Polar Express Birthday Party

All aboard!!!!

It is hard to believe that JA is going to be 4 years old in just a few days.  I honestly started counting out 3 candles for his cake and then realized I was totally confused, lol.
JA had been waiting for this day for weeks and was beyond excited.  This was one crazy busy week (especially the last 24 hrs with day home kids, appointments, a Scentsy party, the birthday party and a church Christmas party) but I somehow pulled it off with tons of help from T and my parents.
You all know that I love planning parties and go way over board but despite the fact that there was a bit of stress in the final hours it was still so fun!  JA's excitement made it all worth it. 

A little look at the party details:
JA and I delivered invitations to all 6 of his guests last week. 

 

For decorations we strung together some snowflakes and hung them from the ceiling and hung up a "Believe" banner.  Setting up our Christmas decorations a few days earlier then normal made for easy party decor.

T was a great sport and played the role of the conductor.  As the kids arrived he hid tickets in their coat pockets and then quoted a bunch of lines from the movie and had the kids run back to look in their pockets.  He punched their tickets in speedy fashion (wish I had snapped a pic) and welcomed them aboard!

 

We started out with a little craft making ornaments out of beads and pipe cleaners.

I then had the kids gather on the floor and I read them the classic story "The Polar Express".

The kids then played a game of "pass the present".  We started out with a HUGE present that they were supposed to pass around while the music played.  When the music stops they unwrap a layer.  They were hilarious and all just dove in to each layer as a big group.  After unwrapping box after box, layer by layer they opened up the final package filled with train whistles for everyone.  (Talk about noisey!).  I hid them in the goodie bags real quick ;)

We then headed back to the table to decorate some "gingerbread" trains with treats.  The kids loved every minute of decorating, candy consuming and icing eating.

The kids then headed to the basement to play with balloons on a string and burn off some of the sugar rush.

 

After a bit of play time the kids wrote letters to Santa.

 

The kids then assembled a bag of reindeer food (oats and glitter) to sprinkle outside their house on Christmas eve.  This was one messy activity with glitter flying everywhere (hence the lack of pics).

After a little play time it was time for hot chocolate and cake. 

 I dipped the rims of each mug in red chocolate and sprinkles (I must have seen the idea on pinterest) but didn't really think it through......it sure made for some messy faces!

T saved my bacon this morning and carved out this cake for me, I just couldn't make it work.  Thanks Hun!  Topped with marshmallow frosting it made for a great snowy mountain scene.

 A few red faces!

 We finished off with a game of spin the bottle for presents and then watched a bit of the "Polar Express" movie for the last few minutes.

 

All of the things we made during the party were placed in the kids' goodie bags along with a bag of "Reindeer Noses" (chocolate covered jube jubes and a red gumball) and a bell.

We packaged up the gingerbread trains, cleaned out the mugs and sent them home with some very happy children.
JA had just the best day and loved every minute of it.  We sure do love you Buddy Boy!