New Year's Eve

It was another year for the party pooper party!

It all started 2 years ago when I was pregnant and didn't have the energy to stay up late.  We invited another family to join us and had a great dinner and lots of fun playing games while the kids played.

This year we decided to try it again.  With kids it's hard to stay up until the new year with other families.  The kids can't make it, so they get crabby, but where do you put that many kids to sleep!!  So, we decided to host the "Party Pooper Party" and ring in the New Year east coast time.  Yep, at 9.  But take a look!!  It was a great night!

Fun was had by all as we squished into one room for some fun games.

Even the kids got in on the action.

The Rauch's put together some fun "MInute to Win it" like games. 

This one was bouncing ping-pong balls into an egg crate.

 Everyone brought their favorite pizza toppings and meat, we provided the dough sauce and cheese. 

Each family built their own pizza and there was plenty to share.

We had 6 families: the Rauchs, Coulters, Crouches, Kiles, Sanas and ours

 . 

Proof that the kids had lots of fun!!

We could hardly see any of the floor!!

Birthday Fun for All

So the party actually started before the actual party. My cousin and her family were coming from out of town, so we were excited to have them come up earlier in the day so we could catch up. These two sweet little boys have the best time together! They were ready to dive right in to toys, the pool and then the tattoos!! Check out Thomas' tool belt. He saw that there was candy for the party out so ran to his to get his candy belt. I then realized what he was doing. He received this tool belt at a friends party to fill the pockets with when the pinata broke open. His plan was to do the same thing, only we didn't have a pinata, so he was looking for whatever he could find. Tried to convince me it was a good idea, so he could share with his friends.
Timmy and Benjamin, thought this was so cute!

Thomas and Josiah, best buds always ready for some fun!

This is a shot of all the fun before the party. We had 5 little boys, all 4 and under (for a month anyways) being boys and having lots of fun. This picture really needs to have sound so you can hear the noise level of the guys playing while the 3 adults are trying to hold a conversation above it and above the music!

As soon as everyone arrived and got comfortable in the AC, I informed everyone it was time to go out to the heat to play a game! It was a relay race made just for Benjamin. We played family against family. Each member of the family needed to participate.

First round, to use the big straws to move water from bottles to sippy cups because Benjamin is moving from one to the other.

Round 2 was played by the older kids. They had to crawl from one side of the lawn to their family on the other. However, they had to roll a ball while doing this because that's one of Benjamin's favorite things to do.

Round 3 was in honor of Benjamin's other favorite thing, wheels. The youngest member of the family had to ride on the rolly object while the parent pulled them. My family managed to win (thomas didn't really crawl) and Thomas was so excited to win the prize he'd been wanting all week. He was totally disappointed when he found out we couldn't keep the prize. Everyone seemed to have fun either watching or playing.

We then moved into the house for lunch! I made BBQ pork sandwiches and everyone else brought a side making for a scrumptious lunch! These 3 had the best time laughing and eating. They were hilarious together.

After party activities were done, Timmy was thrilled to lead the boys out to the pool. He had come prepared!! Jake got to join the big guys in the water and between the four of them they had a great time!

All in all it was a great time.

The Party

So this year for Benjamin's First Birthday we had just a small gathering of family and a few church friends. It was great! I went with simple. Asked friends to bring food to share instead of a gift. Planned just one game. Had simple decorations. We had a great time.

The theme was polka-dots in honor of Benjamin's love for balls and rolling wheels. I was able to use bright colors and lots of round objects.

I found bright colored bags to fill with family fun stuff. Check out the long straws, crazy fun!! I filled them with popcorn, bubbles, candy, stickers and a family game. Grammy and Papa got a dinosaur watering can, Grandma and Grandpa got a funny light up worm to replace the one that died at their house. "Grandma" Nixon got a whoopie cushion. : )

We were planning on 30 people, so we had to get a little creative with the seating inside since it was over 100 outside. This was the adult seating. The centerpieces are polka-dots with some pictures of Benjamin on them. We had kid seating behind this with a small table for the kids and then our kitchen table reserved for high chair seating.

A fun homemade birthday banner! I see these all the time on a blog I follow and love them. I made the triangles out of card stock, circles spelling out Happy 1st Birthday (and hanging in the other room) Benjamin.

