Superhero Birthday Party

So, my baby boy is turning FOUR! Ugh. . . I can't believe it! 

Just over a year ago, I remember being 8 months pregnant and holding Evan on my lap. I thought, "Boo hoo. . . this may be one of the last times I rock you to sleep!" And I think it was :( 

He is still a very affectionate and "huggy" boy, but no way does he fall asleep on me anymore!

In the beginning of August, Jessica's first birthday party was a big deal. A week later, Grandma & Grandpa came to visit (and are still here). Evan's birthday party plans took a "back burner" to all the activities that were going on, but I wanted to do something he would enjoy!

We decided on a superhero theme because he couldn't decide which superhero was his favorite. We had lots of Spiderman decorations (thanks to a high school friend), but the cake was just red, white, and blue with stars. We set up the superhero toys we had and made some superheros out of toilet paper tubes. We also played "catch the villain" - thanks to my friend's 11 yr old son :) Here are some pics:

My "Super Evan"

The kids loved those marshmallow stars!

Revealing his secret identity - lol!

The making of a super hero

Singing and blowing out the candles

Present time!!!

Sammy and Levi

Shoot out!

My super girl :)

Super cousins!

Butterfly Birthday Party

Long before my baby girl was born, I decided butterflies would be the theme for her room. This came about as I was registering at Babies R Us online. I was looking for baby girl items that were purple - and they were not easy to come by! Finally, I spotted a soft lilac colored blanket with a butterfly in the corner. I loved it! And the best part, is that someone actually bought that blanket and gave it to me before she was even born!

She had that blanket in the hospital, and has slept with it ever since! In her nursery there is one wall painted dark purple and butterflies adorn her walls. It seemed logical, that when she had her first birthday, butterflies would be the theme!

In July, I started looking online for ideas and decided what I would do for her cake. We celebrated yesterday, and here is how it turned out:

The porch was decorated with purple tulle and purple, pink, and white balloons. I had the tables covered in pink and purple table clothes, but didn't get a photo of those.

I bought a packet of pink butterflies at the Dollar Tree and used them to decorate. Here I wrote on the words "Happy Birthday" and made them into a banner.

Since we had boys and girls of  various ages, I made up separate treat bags. The girls got a lady bug mirror and comb with some candy and the boys got a toy motorcycle and candy. 

All the kids received these double straws that I made to look like butterflies.

My oldest son helped make these butterfly cereal bags to give to the younger ones who couldn't eat candy.

I decided to make a smaller cake since I also had cupcakes and cookies. The butterflies are just cut out of homemade fondant. The cake was "funfetti" on the top layer with a strawberry base.

The kids enjoyed these butterfly cupcakes!

I just dipped mini pretzels in white chocolate and coated them in purple sugar. I frosted the angel food cupcakes with a pink whipped cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmm!

Of course the baby needed her own cake to "tear into," so I made this little butterfly cake with the extra batter. I think she thought the colored sugar was pretty because she just kept poking at it with her fingers :)

I decorated the piano with one of her tutus and some butterfly stuff.

And this is a place mat that I made for free from http://www.inkgarden.com/

I figured we could use it as a banner for her birthday and it worked out great!

Overall, I think the party was a success! It seemed our little "sweet pea" enjoyed herself all night!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Kyle's LEGO Birthday Party!

My boys love birthday parties. . . and so do I! They often plan what theme they would like just days after the current party. Which is good - because it gives me time to plan ;) I have a bookmark on my computer for "birthdays" so I can save ideas all in the same place. 

When my boys turn "5," they have their first "big boy" party with their friends (instead of just a family get-together). For Kyle's 5th birthday, he chose a LEGO theme. I have to say, it was my favorite so far! It was fun to plan and hopefully, fun for the boys too! Here are some pictures:

 We started off with a game called "stack the blocks." Two boys at a time raced each other to stack all the blocks from their basket (I put 16 identical pieces in each basket - to make it fair).

Next, we played, "I Spy the LEGO Guy." I printed off and cut out a small LEGO man, and the boys took turns hiding him around the living room. Whoever found him first had a chance to hide him the next time.

pulling a string

collecting loot

After those two games, it was time for the "pull string" pinata. I have to say, this was fairly easy to make, and I really preferred it over giving 4-6 yr olds a large stick to swing about! Each boy takes a turn pulling a ribbon until one pulls the "correct" ribbon that opens the trap door.

our "pull string" pinata

Once they were done collecting all the loot from the pinata, we headed to the play room to collect more candy! You see, I had 50 candy-filled Easter eggs to get rid of! In April, our homes chool group's Easter egg hunt was cancelled due to rain. Instead of keeping all that candy in the house, the party was a perfect way to find homes for all that sugar - lol!

Finally, it was time for cake! After singing to the birthday boy, everyone went out on the porch to eat the goodies. We had cake, marshmallow pops, pretzels, popcorn, and punch. The boys enjoyed their sugar-filled snack and the frosting colored their tongues in lovely shades of red, yellow, and blue!                YUMMY!!!!!

Of course, present time is the highlight of the party for the birthday boy! He was very excited about his gifts - and his helpful brother even helped put together his new LEGO toys :)

Enjoying the fun!

Here are some pictures of the rest of our "party gear:"

LEGO cupcakes formed the shape of a "5" for the birthday cake.

 I made our own invitations for the party. I cut foam pieces into a LEGO shape and used sticky letters for each boy's name. On the back side, I put all the information for the party.

Kyle liked these a lot, so I made one for him to keep as a memento :)

LEGO men plates 

Marshmallow pops

These were really simple and fun to make

I always feel badly for Kyle and Evan because their birthdays are always on holiday weekends. We ended up waiting until 3 days after Kyle's birthday to have his party, but I think he realized it was well worth the wait :)