5

Last week one of us had a birthday. How he is already five years old I do not understand but the calendar doesn't lie!

We have had a really terrible spell of ill health in our family (I know, what else is new, but this winter has been a shocker thus far) and Noah went downhill just 36 hours before his birthday with awful ear pain. As he lay in his bed inconsolably crying he just kept saying "please Jesus make it better. Please Jesus. Mummy, ask Jesus to make my ear better". I adore his faith. It shames me at times as I'm sitting there trying to remember where the calpol is and he's just going straight to our healing God. No wonder we are told to have faith like a child.

Long story short, God answered prayer and for once Noah didn't spend his birthday ill or in pain. I am so grateful for that. His health is something we have never been able to take for granted and it really was a blessing when on the morning of his birthday he woke up in much less pain and with his big grin back.

A big fan of the Pixar film, "Inside Out", Noah had asked back in August if he could please have an Inside Out cake this year and anyone who knows our family will know that the making of the birthday cake is somewhat of a tradition for us. We love the fact that Noah always sets us a challenge with his requests and then (thankfully) doesn't waver once he's done so. For his third birthday he had a Mike the Knight cake; he had genuinely requested this one about eight months in advance and never once changed his mind. In many other areas this just isn't his nature so it's surprising every year when he has stuck to what he first set his heart on!

So, Inside Out figures purchased, we looked for some ideas for a colourful, funky cake and then we experimented! By some fluke, it paid off and we literally shrieked when we cut the cake later on in the day...

(All the colourful circles represent memories in the film, just for anyone who hasn't seen it).

The film is a must-see for adults and children alike, and as well as making us laugh a lot, it really touched all of us and moved me to tears at times. It also just so happens to lend itself nicely to party games tailored to its themes. 

For so many reasons we were only able to do a party on a very small scale this year, with just a handful of his gorgeous little school friends, but we were determined to make it special and memorable for Noah so I painted up the main characters to decorate our living room with and dreamt up some variations on classic party games. We had "Pin the tie on Anger", Musical islands (like the islands in the film) and "Corners", where each painted character marked the different corners. Then a really basic (and surprisingly time-consuming) game of pulling faces to represent all the feelings-based characters in the film. The simplicity of it all made it a joy.

It was surprisingly refreshing as well to go back to basics in a way and do a party the way I grew up having parties as a child: in the house, no external entertainment needed and with everyone playing classic games together. It's clever too how every guest wins one game at least...!! ;)

So, that was how we celebrated five years of our gorgeous little character in this world. Noah, you are our treasure and I still can't believe I get to be your Mummy. You wear me out like no one and nothing else but you make me laugh to exactly the same degree and I learn so much from you and your presence in my life. God made a masterpiece when He made you. Stay kind, stay energetic and keep that beautiful faith you have. Here's to year number six (oh, my!) xxxx