Happy 6th b/day Duchess!

Even though Bryleigh turned 6 back in August, she really wanted to have a Halloween b/day party.  I, also, thought that sounded like a lot more fun than another summer one.  So, we set out to have a spooky celebration.

I went to pinterest for some fun ideas.

I have a huge tote of crafts, so I was able to use a lot of that…I found a lady to make an awesome cake and it was comparable to a plain, old sheet cake. 

 

 

I didn’t spend a lot in decorations, I had a lot from the previous year..I really only used orange & black table cloths on the tables & made a photo backdrop.  Saved money & stress!

Bryleigh & her cousins

 

The crafts I laid out were simple & basic.  I did the popsicle stick scarecrow/Frankenstein/witch and ghosts from cotton balls.

 For the popsicle stick craft, I glued the popsicle sticks together before the party and also painted the green ones.  The kids only had to cut construction paper to make a witch hat, Frankenstein or scarecrow.  There were googly eyes too!  I also glued magnets on the back to hang on the fridge!

Here is a link to the website I found it on:  Frankenstein  & Scarecrow

 

I had copied a ghost outline on some paper & laid those out for the kids to cut and glue cotton balls.  Cotton ball ghost template...

We had a cupcake/cookie/brownie decorating station.  We donated them to the fire dept.  One little girls was eating all the sprinkles that fell on the table – haha!

 

We played candy corn bingo, too.  There were quite a few girls from her cheer team there, so we had a lot of cheering & stunting going on!  It was insane, but fun!  There was also a costume contest.  An adorable Minion from her class won!

 

 

 

There was a spooky lunch...and lots of kids! 

 

 

Since we are at the age of 'drop off' parties, something new I did this time was had a couple (multiple arrivals could sign in at once) sign in sheets to list parents name, phone # & any allergies their child may have. 

 I have an amazing family and quite a few of them stayed after to help clean up.  I was so appreciative of that!  Do you go crazy with your kiddos b/day parties?

 

 

Birthday Card keepsake

Cadence’s art b/day party was a success!!  She had a blast, we had a blast, her friends had a blast!  I was beyond exhausted when it was over, but seeing the joy on her face was so worth it.  When my cousin’s daughter asked if I would plan her next party (omg.no.more.parties), I knew I did good!

Cadence got so many b/day cards and I hate throwing them all away.  I’ve seen some of my old ones (only ones I’ve managed to save b/c my mom does not have an organizational gene in her body, so none of my childhood cards have ever made it past the next day) and I love the memories that come with them.  I knew she would too..but how to store/display them?  Mine are scattered in various totes around the house…but I remembered seeing something on pinterest where they took those index card type rings, and put them together. 

 I thought a more sturdy way would be to bind them.  Luckily, I have access to one at work as well as to a few damaged combs, so rather than throwing out the messed up combs, I’m saving them for future birthdays/holidays!

 

 

Pretty awesome, right??!

 

 

Art Birthday Party Preparation

I’m getting super excited for Cadence’s 9^th b/ady party this weekend.  It is an art theme, we’ll have crafts and painting, which equals messy..but FUN!!

Even with only 4 days left until the party, I find myself randomly looking at pinterest for last minute ideas…

 

Luckily, our niece is coming to stay w/us tomorrow until Sunday to help me prepare/clean up...

 

Here is the invitiation I made for her party..

 

 

 

 

I have an editable version saved on my computer.  If anyone would like a copy, leave a comment w/your email address and I'll happily email it to you!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th Birthday Duchess!

I did A LOT of research for Bry’s 4th bday party. Pinterest, of course, had about 16,546,514,651,654 ideas available for carnival parties. We chose do it at nearby park. Some of my pictures suck b/c I was so busy setting up, taking care of kids, etc, that I didn’t have time for picture taking.  AND my signs definitely suck!  I had plans to make cute signs, but other things took up to much of my time and I was left writing them out.  And then they had to be taped on super, duper tight b/c it was so stinkin windy!

I was able to do this party pretty inexpensively, which made me super happy! Here is a recap of the setup & of her day…

We bought raffle tickets at the dollar store for them to use to play games. We bought some cheap prizes – you can get packs of them at the dollar store & also at walmart. The first station they visited was full of stuff to decorate white paper bags which would hold their prizes. Crayons, markers, stickers, glitter, & construction paper. "Take a bag & decorate it with stickers, crayons, glitter & glue. Inside you will find your raffle tickets for Bryleigh's birthday Carnival! Have fun!!"

