Birthdays and Pinterest {part one}

Honestly, how did we ever plan anything before Pinterest? I know we did. I know that somehow I managed to create a lovely first birthday party for my son without any assistance from Pinterest. I am a creative person, I have a design degree. Yet this does not seem to matter, I am drawn to Pinterest for inspiration, I need Pinterest. Okay, I'll admit it, I am obsessed with Pinterest. But from this obsession, a fabulous first birthday party was produced from my Little A.

This will be a two part post. First, the glorious details about the party and where I found my inspiration on Pinterest, and second, my feelings as I reminisce about the last year and the milestone of our baby girl turning one (can someone hand me a tissue please!).

So before I get too emotional let's dive into the party details. I'm not a huge fan of the commercial themed parties for first birthdays, I know too well that it will only be a short time before she is insisting on a (insert favorite cartoon here) party and the first and second birthday are really my only two opportunities to do something a little less commercialized. So I dived into Pinterest and searched First Birthdays to find some kind of inspiration. I came across several Sugar and Spice ideas and fell in love with the concept. The two most influential posts came from {here} and {here}.

Throw in a little shabby chic vintage inspiration (I apologize, this link is just an image, I don't know where the original came from) and I had a party plan.

I started gathering supplies for the fabric strip garland by scouring my moms craft bins and searching the thirft stores. Surprisingly, I did not have as much luck at the thrift stores as I thought I would. I did find one great full sheet that had all the colors I wanted in it and my mom came through with a ton of scrap fabric that tied everything together.

I knew I also wanted to make a sweet Tulle Wreath inspired by {this} post (which also happens to be my most popular re-pinned pin by far!). And if you're not feeling very crafty, she also has a link to buy her beautiful tulle wreaths. My wreath turned out a little different than the inspiration. I happened to have a grapevine wreath already in possession so I figured I would save money and just use it instead of buying a foam one. I like the way it turned out but I wish I would have bought more Tulle. I only bought two yards and it could have been a little fuller, but I didn't feel like going out and buying more so I left it as it was. I just used my daughters hair clips for the flowers. I purchased the A from Hobby Lobby and painted it with Big A's assistance.

Since Little A was born I have been taking monthly photos, inspired after seeing several other friends doing the same. I loved the idea of posing her in the same location and seeing how she changed. I printed these photos and used clothes pins to clip them to a pre-bought pennant that I hung over some more fabric garland. It was a fun layered look, the only oops was that the pennant had only ten triangles and I had 11 months, so I had to leave one month out.






























I used a little wood table and chair that my mom already had for Little A to eat her cake. I wrapped a plastic table cloth around the bottom, ruffling it, an idea I got from {here}.

The last little detail was a chalk board sign from Hobby Lobby with the Sugar and Spice poem for the center piece of the table.






The best part of a Sugar and Spice them is the food! Most of the inspiration I found had sweets and spicy appetizers, but since our party was going to be set for late afternoon I decided to go for less heavy foods and a more snack style setup. For the Sugar I had Pink and White Marshmallows, Pink Wafer Cookies, and Strawberry Cake Cake Pops. I had two types of cupcakes - Sugar Cookie Cupcakes & Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes.

To round out the Spice side; Spicy Walnuts, Maple Spice Popcorn, and Spicy Mexican Fudge. All the food was amazing. The popcorn was a big hit, probably because there was so much sugar overload and it was the only less sugary option.

I had a great backdrop for the party, set up in my parents courtyard. It really completed the Shabby Chic look with the rustic fence and my mom's great old table for the centerpiece. We were also blessed with some absolutely amazing weather. It rained early in the morning but had cleared off and was sunny and beautiful by the time the party started. We could not have asked for a better day.

It was also my nieces 21ST Birthday, so we snapped a picture of them together with their own blocks, yet another idea seen on Pinterest. We realized we could recreate this picture every year as Little A turns 2 and she turns 22, etc. I love this idea and am looking forward to making it a tradition.

















Little A was all smiles and loved all the attention. She dived into her cake like an old pro and I'm sure her sugar high kept her going for the rest of the day. We got to spend time with a lot of family and soaked up the last of the warm weather before Fall sets in.

