I just can't believe it. Noah is five. FIVE! That's a whole hand, as he would say. Cody and I threw Noah one heck of a party this past weekend to celebrate our little boy turning the big number 5! One thing I take away from his birthday is it is so evident my son is loved. We are surrounded by wonderful people. We are infinitely blessed to have a great group of family and friends helping us raise Noah.
One of Noah's favorite things these days is the video game Skylanders. His Mimi bought this for him for Christmas. Noah's buddy, Cashton, has the Skylanders game at his house. Noah loved to play it there, so he asked for his very own underneath the tree this year. Needless to say, an obsession began.
If you are new to Skylanders, here's a good summary of the game:
The Skylanders are legendary heroes and champions, protectors of their world, Skylands, as well as the only playable characters in the Skylanders series. Using their magical powers and machinery, the Skylanders defended their world for generations, keeping peace and balance, until Kaos arrived and banished them to Earth. Each Skylander is aligned to a single element: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, and Tech. The most powerful Skylanders are the giants. It was said that the Giants were the original Skylanders who banded together to fight an evil empire. 10,000 years ago, the Giants battled against the tyrannical Arkeyans for the freedom of Skylands. In a final battle against the Arkeyans, the Giants were shot to Earth as a form of sacrifice, where they’ve been buried underground ever since. As the years passed, these enormous Skylanders were soon considered as a myth.
There has been hundreds of Skylanders in the past, and today, there are dozens, maintaining their role in protecting Skylands from the forces of darkness. Despite the fact that the Skylanders come from different realms and worlds, each knows it is their destiny to use their abilities to protect Skylands.
The Skylanders have an unbreakable bond with their Portal Masters. Though they are not servants, the Skylanders chose to serve their Portal Master and do so eagerly. They are also friends with the Fairies, particularly because fairies can turn treasure into upgrade magic that gives the Skylanders new powers and abilities.
Back to Noah turning five and his birthday party...
Noah wanted to have a party just like his 4th Birthday Party, a Scooby Doo mystery, at our house, but it be all Skylander theme. So I got to planning using my favorite online planning tools: Pinterest and Etsy. I tripped over a mom's website where she created everything graphically from invitations to food table tents to thank you cards for her son's 6th birthday party. I knew I had found the key to making this party a perfect success! Noah wanted a candy bar at his party...Not literally a candy bar as in Snickers, but a bar of different candies his friends could chose from to enjoy. (We do this at church...I wonder where he got the idea??) So we brainstormed all his favorite candies and the Skylander names we could use to name each candy. So Lemonheads become Swarm Booms after the giant bee. A bowl of nuts became Stump Smash Seeds after a Skylander of the tree element. We offered Ninjini's Fortunes, complete with Bible verses inside the cookie. Twizzlers were Lightning Rods. Starbursts were sorted by color and called Sunburn Bursts. We had Pop Fizz Popcorn, Gill Grunt Gummies, Cynder's Chocolate Treasures (M&Ms), Hot Heads (Hot Tamales), Skystones (Skittles), Sour Double Troubles (Sour Patch Kids) and the list continued...
(Side note: I could not have pulled off this party without help from Cody in making the three-tiered cupcake stand out of an actual tree. My sister and Abby helping with pre-party prep. My mom for making and sowing stuffed Chompies and Spell Punks for decor. And the to-be Greens for letting me borrow all their candy dishes! THANK YOU!)
Noah wanted games. So during my research, I tripped over another mom's blog post about her daughter's Skylander party. So we had a Golden Can Shoot Out where we shot Coke cans covered in gold tin foil with Nerf guns. We popped Chompies, these little creatures that bite at you on the game. We made Chompies out of green balloons and my mom drew on the mouths and teeth with a red sharpie. The kids had a fun time popping the Chompies using only their booties! Thank goodness Pastor Bryan had his keys handy to help the kids make the final POP! We sang "Happy Birthday" and Noah blew out the #5 candle on his Portal of Power cake made by my friend, Shelley. To top off the cake, we surprised Noah with the giant Eye Brawl. Noah has wanted Eye Brawl for months. He was so excited his favorite giant was on top of his cake!
(To see all the party pics, click the link at the end of this blog.)
We opened a few presents. And I say a few because Noah decided to ask for canned food items instead of gifts. Noah is infinitely blessed with toys and games and all things a little boy thinks he needs at this age. He does not need a single thing. Our goal for this birthday was to surround Noah with people who geniunely care about our son and take this opportunity to teach Noah about being a cheerful giver. At first, Noah thought we were crazy to suggest he not get a single present, but he quickly came around, being the little man of compassion he is, to realizing it is better to give than to receive. His goal was to collect 100 cans. To him, 100 is a very BIG number. Noah exceeded his goal with his friends' help. He collected over 170 cans!
We delivered those cans yesterday to Food and Shelter for Friends in Norman. The young intern who took our donation was so impressed that such a young boy would be so selfless. Really we just wanted to bless someone other than ourselves. We don't do that enough. Cody and I know we have a responsibility to raise Noah up in the way of the Lord. So much of the world we live in teaches our children to be "me" minded. While birthdays are important and we want to celebrate our little Noahbear, we know, in the end, it is more important to instill in him the value of putting others before himself. We are hoping that this 5th birthday set a precedent for all of Noah's other birthdays. Seeing Noah's face yesterday after we dropped off the donation proved he is understanding that very value. When asked why is your job to help people, he said, "Because God tells us to." And if you ask Noah if he'd like to do this again for his next birthday, he shakes his head yes. "Why?" you might ask him. He'd reply, "Because it's helpful and I like to help."
"It is a cheerful giver God loves." 2 Corinthians 9:7
God sure loves you, Noahbear. And your mommy and daddy do, too.
Click here to view Noah's Party Pics!!