 

 

 

The first game we had, was a football toss. I took a hula hoop & tied it up to twine in between 2 trees. The boys & Cadence LOVED this game.

 

Guess the #...I took a cheap jar from the dollar store, filled it with candy & a b/day #4 candle, had a little bucket for them to put post it w/their guess. The winner took the candy!

 

 

 

Ring Toss….toss the bracelets over the water bottles

 

 

Tattoos…washable tattoos – all of the kids loved this one. I had a bottle of water with a washrag to apply them.

 

Lucky Pitch…I taped a bunch of Styrofoam cups to poster board, but also spray painted a couple different colors. If they went into the different colors, they won more prizes...not the best pictures, unfortunately..

 

 

 

Race Track….empty paper boxes were used for the cars, string, cds, crayons, stickers, bowls, construction paper decorated the cars. After the cars were finished – the kids wore them to race!
"Decorate your Racecar - Use stickers, crayons, construction paper, glue, cd's & paper plates to make your racecar original.  Then get ready to start your engines!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was great and the kids had a blast - that's really all it's about, right?!

 

 



 

Happy 3rd Birthday, my little Duchess

I feel a little bad at my slacking off for Bryleigh's b/day this year.  It's true, you know, the 2nd child always gets the short end of the stick. 
Our tradition is b/day parties every year..until they are 10..then it will be on their 13th, 16th, 18th and 21st..
This year we had a lot going on..we are getting ready for Dennis to head on the road now that he has his cdl...I never put together a party for her.  Next yrs will have to rock.  But this year, we went to dinner w/the family at Applebee's and it was nice.  No prep stress, no decorating/cooking/cleaning..

I do enjoy putting the parties together - but the break this year, while she isn't old enough to realize it..totally rocked!

My poor Gramma had fallen shortly before her party and looked pretty beat up...her bone around her eye felt funny, so we took her to the ER to have a x-ray done and checked out.  Thankfully everything was good, but she sure did look rough for a few weeks..

Slumber Party Success!!!

I am so happy with how great Cadence's slumber party turned out!! From the crafts to the food! All 8 girls were well behaved! Two went home - but we still had a blast. I could see us having another one...maybe not so many girls though, just b/c they are so young - I worried a lot about what they were doing when I couldn't see them.
I am lucky Cadence has such great friends already...I hope she can keep them for a long time to come!

Until next time...

TOMORROW!!

Yah tomorrow - how Cadence has looked forward to tomorrow! Why is this such an exciting day? It's her birthday party!!! YAH tomorrow. We're going to be having a blast at Chuck E. Cheese & we'll be celebrating it with about 25 of her friends & cousins & hopefully at least that many parents..hehe - seriously, I'm so excited for her.

She's so excited, I'm not sure who she most excited is coming - Ahrianna & Brayden or Skyler or Madison - she's just so excited, she can barely contain herself.

It's been a long & trying 8 months for Dennis & I. We were devastated that we lost the house b/c of Westhaven & all the money we put into it and sometimes, I took for granted that Cadence is a kid & it probably doesn't affect her. I'm not sure what would lead me to think that, when she's said things that shows how affected she was.

After a week or 2 of staying w/my mom, she would say things like, I want to go back to my big white house, why can't we go back to my white house, to which I'd reply, it's broken, honey, we can't go back anymore. If we'd drive by it on the way to daycare, she'd cry, momma, it's not broken, look, I want to go back. It broke my heart into a million pieces - it was those times, I wish I could grab John Ulmer & choke him. He broke my child's heart - all she wanted was the security of her home and I couldn't give it to her.

She'd open my Thomas Kincaide books & tell me she was going to buy us this house & that house and we would move our beds there with the dogs & the cat and live there. That was one of her favorite things to do when I said "do you want me to read you a book". Really, at 3 yrs old, she shouldn't be worrying about that.

When we moved into the apartment, she was so happy. Little things changed about her, the way she played, how she would run around the house, not worried I was going to yell at her to keep it down & not bother my mom & Mike…she would talk about "her new house" with a big smile on her face.
When went back to my moms a few days after we had stayed at the apt to clean, she cried all the way there that she didn't want to live w/Nana & Mike in our room (we shared a room while there), she wanted to go back to her new house. It was a long evening b/c she was so worried we were staying there - no matter how many times I told her that we were only cleaning, she didn't believe me. She was so happy when we pulled back up to her new house.

She ran in & fell onto the couch & fell asleep. My baby…

So will the party cost a little more than we wanted to spend? Probably. Will it be worth every single cent to see her happy - ABSOLUTELY!

Happy 4th b/day my Princess! We love you.