Parties Galore

(Get ready for picture overload)

September always brings a whirlwind of party festivities. With both Maddie and Noah's birthday just days apart we opted to celebrate Maddie's with a birthday breakfast on the actual day and then a joint party with the family on Noah's day. I can't believe Miss Maddie is eleven, wow! She is just the most amazing little thing and we are so blessed to have her!

Once again she made it easy for us. American girl all the way :)

Yes I did make 2 cakes and no they weren't anything special, but the kiddos were happy. I had the best idea to make Noah a turtle cake and the first thing out of his mouth was "Ninja Turtle". Are those even around anymore???

 Who knows but he was happy, so therefore, the rest of us were happy.

 

This easy going two year old is now three and definitely challenging us on every level. Amazing what a few months can to do to toddler. He is so fun and loves everything "Daddy". Can't believe my baby is getting so big...

Noah is really into cars, swords, and make believe. He was riding high with all of his birthday loot.

As this year was a "party year" Maddie wanted to make it special with a Hollywood party. We had a red carpet, popcorn cupcakes, popcorn machine, and a movie. The girls had a lot of fun and I must say was one of the easiest parties I have ever done. Which was good cause I was alone. Devin stayed up in Enterprise to prep for the SG marathon that was the next day.

And with that, friend parties are done till 2013. Here's to looking forward to family parties for the next year, yay!!!

Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 3)

In our home every other year is a Birthday Party year. And I know it sounds crazy, but I have all the kids on the same year so that on the off years it's nothing but simple family fun. Well this year is the party year and Bryce's was first up. He originally wanted to have kind of a beach party theme, but that seemed a little broad so I asked him to narrow it down and this is what he came up with:

Courtesy of a cute little store on Etsy, but I can't remember which one right now! I'll find it and let you all know ;)

I had all of these grand ideas and ordered a lot of it off the Internet and as usual my luck always runs out and pretty much nothing was delivered on time. Go figure!!! Thankfully I'm getting really good at improvising ;)

I made Shark sugar cookies and cupcakes (which were supposed to have little plastic sharks in them...didn't come) but at least they had blue (ocean) frosting ;)

First the crowd frosted/decorated cookies while we waited for guests to arrive...

Next we played a little toss the shark for some fun shark inspired prizes...

I found these cute little hammerhead sharks at Target that were just perfect for this!!

Then we headed to the pool to cool off and have some fun! We actually heated the pool and it was a refreshing 92 degrees by party time. Just perfect for this April day!!!

Bryce was having so much fun and made sure I came up with a lot of water games to play. We had swimming races, holding your breath, etc. It was super cute to watch him with all of his little buddies. He is such a quiet little kid that it always amazes me to see him interact with his friends.

Afterwords we rounded the kids up for some cupcakes and presents.

And luckily the UPS man showed up early and delivered the grand finale. I really would have been upset if this little guy didn't make it.

All in all it was a great party and according to Bryce...the best day ever!!! So worth the frustration!!!

Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 2)

Tuesday brought Bryce's 8th birthday. I can't believe he is that old...he is growing up so fast. He has such a quiet sweet spirit about him and brings so much to our little family. Though he is not fan of cleaning his room, he really loves to take out the trash and for some reason to scrub the toilets. Which for me is a trade off worth having ;) We really wanted to make a big deal out of this Birthday and really went out of our way for him. We started the morning with some very special pancakes which I think The Hubby had more fun making them then eating them ;)

Bryce was so excited to bring treats to school to celebrate his birthday. They always do this cute little thing to celebrate and I love watching it. It really makes the kids feel so special and it's something I know he'll always remember. Afterwards Noah and I helped Bryce pass out his store bought Sugar Cookies.

 Luckily I was able to talk him into store bought since I was spending the day surprising him with this:

Sharks were the theme this year and I really had fun making this little guy. Bryce was over the moon when he saw it and I was happy to see his big smile :) Later that evening we had family over and celebrated together. It was very fun and Bryce was so surprised when he was given a DSI. We had always told him that if he wanted one he would have to earn it on his own. Well two years later he was still trying to earn the money and I couldn't bear to watch him wish for it any longer.

It was such a great day and Bryce really felt the love that surrounded him! Happy Birthday, Bryce!!!