Beckett's Fourth Birthday

B and I were looking at chapbooks of birthdays past tonight and he started talking about his circus party.... I realized I hadn't posted anything from it anywhere... And really couldnt even remember what we did for his party!

So this is slightly overdue....


A Fourth Birthday CIRCUS Party!

Prep: B loved the circus with grandma and Hattie and knew exactly what to have at a circus party after going. He planned the menu (hot dogs, sno cones, popcorn) and decorated the cake (mostly by himself with a lot of direction...). :) The prints are engineer prints from Staples (one of my fave/cheapest ways to make a big pop).

The weather was awesome and the kids got to play outside (huge thanks to Little Tikes and Oakland Avenue for the awesome jump house!). I'm not sure we got a single family picture (I need to dig a little further) and we missed the cousin pic this year.

Afterwards we loaded up and headed to the Water Park of America (and the Mall of America)- per B's birthday wish. It was a jam packed, super fun weekend. Our little guy got to do some of his favorite things- party, snuggle grandma, stay at a hotel, and go to a water park. The perfect weekend!

I still can't believe he's FOUR! (Another reason this post may have taken me so long...)

But four looks good on you, buddy!

An Airplane Party Fit For An (Almost) Three Year Old

As of today, I still have a two year old (thank goodness!) but Mr. B had a big celebration today cause he's getting super excited to turn THREE soon… (tear… ). 

He chose an airplane theme- which I was super excited for since it was his original choice last year before switching to trucks and also because his room is filled with great plan decor. It made party prep super easy. Other than food, we spent $1 on paper straws and $2 on scrapbook paper. His own airplane garb made up the rest of the party scene. We asked him what he wanted for food… cake, cookies and alligator (gatorade). He couldn't decide on food so we went with pizza again cause we're super lazy resourceful. He called Uncle Doyle this week and asked for ice cream and Uncle Doyle obliged. Once again making it super easy party prep for this little guy. He picked out his cake mix (blue suede… it was supposed to taste like blueberries?) and did nearly all the work on the cake- He gathered ingredients, ran the mixer (with help) and poured batter into pans. He mixed up the frosting (with help) and taste tested it as it was going on the cake.* He helped cut clouds out of fondant and stuck everything together (full disclosure, his clouds actually ended up looking better than mine but I had already stuck mine to the front.. bummer). 

As I looked at our wonky, leaning creation, I wondered if he would ever look back at party pictures and wonder why all his friends had store bought wedding birthday cakes for their parties while he didn't. But I kinda love the memories we make working in the kitchen together too so I'm hoping he'll be cool with that instead. He will. Right? (Right?!) (For the record… no judgement from me on the fancy cakes. I think they're awesome. I'm just too cheap to pay someone to make a cake for me!) ;)

*Funny story…. I told him no more licks cause he would get a tummy ache. He stole two more licks before grinning at me and said, "As it turns out, I DIDN'T get a tummy ache." I was laughing too hard to care about the stolen frosting. I love this age!

Other party prep included B calling everyone he knows and making sure they were coming to his party. He called one grandma several times to check and even asked if we could call the tickle monster to make sure he could make it. He helped me make the birthday banner (anyone having a plane party and want it?) and helped gather plane garb. He then was the official greeter and hugger of the day and had a blast playing with everyone. ….And he also enjoyed eating cake and ice cream and opening presents too…  ;) 

Big thanks to everyone that loves on our little guy. He is super spoiled by all of you and we are thankful for each and every one of you guys! I think all the toys he got today should keep him busy for the next 16 years. :)

P.S. Be sure to check out one of my fave pics below… the cousins on the couch pic. It's a tradition so we're probably gonna have to keep the couch forever. Just kidding. Kind of.

 

Trucks Party!

B has been talking about 'TRUCKS PARTY' for a few weeks now. One morning we were watching a show (Henry Hugglemonster maybe?) and they were having a birthday party. I asked B what kind of party he wanted and he wanted TRUCKS. And so began the non-stop 'trucks party' talk.

The party planning was simple. I ordered this trucks banner and matching napkins. I asked B what else he wanted at his party. He wanted cookies so I showed the banner to Amanda from Three Chicks Bakery and she hooked us up with the cutest truck cookies ever (see below). (My personal fave: 'Caution: Two Ahead.')
As party day got closer, R talked about grilling out or making chili. We asked B what he wanted and he said 'PIZZA PARTY!' We weren't hard sells.
The morning of his party, he made a last minute request for 'donuts party.' Somewhere filed deep in the back of my mind I remembered seeing a stack of chocolate donuts as 'black wall tires' for a Tow-mater birthday party (online of course) so we quickly bought out all the chocolate mini-donuts in town and wrapped them up in 'Spare Tires' paper (thanks mom). Even with the last minute (perfect) addition requested by B, it was the easiest party planning I've ever done. I stood around an hour before the party with nothing to do and was pretty sure I'd forgotten something.

