Happy 4th Birthday, Nathanael!

In honor of my middle child’s fourth birthday, we had a Fire Truck birthday party for him last weekend. His actual birthday was yesterday, but Mondays are no good for holding parties :)

Thanks to Pinterest, I may have gone a bit overboard with the party decorations. now I have to think of how to top this one for Kahlen’s next birthday!

It started with the invitation:

I used the Cricut Cartridge Everyday Paper Dolls for the fire truck, axe, fire hydrant, and hat. I used the Create a Critter cartridge for the flames. It was actually my husband’s idea to make an aperture out of the fire truck window so we could see Nate from the front and inside. It’s on a 8 1/2” x 4” blank so that it will fit inside a regular mailing envelope.

After that, I found a YouTube video on how to make the cake simply yet perfect for what I wanted:

Fire Truck Cake courtesy of Family Fun Video

Then I went looking for some game or activity ideas and found this great tutorial on how to make a pull string piñata.

Also, a ton of the fire truck / fire fighter themed parties that I saw were held actually AT a fire station. I didn’t think this would work, until I just called them to ask. We were planning on having it at a park that is right next to a fire station anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? Well, they said YES (as long as they weren’t out on a call, of course). Turns out, they were on a call when we first tried to go over there, but we were flexible about it and just came back after we saw them pull back into the station:

Nate said this was the best part!

I also found some great decoration ideas for a banner, food and cute signs, and cupcake designs. Naturally, me being me, I had to make all of those things. By hand. *sigh* sometimes my crafty side gets the better of my practical side.

The banner as it's hung up at my house. I didn't get a good picture of it at the party :(

"Matches" - Pretzels dipped in red melting chocolate. "Fire Truck Wheels" - Oreos. "Fire Hoses" - Licorice, both black and red. I also had some gluten free candies because one of his friends has a bad reaction to gluten.

The cupcakes. The red rope ones were lemon flavored and the flame ones were chocolate flavored. I also made the cupcake wrappers by cutting them out with a template first, then using decorative scissors to cut the tops. I then stuck on the little decoration on the front, which I also made, since I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for.

I am so grateful for good friends. I tried to do the flames, but I’m just not that skilled at decorating cakes. So I called in one of my best friends and she did them for me. Thanks, Melissa!

So, how did everything turn out? GREAT!! I think that Nate will never forget this one :)

 

Happy 4th Birthday, Nathanael!

~S

Shane is ONE!! (A celebration of my little Monkey)

Sunday we celebrated Shane’s birthday with a party. Good thing too, because he got sick with some fever bug on Monday and has yet to get better, poor boy.(This was today when his fever was 103.9)

(There are a few deets I need to add, but I really really want to get this posted tonight!)

The theme: MONKEYS!

The invitation: Will try to get a picture up of it soon. It was pretty awesome.

The menu:

• Green salad
• 2 9x13 pans traditional lasagna
• 1 9x13 pan Carrot and Spinach White Lasagna
• Bowl of plain ol’ noodles and red sauce for the picky ones (like Kahlen)
• Apple juice for the kiddos
• Soda pop for the grown ups
• This monkey cake for the birthday boy
• Banana cupcakes decorated to look like this
• Chocolate cupcakes decorated too

 Feasting kiddos

The venue: gym at church. Where else can I let 20 little monkeys run free?

The décor: I went all out, at least for me, this time.

I bought monkey plates, napkins, etc, at Party City

Using my cricut and paper that I already had at home, I made him a birthday banner (letters from ZooBalloo, squares from XXX) 

Kahlen talked me into getting streamers while we were at the dollar store, so I let her direct me as to where we should hang them.

The guests: trying to keep it small when I have so many awesome friends was hard! I invited mostly just our current fellowship team and our families that live in Loveland. I still ended up with around 40 people, half of which were kids.

The presents: A Silly Monkey pillow pet, of course! He also got great presents from our friends. He thought opening them was pretty awesome. His brother and sister have since used his new toys more than he has, I think, except for the pillow pet, which he is quite attached to.

The video. A birthday party for one of mine wouldn’t be complete without one :-)

Shane is one!

Some other pictures from the par-tay:

Look, ma, I’m standing!

 

More kids enjoying the feast.

The progression of the birthday cake. He was not particularly a fan. Oh well, I think it’s probably a good thing that he doesn’t dig the sweets, right?

 

I’m all done, mommy! I want to go home!

 

I gave him another piece of cake the next day, he thought it was mmm, mmm, good!

And in case anyone cares, he’s 21 pounds (25th percentile) and 32” tall (95th percentile).

~S