This was my favorite part. A polka dot window with pictures of Benjamin's first year. The food table was under it and the window sill was lined with brightly colored cupcakes (thanks to Molly and Audra).

The simplicity of this party made it one of my favorites to decorate for. i think I'll have to keep that in mind!

Captain Thomas' Pirate Party

Party day was long awaited and finally here. Thomas is slowly learning what "no, not today, but in five days..." means. He was so excited when he woke up on Saturday and realized that his Pirate Party day had finally arrived!!

The guests started arriving around 11 when my sister and her husband and son arrived. I greeted them at the door and put them to work. Ross and Jared left to get lunch (which i had totally forgotten about...) and to pick up a new toilet seat!! Yep, something bad always happens to that front bathroom before any large gathering. Then when they returned I gave Ross his next assignment on the list, to draw a simple welcome sign/ship on the driveway. This is what we got!! Way more then expected!! It was so cool! Complete with Romans 6:11 on the flag.

The Kid Fun:

Before the hunt could take place, the kids had to learn how to speak pirate and listen to a pirate story. On the hunt, they would have to pay each character a gold d'bloom and say "Yo ho, here you go!" in response to the character's request.

First up was Emma, the crocodile! They would meet someone at every step along the way, that had their next clue waiting for them.

In the end we found a treasure box. And yes, that is my son dressed as a cowboy at his own pirate party. No, I didn't force the pirate theme, it's all he could talk about. Somehow all the boys felt the need to shoot the crocodiles before the party. Thus inspiring Thomas to retrieve any and all guns and gun like objects from his room. Apparently he couldn't do this as a pirate, but needed to be a cowboy... wasn't going to fight that one.

THE GUESTS: (well, some of them)

At his parties, I try to get pictures of Thomas with each of his guests at a photo spot. I use them for his memory books and for thank you notes. This year we had the coolest photo spot and I totally dropped the ball... oh well!!

My two with our friend's Caleb and Hannah. This year Laura couldn't make it so her husband braved the party all by himself!! So glad he did!!

I got most of the kids gathered around the ship for a group shot. Unfortunately it was super shady from the overhang...

The cousin's kids. My mom and her sister have 6 grandsons between them!! Crazy since they had 3 girls, they've entered a whole new territory!! We were almost all together and were able to get this sweet picture of them.

The Cake:

Auntie once again came in and made the awesome cake!! We used cut outs of the characters used on the invitations.

One of my favorites so far!!

The Hunt:

Stop 1: Crocodile Corner

Stop 2: The Pirate Gear Shop

Stop 3: Neverland Island (the hot tub was an island and we had a pirate floating around in the pool on the otherside)

Stop 4: The TB Explorer

Stop 5: Captains Quarters

(for the hunt, Jared was hiding behind the house as Captain Hook (holding a hook and had an eye patch on, not the greatest costume, but it worked) guarding his stolen treasure. Thomas later informed us that Daddy as Captain Hook was his favorite part of the whole party!)

It was a great party and one I'd actually love to do again. In the days since I've thought of so many things i could have done. I think all the kids had a good time, but I know Thomas did for sure.

13 Again

This last week I turned 29! And out of absolute fear of getting any closer to the big 3-0, Amy and I decided to have a party celebrating our 20's and being young. So began the "13 Going On 30" party. We flashed back all those years, found an outfit we would have worn back then, fixed our ponytails and bangs just right and got together for the best birthday party ever!! You had to come with a picture of yourself at 13 and your favorite ice cream topping. The garage was taken over with pink and purple material everywhere, lip smackers and nail polish for everyone, music from the movie and even our favorite old sodas. We had a table full of ice cream and toppings waiting to be enjoyed, because after all, we were 13 again and calories didn't count back then. It was a great party. Alison's (who's house the party took place at) 5 year old daughter even stated that she "wished she was a big girl so she could come to the big girl party!"

After a few good laughs at the pictures and filling our ice cream bowls, we grabbed a comfy pillow and watched the movie. It was great! In face, I would have to say it was just about the best birthday party ever!

Thanks to all my BFF's for a great night!! : )