WPJ and his 3rd Birthday..with the Big Red Firetruck!!

How the cutest Fireman turned 3!!  WPJ and his 3rd Birthday...October 2010

William loves anything fireman and firetruck related, so when it came time to celebrate his 3rd birthday, we knew exactly what his party would be...Firemen and Firetrucks!! 

When I say he loves firetrucks, I mean He.Loves.Firetrucks.  When I say he loves firemen, I mean He. Loves. Firemen!!  We visit the fire station often and have to speak to any fireman we see anywhere!  We play firetrucks all the time and have many conversations about how when he grows up, all he wants to be is a fireman.  His favorite color is red, because it's the color of firetrucks.  His favorite pair of shoes to wear are his "fireman boots".  For Halloween, he had to be a fireman, with Baby Griggs as his Rescue Dog, Spots...  So, like I said, when it came time for us to throw his party for turning 3, our thoughts were Firetrucks!! 

The biggest part of his party would be a surprise visit from our local fire department!!  I made a few calls and discovered the fire department will come out and do an "educational visit" as a community outreach!!  First and biggest deal of the party had been secured...as long as come party day, there were no fires or emergencies!!!  I was constantly praying!!  William had no idea until party day about his surprise! 

After securing the firetruck, I began planning all the details...the foods, with labels relating everything to the party theme, the decorations, the banner sign, the balloon colors, the party favors (being complete with fireman hats for every child), the "games", the guest list, the invites..  I think the invites were my favorite!!  One afternoon, while he and I were playing fire rescue while Griggs took his nap, it dawned on me to have him dress up in his fireman costume (that was my baby brother, Holden's costume) and sit on our front porch, surrounded by his collection of firetrucks.  He loved our spur of the moment photo session because we were taking pictures with his favorites!!  I told him his picture was the big part of his party and that we were making invitations to send to his friends so they'd know to come to his party.  Well, that was all it took!  He was so excited to help me stuff the envelopes and drop them in the mail!  For days and weeks, he'd ask if his friends got his card and if that meant they knew to come over and play firemen!!  How cute... 

For my party planning (which I pour myself into to make each party special and unique...and to occupy my mind over the fact that my child is turning another year older...)  I love planning a party and creating all the details.  It is something I enjoy and love to do.  I just about bust at the seams with excitement when it comes to party time!! 

As party day came, our party foods included the following:
Sirens (candy corn)
Water hoses (twizzlers)
Ladders (pretzels)
Gears (m and m's)
Firetrucks (rice crispies)
5 Alarm Chili (Philip's special chili recipe!)

Our party activities for our little fireman and his friends...
***Firefighting a "burning" building!  I picked up a build-a-bear house, spray painted it red with a white roof, and stuffed the windows with orange, yellow and white tissue.  I had spray bottles of water for the kids to use as their water hoses and "put out the fire"
***Building a firetruck!  I made individual baggies with all the "pieces" of a fire truck and had bowls of icing for the kids to "build" (decorate) their firetrucks: rice crispy as the truck, red icing, mini oreos as the wheels, twizzler as the hose, candy corn as the siren, pretzels as the ladder, m and m's as the gears, all ready to assemble, then gobble up!!
***Keepsake picture frames!  I had the foam frames and tons of foam peel and stick stickers of mini firetrucks and letters, balloons and stars.  Once the kids made their frames, they got to take them home, with a picture of the party to be mailed.

Decorations:
Red and Yellow streamers all around the yard and playground
"Happy Birthday William" banner letter signs in Red
Red, yellow and white balloons
Red and yellow table cloths
Food label signs with each party food to name the food for the party
Goody Bags with Thank you cards attached.  Bags stuffed with William's favorites: firemen stickers, crayons, bubbles, playdough and m and m's! 

The cake:
Publix cake, marbleized yellow and chocolate, with a picture perfect design of a firetruck, labeled engine #3 for William's 3rd birthday.  The truck was driving down the highway.  I added William's favorite toys...his toy fireman and toy spots-rescue dog, along with the #3 candle.  He loved seeing his toys on his cake!! 

The Huge Party Surprise...
A Huge Big Red Firetruck and Ambulance pulled down our road and stopped right at our driveway!!  The kids were in awe!!  The firemen gathered around and gave a demonstration on what firemen do, how they dress for a rescue, what tools they use, how they help rescue during a fire/emergency.  They let every child (who wanted to) climb through the truck, sit in driver seat and passenger seat, stand on the bumpers, crawl through the ambulance, hold the tools...then they presented every child with their very own Fireman hat!!  During their talk, William and my Moma had the same thought and both took off for the house...to return with William wearing his Fireman Costume!  He said "now I match the real Firemen!"  It was so sweet to see the firemen embrace William and all the kiddos!  As they finished their demonstration and all the kids had checked out the truck and we took our group pictures, William turned to the Firemen and insisted on inviting them to stay at his party and help him celebrate and open presents.  He said his party was for firemen and so they all stayed for the last hour and a half of the party!  They even helped stuff the remaining goody bags with all the firemen stickers, pencils and safety books from not only their department, but from the Dothan Fire Department.  My parents surprised me with extra firemen goodies from their neighbor, who is a firemen in Dothan.  He even sent another set of firemen hats!!  That meant every child had two firemen hats to take home, a goody bag from the firemen and William's party goody bag.  So many special touches went into pulling this 3rd birthday party together. 

I can't begin to tell you how excited William was when that huge firetruck pulled up with the ambulance!  He was in complete amazement that his. favorite. thing. in. the. world. had just arrived at his party!!  We couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our William turning 3!!  The party was such a fun afternoon, complete with family and friends all celebrating with us.  William still talks about his 3rd birthday and how much he loved the firetruck and firemen...and for that excitement, I am thankful.  For all the planning that went into his party, I loved every moment of late night detailed work.  For every detail of decoration worked on to make the scene, I am grateful.  For friends and family who came to celebrate with us, I am thankful.  I wanted his first birthday since becoming a big brother everything he wanted.  He'd been such an understanding and easygoing brother, giving us all the time we all needed as we adjusted to our new family of four, that I really, really wanted to celebrate him in a big way!  I felt he deserved a huge celebration for his accomplishment of understanding "new baby", success of potty training  and everything new that had been tossed at him.  He'd been such a trooper, and I wanted to celebrate, so celebrate with the Big Red Firetruck we did!!  His sweet face was so priceless!  He wanted his baby to be part of his party the whole time!  That meant the world to me.  That made everything perfect.  William, you truly are the best 3 year old and we love you dearly!  You have an heart of gold!  Hope you loved your 3rd birthday! 

Much Love,
Moma


Below are some of the pictures from the party.  I had SEVERAL others, but they are film pictures, and I don't have them on a cd to upload (yet)...I do have them in a snapfish album, so I will try and include them that way...