An Evening with Eight Kindergarten Boys

Karl had his friends over yesterday to help him celebrate his upcoming sixth birthday. They're all such nice boys, but I learned quite quickly that I had to have activities planned for every minute, because the moment we finished a game they would head straight for Karl's stash of light sabers and blasters, and the house became a full-out war zone. Watching Karl with his friends still amazes me, since I never had a little brother and am much more familiar with the childhood tendencies to carry around baby dolls and color. Apparently Laura knew very well what this birthday party would be like, because she never considered staying around; she spent the evening at Pam and Fred's, where they have her "two basic needs-- PBS television and books."

Each of the boys made his own pizza for dinner. This was fun because it took up a goodly amount of time.

While the pizza was baking, we played party games.

All the party guests, going around the table starting from the left: Ty, Nick, Montgomery, Ben, Tony, Karl, Mason, and Austin.

It's funny how excited the kids were to watch Karl open his gifts.

I didn't have an activity planned for the boys while I got the cake ready (meaning: take the cake out of the bakery box, stick a candle in it, and unwrap the cake plates), so the boys took the opportunity to reignite their light saber battles. We made them check their weapons before they could sit down for cake!

Laura's party will be in a couple weeks. We're going to sit around the kitchen table and decorate Christmas cookies. Maybe giggle a little. It will be very pleasant.

Stay tuned for Tuesday: That's Karl's big birthday day!