Birthday Winter Wonderland

 

 

Carson and his bff James celebrated their 7th birthdays by having a snow party together. (Their birthdays are four days apart)

 

I'm not sure my neighbors knew what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to plan this event with me, but the party turned out amazing, with just a couple of glitches in the planning phase...

 

We initially thought for the invitations to attach the cards to plastic snow globes, but after searching every store we came up empty.  Thanks to pinterest and the fact that their birthdays fall so close to Christmas, we were able to improvise and create snow globes using ornaments with the invite tied to the ribbons:



 

 

 



Next up was the "snow."  We found a company that rented snow machines, promising to create flakes that would not leave a mess, by dissolving quickly:

It looked EXACTLY like snow falling from the sky, cars were even stopping on our street to watch the "blizzard." 

Luckily, Melissa and I discovered the weekend before the party that the snow "melted" basically on contact and wouldn't provide the fun stuff for kids to throw and play in. 

So we ordered SnoWonder, a fine powder that expands into "snow" when you combine it with water.  We ordered enough to make 240 gallons.  And what made it better than snow was that it wasn't cold or wet, so the kids could play as long as they wanted without freezing or needing to change clothes.

To say it was a hit was an understatement!  Although their birthdays fall in December, here in Texas it was a warm 80 degrees outside...kids played in the snow while wearing shorts!

Their was a 60% chance of rain the day of the party, so Brian and Rusty built canopies and a pit to play in.  Fortunately, the rain waited until well after the party ended before arriving.

We also had fencing between our houses so that we didn't have to worry about little ones (ie. Deacon) running into the street.

 

 

The guests also hit up the trampoline.

For the food, we brought out the firepit and roasted hotdogs and s'mores.  And even in the toasty weather, our hot cocoa bar was finished off.

 

 

The boys received lots of toys:

 

 

The cake turned out adorable too:

 



 

We couldn't have picked a better house to move into five years ago. Carson made a best friend, and Brian and I lucked out too!

 

30th Birthday

Draw a six year old in that picture and you kind of have my life at the moment.

Okay, well maybe I am exaggerating a little...but between Deacon's therapy, swim lessons, grocery shopping, the never-ending battle of keeping our house clean, doctor appointments, changing schools (did I mention I got a new teaching job closer to home??), Deacon's first fundraiser, and a newborn, there has been little time for blogging, or catching up with friends. And when there are a few precious moments, I usually choose sleep! I can't think of the last time I was home alone.

So if you have noticed that the posts are fewer and farther between, that is why. I know I am preaching to the mommy choir here...


I turned 30 last month.

whoopee.

hah!

You would think living the typical suburban housewife role with three kids, a husband, and even a minivan that I would feel my age, but I don't. Maybe like 25 or so, not 30. I used to think 30 was old...I still think 1990 was 10 years ago.

On the upside, my friend of 20 years (how do I have friendships this old!?!), Brandi, also turned 30, so at least I am not alone!

She lives near Kansas City and is pregnant with a little girl. No, I'm not bitter...lol

She came in town last month, so we decided to celebrate our birthday together by having a dinner with friends.

We had a lot of fun, the food was great, and cake turned out cute too.
I was able to catch a sweet photo of the two people who brought me into the world three decades ago.
What's nice about Brandi and I is that we not only attended junior high and high school together, but we were also college roommates, so most of the guests that came are friends with both of us. This is Tracey, our college suitemate.
And her mom and little sister:
Ashley and Brandon:
Mrs. Burkhardt and Mrs. Mille:
The Mille Family:
Spencer was so stinkin' adorable in his sombrero:
Jenny and Jeff:
Lindsey (who I have also know for 20 years) and John:
Jill (she is preggo too!) and Johnny:
Jenny, Melissa (the best guest ever), and me:
Representing our high school class of 2000:
As much as I feel like I neglect my friends, they never fail to amaze me on showing up to hang out. And it never feels like any time has passed as we catch up on all the latest gossip. It is crazy how the topics have evolved from friends and boyfriends, to husbands and kids.

If I am going to be getting old, at least I have some fabulous friends to join me!

Birthday Weekend

Something about this time of year produces lots of babies, giving us a weekend full of celebrations. We had three parties to attend! First up: the Olive boys who celebrated their first birthday with a Dr. Seuss themed party.

Now that my craft room is partially set up, I pulled out my Silhouette and created personalized shirts for Drake and Hunter.
I figured since I already had all the materials out, I would go ahead and make similar outfits for Bennett.
I used the negative of the above image to monogram their other shirts.

While I stopped by the twins party, Brian headed over with our boys to my sister's house to prepare for my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. We had a crawfish boil in her backyard and invited my dad's sisters, old coworkers, and childhood friends of my sister and I.

My usual girl was already booked and couldn't do my dad's cake, so I put my sister in charge of ordering one. It turned out great and was really tasty. What is funny is that we couldn't decide what name to put on it because everyone calls him something different: John, Ray, Dad, and Pops, it was easier just to put:

Carson thought with Pop's old age he might need a little help blowing out his candles.

While Carson played with his cousin Austin, Deacon worked the crowd...


As the evening wound down, Ethan brought out the guitar and played some tunes. Deacon was intrigued.
Carson gave his impersonation of a guitar player...I don't think he will be attracting any girls with it, he may need to practice that look in the mirror.
The next day we went to Brian's parents to celebrate his grandmother's 93rd birthday!!! Her actual birthday is on May 5th, but we will most likely be at the hospital with our newborn and that same week Brian's dad is having knee surgery.
After lunch the boys got into their bathing suits and played in the hot tub. I wasn't sure how Deacon would do with floaties, but his head stayed above water and he had a blast swimming around while Carson searched for dive sticks.

We had a wonderful time celebrating four amazing birthdays ranging from 1 to 93!