Deacon's 2nd Birthday Party

Deacon's 2nd birthday at Little Gym turned out fabulous! Because Deacon loves music so much, we decided to go with a rock 'n roll theme and it suited him perfectly.

His party started at 5:30pm, so we were able to get two naps in on Saturday, thinking that would have him well rested. Unfortunately, he has been battling a runny nose and cough and decided not to eat very much all day, putting him in a less than stellar mood when the party started.

But, as the party got going, so did he!! He LOVES Little Gym, the music, and being able to climb on everything.


He also had an amazing turn out with kids of all ages!!


I wasn't sure if this party would be geared more towards the little ones, but it wasn't! The big kids had just as much fun, if not more!


The first part of the party was free play, where everyone got to do their own thing. Then it was structured play, where Deacon participated in his favorite activity: the parachute!
He laughed and smiled more than any kid at the party!
Since he was the birthday boy, they put him in the middle while the guests circled him and shook the parachute singing "Happy Birthday."
He was so thrilled, he had us all laughing along with him!

Then, they let the other little ones on to join him!


And the big kids got to go underneath while the adults covered them up.

After the parachute came the inflatable bouncer.
I tried to get some pictures, but with all the jumping the kids all looked like blurs.
Finally came the bubbles, and again, even the big kiddos were excited!

When everyone had spent their energy it was time for pizza and cake!




By the time the presents were opening, we only had about 10 minutes left of the party and Deacon was exhausted!

His favorite present of the evening was this cuddly tiger:
To speed the unwrapping up, we asked Carson to help, which he did gladly, along with some friends. The opening went so quickly we lost track of who gave what (and even found some gifts I hadn't seen when we got home)!
As the party ended, everyone picked up their goody bags!

Each guest received inflatable guitars, rubber spike bracelets, rocker sunglasses and pop rocks candy.
And as you probably guessed, Deacon was down for the count by the time we loaded up and got home!

Pinterest Addiction

I love being crafty and creative...the problem is I lack the creative gene. Luckily, I'm really great at searching the internet and stealing other peoples ideas and putting them together to make something that works for me. My favorites bar is overflowing with bookmarks for all kinds of discoveries I have found, but the downside is when I get a new computer or mine crashes all those wonderful sites disappear.


Pinterest.com is the greatest solution to that problem, but also rocks in so many other ways!! It is basically a website that lets you categorize and "pin" all of your favorites to a "board", along with an image and description to go with the link. What is even greater is that you can do a search on the website and it will bring back only items that other people thought were cool enough to pin to their board, giving you the best stuff on the internet! (And you can follow people who have similar tastes as you, so when they find new stuff it lets you know)



Saying I'm addicted is kind of an understatement. I have stayed up past 2am every night for the past 3 days and already have 213 links pinned...but what is the fun in having these genius ideas if I don't share a few?? Here are some of my favorite finds so far, along with their links.

Sugar Cookie Bowls

would be adorable to serve fruit, pudding, or ice cream in

Glow Stick Lanterns

cut open a glow stick and pour contents into jar; would be so cool for Halloween or evening party

Cupcake Carrier
cut "x" into the bottom of clothing gift boxes


Sifted Flour Grass Decorating
Carson would LOVE this, can work on sidewalk too

Stair Storage
I don't even have stairs, but if we ever get a house with them I want this!

Pom-Pom DIY
These would be gorgeous for a party or shower



Valentine Exchange Idea
"You Rock" printable to attach to Pop Rocks candy

The website says you they will put you on a waiting list when registering. Being impatient, I googled and found this link that lets you join without having to wait. By the way, it's free. :)

If you want to follow me click here:
(If you are my personal friend/family, please don't look under "gifts" b/c you might find future presents to you! I wish there was a way to make categories not public...)

Deacon's 1st Birthday

Deacon's celebrated his 1st birthday this past weekend at our house with a Dr. Seuss theme. Our close family and friends came and made the party great for Deacon!

As always, our gal did a fantastic job on the cake!

We made place cards to match the theme for all of our food:

Wocket Pocket's (Stuffed Pita)

Yertle Turtles (Turtle candy)

Green Eggs and Ham (Deviled Eggs and Spinach Tortilla Roll-Ups with Ham)

Poodles with Noodles (Pasta Salad)

1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, TUNA fish (Tuna Fish Sandwiches and goldfish)

Pink Yink Drink

We ordered some decorations online too, but I forgot to get pictures of it all:

And our goodie bags had seuss pencils, buttons, tattoos, balls and airhead candy (for "The Places You'll Go"):

Deacon received lots of toys and clothes:

We gave him an Alex Jr. Trampoline, since he loves bouncing so much!

...and he wasn't the only one who enjoyed it!

Deacon has a definite sweet tooth, so he was ready and all about the cake when it was time!

Before:

After:

We had to put a hold on the party just to give Deacon a bath and wash the cake out of his hair, nose and ears! But, he was raring and ready to enjoy the rest of the party as soon as he had his wardrobe change!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby D!