Ryan's Bday Party

 Dan gave Ryan a proposal. Big Party or Big Gift. He chose big gift. Which meant a home party. I stressed a great deal over this soiree, until I decided that really it was just a glorified play date with special treats.

 Ryan wanted a Lego Ninjago party, that was blue and green. I was thinking a lot bigger when I started, but I didn't have much time so this simple party is what we pulled together.

 I made these skeletons. The green ninja actually fights snakes, but these skeletons were awesome, and are Ninjago relevant so I got away with it.

 We served Ninja-Ade and those boxes are for the pinata goodies.

 Even Pippen got involved in decorating.

 Ryan's party plan was to play soccer, teach TKD, eat, open presents, and open pinata. We managed to get all that finished in the first 40 minutes...

 Ryan taught the boys how to defend yourself in a knife attack.

 On the mat are Ryan's two buddies from Kinder.

 Ryan taking down his friend.

 I love that I can fit everyone around my table.

 Lego Ryan.

 Ryan is so enthusiastic about everything. He loved all his gifts.

 This card had a drawing of him and his friend playing at recess. Love it!

 I made this very simple pinata and for our ninja party you had to hi-ya the bag.

 Macey was very much into it!

 Dan got some good movement on the bag so that there was a challenge for these boys.

 The weakness here was in the top. The bag broke from the hanger instead of being busted open. I'll have to work on that if I do another one.

I joked with Alex that he should put on his blue ninja costume. And he did! What an awesome brother.
Ryan's big gift came in a BIG box. I don't have a picture. The camera battery died. You'll have to check Dan's facebook page maybe. Anyway, we got Ryan a Razor Flash Rider (Spark). It is a stunt tricycle that rides low to the ground and you can spin in a circle in if you have practiced. It also has a spark bar, but the bummer being you can't see the sparks you are making. Ryan will probably flip trying to watch it! Ryan loves it. I wish we had a very safe place to ride it. Maybe we'll go over to the school parking lot after hours.
We have already started praying for snow in AZ. Feel free to pray with us. We want snow! We want snow! I just hope Ryan remembers that we already had a birthday party and that he won't expect too much on his actual big day. And that he won't be too disappointed if there isn't any snow...

Random

 I was looking through our Picassa folders and found some random pictures I need to put up. Here is Macey all dressed up and ready to go... to the D's if I remember right... on a cold winter afternoon.

 Ryan earned his green belt at the last TKD meeting for the year.

 He is awesome!

 I am managing a Destination ImagiNation team this year for Ryan. He loves it. We have 7 kids that meet at my house once a week for creativity and team building.

Speaking of creativity... I think they were waiting around and killing time... at least not each other. :)

Update

 I wanted a twilight shot to capture all the colors, but I went out too early. But here is the essence of our house decorating. Weird to not have two giant trees out front.

 Here is the wreath.

 And here is our tree. We got a new pre-lit tree this year. This picture makes it look so small! But it is 7.5' and fills this tiny front room perfectly.

 Ryan doing homework, in the background is his volcano pre-paint.

 Finished volcano. The next day Dan took the kids on the back porch for a massive red lava flow.

 Alex earned his Bear rank last month.

 I love this cute kid! I do love being in scouts with him.

 Our 6 year old finally lost 2 teeth. But it was deja vu to Alex's first lost teeth. The dentist did it for him. The tooth fairy comes anyway. Too bad she didn't put $100 under Dan's pillow to cover the removal cost.

 Macey was determined that our family had to have a gingerbread house.

 This was a kit from Target. It had everything we needed. I added some Halloween candy to the pile.

This holiday is still filled with innocence. I am so thankful for my children and their sweetness. I hope they enjoy this year. Pippen the elf has arrived. They have written their letters to Santa. All is going well so far!