mack turns four.

My little man is four years old. He's funny, he's smart, he's creative, and he's still a sensitive, tender hearted little guy.  All the cliches are true of this birthday:

It seems like I was holding him in my arms in a Pittsburgh hospital only last week.

The last year has absolutely flown by.

He's growing up faster than a roller coaster with broken brakes (that's a cliche, isn't it?).

I cannot. believe. I have. a four year old. 

A few things about the Mackers:

*He's reading.  Yup.  Reading.  He's been obsessed with the alphabet since he was about 20 months old, and it has just gradually evolved into sounds, recognition, putting sounds together, and reading simple words.  

*He writes most of his letters pretty well.  He's definitely got his name down.  He writes it everywhere, and it never fails to make me smile.

*He still loves cars.  All types.  He plays with other toys briefly here and there, but overall, he spends most of his play time with cars driving on every surface of the house.

*He started violin in August.  He kind of likes it.  He loves to tell people about it. You can see that he's proud of himself when he talks about it, but daily practice is a bit of a struggle.  When I say a bit, I mean both-of-us-in-tears-by-the-end kind of a struggle... along with Grey.  The little one loves to do whatever Mack does, and if he's left out he's devastated.   You can imagine how well that goes when Mack and I are practicing.  We're pushing forward though.  We'll see how this shapes up.  

*He loves to play the Wii.  Every day, he does all of his chores, then immediately jumps on the Wii for almost all of his allotted time.  He always saves some Wii time for when Daddy comes home.  As much as I don't like video games, it is pretty cute to see the two of them bonding over Mario.  It's also fantastic currency for Mack.  He will do almost anything for Wii time.  I'll take what I can get.

*He's still the world's pickiest eater.  For real.  I have to literally force veggies on this boy.  He gags if lettuce even touches his tongue.  Forget broccoli.  No soups.  No meat.  Nothing that looks remotely healthy.  I can count on scrambled eggs, select fruits, yogurt, pb&j, pasta, and quesedillas.  Anything else is questionable.  I swear by the time he's five, he will eat what we eat... or maybe six.

*He has an incredible memory.  If I forget something, I can count on Mack to remember the way it is.  He's one smart cookie.

 

We partied it up on his birthday.  Special birthday waffles in the morning, an exceptionally high scoring soccer game (he's telling everyone he scored 10 goals--I suspect that's a bit of an exerageration... although admittedly, I did lose count), a movie with dad, and a super special birthday party with his friends. 

Check out the festivities:

the invites:

sent in these sweet little paper bags to his friends and family all over the country:

(paper bags purchased via Paper Source... which is much too addicting for me.)

The front room got a minor transformation into a miniature, owl inhabited forest. 

(paper owls purchased at Paper Source.  Tree designed in photoshop, then cut on large scale butcher paper)

Mack chose out the funfetti cake mix for his cupcakes this year.  He never actually ate the cake part, but he did love that frosting.  I have to say, I'm so happy I had no cake to decorate this year.  I stink at cake decorating, and I was much less stressed the day of the party than I have been in years past.

(tree sticks designed in photoshop, printed directly on the yellow paper, cut with a Martha Stewart 2" circle puncher, and adhered to toothpicks by Mackers himself)

("beware" cupcake toppers purchased at Target)

The favor bags were filled with glow in the dark toys for the farewell dance party.

 

"Boo City Salad" is my mom's recreation of the Art City Trolley Salad.  It's pretty much the yummiest salad ever.  At least when she makes it.  I'm still perfecting her techniques.  

("Boo" bag created using iron on transfers and designs found here)

Mack's favorite drink is rootbeer.  A good choice if you ask me.  So, we made homemade root beer for our witches brew.  Wanna make some?  Just follow the 5-5-5 rule:

5 lbs dry ice

5 gallons of water

5 lbs of sugar

Rootbeer Flavoring.

Yes, you read that correctly.  5 POUNDS of sugar.  It's delicious.

(paper straws purchased at... you guessed it!  paper source!  it's my new favorite place)

The attendees + the festivities:

 

we ate jack-o-lantern pizza, and enjoyed each other's company while the kids frosted and decorated their own cookies.  It was a hit!  As you can see, Mack loves himself some sprinkles.

(paper plates purchased at Target--they fit perfectly with the decor!)

All day long, Mack kept telling me, "I'm not four years old yet!  Not until all my friends sing to me!"  You can see the happiness radiating from his cute little face during the birthday song:

The dance party:

Mack had a full play list:

Party Rock (LMFAO)

Some Nights (Fun.)

Thriller

Ghost Busters

We are Young (Fun.)

I think some of the kiddos were slightly confused by the dancing, the fog machine (purchased at Target on major clearance), and all the glowing apparatuses, but Mack loved it, and that's what matters, right?

Grey was being quite the monster about everyone leaving:

He's such a cute little monster.

Mack had a great time.  His friends, cousins and grandparents were incredibly generous.  Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated this boy and his birthday!

the aftermath:

It took me two full days to clean up (you should have seen our kitchen.  It looked like it exploded).  Mostly because I had a stupid, dumb sinus infection... and also because I was feeling lazy.

Happy birthday to my four year old!  It was a great day.  Mack is the sweetest boy.  He tests me and stretches the limits on a regular basis, but that's part of what makes him so great.  I can't wait to see what this boy accomplishes when he grows up.  Love you so much Mackay!