B didn't request a cake, but I made him one anyway. I got asked for the recipe- it was a box. I got asked the brand- whatever was on sale. I think the secret to good cake is yummy frosting. Wilton is always good for frosting recipes. I used this chocolate one. (I freeze the cake overnight two days before the party too so that might help? I don't know. I'm not actually a cake eater so I couldn't tell ya.)

So B had trucks, cookies, pizza & donuts and he was totally set to party. He kept looking at the banner and whispering 'happy birthday.' When anyone asked him how old he was going to be he would say, 'Two then THREE!' Which is true. I guess. That part of the party (him changing ages and all) is crazy to me so we'll save that post for another day.

For now, I'll just share some party pics. To answer your questions- Yes, I took a couple detail shots before it got dark out (our living room has terrible lighting at night) (big thanks to my friend J for snapping shots in my terribly lit living room!). No, I didn't talk to B about the whole blowing out a candle thing before hand. He was totally confused. Yes, he was way more interested in the cookies than he was the cake. No, he doesn't like opening presents with all eyes on him either (just like his mama).

Also, big shout out to cousin Maddox for coming up to spend the night and being a huge helper. He did most of the party set up and even frosted the cake (with a little help).

And finally. That final picture. At the very end. With the cheesey smile. For the first time ever- B looked at the camera and said, 'Take my picture!' (Then totally cheesed out.)

Be still my photog heart.

I'm sure there will be more about how I'm doing emotionally throughout the week after B turns two B turning two later on this week. Wish me luck.

appy errtday!

That's 'Happy Birthday' in case you don't speak B talk.

We spent Thursday making 'errtday cake' and Friday making 'errtday frosting' and B was pretty excited to say 'APPY ERRTDAY!!!' all week long.  Of course by the time grandpa got here to celebrate on Saturday, he got shy and wouldn't say it in front of everyone. You'll have to take my word for it though- the kid is cute.

Just a couple party pics.... All the decorations found or made from something found around the house. The set up is really similar to B's Mustache Bash. (Which apparently I never blogged- I'll get on that.)

Menu:

-Birthday Cake! (I get asked for the recipe a lot... it's from a box. The trick is the frosting. I make Wilton buttercream for the big cake and Wilton cream cheese frosting for the cake jars. (Follow the links for recipes.)
-Egg bake casserole
-French toast casserole (I thought it was yummy! And super easy. We'll definitely make it again.)
-Marshmallow pops (just dip them in almond bark and decorate with sprinkles or whatever else sounds good- got this super easy recipe from my cousin several years ago but you can find it all over Pinterest these days).
-Mom's cinnamon rolls
-Bananas, muffins, donuts

'Appy errtday', grandpa! We hope you had a great day!

Happy 6th Birthday, Morgan!

Dear Morgan,

I feel like I was JUST saying I couldn't believe you were already five and now you are SIX! How did that happen??!?!

You had another big year. A really big one with kindergarten under your belt now. I loved listening to your school stories and the picture you had your favorite substitute, Mr. Clark, send me of you in the locker. You goof!

You may be a goof, but you have the biggest heart of any silly goof I know. You were the first one in our family that we told we were going to be welcoming a new little one. We told you what a big secret it was and you kept it so safe (for a little while!). Your face lit up at the news and you nearly had tears in your eyes over it. It was the sweetest reaction anyone that we told gave us and I was so glad we told you first. You've been very curious about your new baby cousin. You've been checking in with me to make sure I've been taking good care of him. And you love on him all the time. ALSO, you were the first (other than me) to get to feel him kick! You were able to feel him kick on your birthday party day. It was so exciting! (Except for your uncle R who was just a tad jealous but got over it as soon as he was able to feel the kicks too!)

You play together so well with Maddox and the two of you have been practicing playing babies getting ready for Baby H. I'm excited to see the three of you together!

You are so sweet to Maddox. For your birthday, you wanted fish and told him he could pick one out (even though it was your big day). You are such a lover.

We love you so much, Mo. You always brighten our days! I hope you have a great year of being SIX! And hopefully it wont seem like another year has gone so fast by the time you turn seven (seven?! yikes!).