 

                                                           Happy birthday sweet girl!!

For all my Pinterest Inspiration including recipes to all the yummy food we had you can find my board {here}

Vacation

We went on our first family vacation this summer. We haven't been on an actual vacation in like four years, and it was before kids. So needless to say we were pretty pumped to be going somewhere, anywhere. Since Little A is at that stage where she pretty much hates being in the car for a long period of time we didn't want to have a lot of drive time so we kept the trip pretty close to the area, at least in-state. We still managed to cram A LOT of stuff in.

We started at a lake south of us that was about half way to our next destination. Our state has these awesome little cabins that let you feel like your still camping, but they have air conditioning and a bed, and if you have kids, the most awesome feature was the little loft built above the porch.

Our pre-teen nieces came up for the evening and they played in it almost the whole time they were there, and then our 3 1/2 yr old son was up there most of the evening. He and Husband played catch while he sat at the opening and tossed a foam ball to Dad below.  We grilled burgers and roasted s'mores on the camp fire and while I fully intended on getting back up after laying down with Big A, so Husband and I could have some kid free evening time, I never woke back up...

The next morning we fed the fish at the nearby marina and then played at the lake. It was pretty crazy, apparently the area had been having a lot of rain for like the past three days, like flooding rain, like an Interstate had to be closed kind of rain. On this particular day we were lucky enough that it wasn't rainy, just a bit cloudy, but because of the previous bad weather we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was almost creepy, like we hadn't gotten the E-Coli notice or something. But is was also great - we had the ENTIRE beach to ourselves!

Little A explored the water edge, and if she kept her binky in her mouth I was able to keep her from eating sand and rocks and Big A practiced his swimming. After having lunch at the lake we headed on down the road to our next destination, coordinating our driving with nap-time.

Next on the agenda was the zoo, this was a particularly small zoo but it was still fun. Peacocks were allowed to roam free and one had it's feathers in full display. They are so pretty. Big A enjoyed the reptile exhibit and Little A just had fun cruising around in her stroller. We had dinner with some family and stayed the night at their house.

The next day was our big day - we were headed South again for a ride on a train! Big A is enamored with trains, so I really wanted to schedule a train ride as part of our vacation. Branson Scenic Railways does a train ride on a really neat diesel train. It was a little long for Big A, about halfway back he was getting pretty bored. We had explored the whole train, purchased a snack at the concession train, turned on the water in the bathroom...there is really only so much you can expect out of the attention span of a toddler, but he still loved it and I'm glad we did it. After the train ride we met our friends at Silver Dollar City. Husband and I hadn't been there in years and it was so much fun. Our friends have a son the same age as Big A and they were two peas in a pod. We had a great time and probably didn't explore a 1/3 of the park. They made us a great dinner that night and the kids played really well together all evening so we finally got in some adult time, with real adult conversations and Margaritas. It was lovely.

Day Four we headed to the Discovery Center. It was a neat place for kids to explore and Big A had a good time. We had lunch with our friends and headed down the road to our last destination - Big Brutus. I was not familiar with Big Brutus. Husband had gone there as a kid in school and remembered it being awesome. And since Big A is really into big machines he was really excited to show him Big Brutus. The kids slept the entire way there which gave Husband and I a nice long drive to just talk and enjoy the quiet. As we were getting closer to our destination Husband kept saying we would be able to see Big Brutus on the horizon and I teased him that maybe Big Brutus seemed big when he was a child. Alas Big Brutus did not disappoint. It was enormous and Big A loved it. We got to climb up in it, although to Husband's disappointment you can no longer climb all the way to the top of the shovel. It was a great end to our adventures.

We finished the week with a trip to Husband's Aunt and Uncles house for some famous fried chicken we picked up on the way and of course a little train play. Big A has become a big fan of our visits here, mainly because he is pretty much the center of attention when we visit. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpas that evening and another evening after that. Husband and Big A got some fishing in and it was a nice wind down to the trip. Those two nights were the first two nights we slept in the same place twice! We came home on Friday to have the weekend to recover which was much needed to get the kids back on schedule. I think they had grown accustomed to napping in the car and everyone was grumpy Saturday. Time for a Home Depot Trip! By Sunday we were back in the groove.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had so much fun. We packed a lot of stuff in to a few days but I'm really glad we got to do everything we did. Big A had a blast and returned to preschool on Monday wearing his Big Brutus t-shirt.

