to finish it off, they added the Luigi for his birthday. Unfortunately, he didn't stay in it long enough for me to snag a photo, but Carson had no problem modeling it for us. Such a cutie. I can't wait to get a shot of both of them in the costumes. Carson actually makes a better Mario..have you seen the belly on that kid?

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate. Brody said it was the best party ever! Brode-Man...we are so glad you loved it. Love you bubba!!