Love you bunches,

Uncle R & Aunt H (and one of your very best pals, Dakota, too!)

Show Us: Children's Birthday Parties

Kelly's "Show Us" this week: Children's Birthday Parties

R & I hosted our first "Child's Birthday Party" last weekend. (Don't worry, it was for our niece, not our furry child, Dakota).

I posted about our "twofer" (birthday party AND yard party) here. Here are some details (from both):

I had bought the Yard Party supplies before I knew it was going to be combined with the birthday party (Hannah Montana, of course) so in the breakfast room we used those supplies for the drinks/snacks table.



We had a sign out front, you know, so none of our guests would be confused as to where the party is.... even though all of our guests are often at our house......
I realized I didn't get very many pictures of the "Birthday Party" set up (another reason I'd advise against twofers). She of course had a guitar cake and her own cake table. I love the magnet board in our entry because it was an easy way to put up lots of pictures of her. The chalkboard has the Happy Birthday song on it (you know, in case you forget the words...). Our dining room table was covered in a Hannah Montana table cloth. The party favors were turned into a centerpiece and her gifts/cards were lined up down the middle of the table. Still plenty of room for the kidlins to eat around the table (though most of them ate outside). I completely missed the pinata (and the slip 'n slide). But other than that, it was a great "twofer" party(ies). I guess it was a good crash course in birthday parties for us in case our furry child ever gets siblings.

Check out more @
Kelly's Korner: CHILDREN'S PARTIES!!!!!

Twofer

Twofers are great for all sorts of things; parties not included.

This weekend, we hosted two parties in one at our house. We had planned on having a yard games party (Yard Games Extraordinaire, to be exact) at our house, then with my niece's 4th birthday being so close, decided to combine the birthday party and have them at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, "both" parties were a ton of fun. And I would host birthday parties for my niece, nephews, (or anyone else for that matter) ANY time. I just would not try to combine the party with another party... you know, at the same time!

My sisters and their kiddos came to spend the night Friday night. It was nice to have a little help finishing things up. I thought my little sis was going to decorate the birthday cake that was all ready for her... she informed me she decorated it last year, it was my turn this year. So we were up past midnight decorating a Hannah Montana birthday cake. Thank God my friend Jen was here earlier in the day Friday to do the first frosting layers and to give me a break! :)

The birthday girl, of course, had to rock out in her Hannah Montana pajamas with her momma as she prepared for the big day.

Once the cake was ready (you know, past midnight) we had everything up and ready to go (details pictures to come in Friday's "Show Us" post).

The yard games party was super competitive. With a ton of games planned (did I mention I'm married to a PE teacher?). Things went okay, but I would not suggest organizing games, score keeping said games, getting food on the grill, participating in the games, oh and try to be a good "host" while doing all of this.

I would suggest getting all of the adults to participate in the games though. There are some great pictures of my mom in the gunny sack race! (I did post them on the world wide web, but only in a "private" album for the party guests to see on facebook... sorry!)
Like I said, very competitive (did I mention, I took first in my heat?) :)
Break in the "Yard Games Party" for Birthday party. The birthday girl loved her cake and the boys seemed to as well. Here is my niece with all of my nephews. Okay, two of the boys are not technically my nephews, but they might as well be!
Birthday girl opening presents. This is the Hannah Montana Karaoke she got from Uncle R & Aunt H. She later told me her favorite "present" was the pinata. I completely missed that part of the party (which is why I would strongly discourage anyone from twofer parties!).
After the points from all most of the games were tallied, prizes were awarded for the first place losers (they weren't impressed with the "so sorry for your loss" card and the horseshoes prize (you know, because they were so close but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades....):
And the champions (what.... just because I won doesn't mean it was rigged.... perhaps you'd like to be the official scorer next year?):

Of course the P families always bring the party and stick around to celebrate until it is way past bedtime. I am so glad they did because we didn't get to enjoy the yard party lights during the day! :)
Thanks everyone for the great weekend, and I promise, if you join us for yard games next year, we'll have the porch finished (finally) and your children will not slice themselves open on the porch "posts."

More Hickstionary

I used to have all these pretty little tabs across the top of my blog about past topics.... then I realized that was way too much work and TAGS are much easier. So here's some past topics from the Hickstionary. You can search through tabs and use that handy little search box up top to find more! :)

FAITH

FAMILY

FOOD

FIRESIDE

FUN

FOREVER

ODDS/ENDS



HICKSTIONARY 365 from 2010