Pickles

Big A - Mom, I have a pickle on my leg!

Me - (confused, turning to look at what he is looking at) you have a what? 

Big A - A pickle!

Me - you mean a freckle?

Both of us - (Hysterical laughing)

Since this beloved conversation Big A now always refers to his freckles as pickles because he knows I will laugh. That boy knows the way to my heart.

Traditions

Our families have many traditions. Christmas brunch with my husbands family. Easter egg hunts at his Aunt & Uncles. The guys Winter Camp Out, while the ladies hang out at the house and play games and watch movies.
One of my favorite traditions is my families Annual 4th of July Party. The day mostly consists of the men chilling out at the Range and the ladies relaxing on the dock at the pond until evening when we all congregate together around the bonfire and roast hot dogs and eat 20 different sides and desserts. Then we all gather together and watch the fireworks. Alas, over time, how this scenario plays out has changed a bit. My mom and I were chuckling about this at our most recent party.

My Fourth of July day used to be filled with the entire day laying out on the dock sun bathing until I got too hot and jumped off the dock to cool off, then I would float on an air mattress basking in the relaxation of a worry free day. Usually I would sun burn because I never put on enough sun screen. My nose is still freckled from the worse of these offenses. Finally around 4:30pm, we would stroll back to the house to get the food gathered up and take it down to the camp. We would roast our hot dogs and marshmallows, and fill our bellies until they were about to burst. Then we would set up our tents and hope that it didn't storm (because it ALWAYS storms on our 4th camp out). We would watch the fireworks then stay up until the wee hours of the night around the camp fire.

And then I had kids....this year getting to the dock was scheduled around naptime, so we got down there closer to 1:30pm. Suddenly sunscreen has become a top priority. To my pleasure, I don't believe I have sunburned since having kids. I now spend most of my time in the water, my legs never tan. In about an hour Little A was wore out. I look forward to when they are both older and will want to swim for hours. Daddy was nice enough to stay at the pond with Big A so he got to play for quite a bit longer. After a second nap we headed to the campsite for dinner. Daddy roasted hot dogs and I got Little A and Big A a plate of food, and after feeding Little A I managed to round up some food for myself. Luckily there is always so much great food that filling the belly is still never a problem. I handed out glow sticks to all the kids before the fireworks started and snuggled up with Little A while Big A sat in his Thomas the Train chair beside me. Daddy was helping set off the fireworks. About half way through the fireworks I think Big A was getting a bit worried about Daddy's whereabouts, and he called out - Dad!! I'm right here!!
We don't camp anymore, maybe when the kids are a little older. I don't stay up until the wee hours of the night, because Little A is up at the wee hours of the morning.

Fourth of July has definitely changed over the years, and sometimes I miss the carefree days of lounging on the dock, but I wouldn't trade these moments for anything. And I'll get to lounge on the dock again, I have no doubt, but for now I can't think of anything better than snuggling with my baby and watching the fireworks glow in my son's eyes.

The Things Kids Say

One of the big things I wanted to make sure and try to record here was all the fantastic things our kids say. Those little things that I know we won't remember when we're older. I've already forgotten many and I sometimes just wish I had a little recorder so I could save the thought right there in the moment.
Here are a few of the fun things I have managed to remember or write down that Big A has spouted

Most of these have been said just out of the blue. I wonder sometimes what he must be thinking when these random thoughts come to him.

"I just want to be me when I grow up, I like the boy I am"

I'm not sure why my heart beamed when he told me this. I guess it makes me happy to know he likes who he is. I hope he continues to like who he is and never feels like he needs to be anyone else.

Other gems are just words he's not pronouncing right

Magic Flying Glass - (magnifying glass)
yeah, that one is awesome