Ethan is NINE!

Time is flying by faster than I am ready and willing to admit to.  This year we had the privilege of celebrating Ethan turning nine.  Since he is our only “summer” baby, we opted to have a bounce house and water slide for his party.  We rented it from Beefarooz here in Lake Wales.  Not only were their prices incredible, their service prompt, but we were able to rent the whole set up for the entire weekend.  My kiddos had a blast, it was the perfect addition to our birthday party weekend.

We had E-Man’s party a couple of weeks after his actual birthday. We did this hoping we would be able to have him open a box for a gender reveal for the newest Best.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen, our little one wouldn't cooperate during our ultrasound.  In spite of that, we didn't let that stop us from celebrating an amazing kiddo and his ninth birthday.  We had so much fun.  Of course my kiddos were there, but when our friends arrived, the real fun started.  We had 11 kiddos total, bouncing, sliding, splashing, playing, and in general having an incredible time.  Ethan made out like a bandit, making almost $60.00 in birthday cash and getting three new Lego sets.  All in all, it was an amazing birthday weekend.

We rented a bounce house and water slide combo.  It was tons of fun!

Setting up everything for the big birthday celebration.

Playing.....

Splashing......

And visiting with all the guests.

Happy 9^th Birthday Ethan!!  We can't wait to celebrate his birthday again next year.  

BIRTHDAY PARTY PLANNING

It's that time of year.  Time for me to start planning the kiddos birthday for the next year.  I am not 100% sure what we will be doing for each kiddo.  So far we have a few ideas that need to be pinned down.

Ethan wants a splish-splash outdoor water party bash.  Not necessarily a pool party but definitely one that involves lots of wet, water fun!  With his birthday being in May, I think that we will have a lot of fun making this party a huge success!

Maggie wants to go see Tim Hawkins.

John Robert isn't sure yet what he wants.

Cole is talking about having a Minion birthday party.  He loves watching the Minions sing "Banana-bananana", so I think that this will be the perfect party for him!  It's also a theme that will be easy and a lot of fun to create.

I am thinking that for Jacob's birthday we will go with a Little Man, Farm, or maybe the Monster theme this year.  No matter what, it will be fun.  Whatever I decide to use for his theme, this year I purpose to have his party theme cemented and everything made by the time I make Cole's this year so I'm not scrambling after Christmas like I did last year!  Lesson learned there for sure!

There you have it.  We are in party planning mode.  I love having birthday parties for my kiddos, celebrating their life and the blessings that they are for me!  This is one thing that I can do for them, remind them that they are super special in my own unique way, by giving them a birthday party!

MY BIRTHDAY BRUNCH

My birthday is tomorrow.  I am another year older and now that much closer to reaching 40.  I haven't had a birthday party in seven years, since I turned 30. (And yes, I realize that I just gave you my age).  This year Maggie wanted to remedy that.  She offered to throw me a brunch.  I offered to make it her Home Economics midterm.  The day was a smashing success and I am truly abundantly blessed.

Our morning started off with the table and serving areas beautifully decorated with festive spring colors, lovely thank you gifts for attending the party, and the table set with my "good" china.  It was truly breathtaking and Maggie did a superb job ensuring that everything was set beautifully.

The completed table.

I love how the attention to details is everywhere.  Everything was coordinated with chevron paper. 

I also LOVE this glass she found at the Dollar Tree.

The centerpiece was beautiful.  I loved the candles, flowers, and my doves.

The cake area is beautiful and waiting for the cake!

The meal was simply delicious.  Maggie truly outdid herself with her menu and meal choice.  I wish we would have thought to take photos of her creations and the party favors that she made, but we forgot.  Our menu was:

Starters

Banana Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Croissants

Mixed Berries with Granola or Fluff

Main Course

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

Egg and Ham Crescent Bake

Mixed Green Salad

Dessert

Angel Food Cake with Whip Cream Topping and Strawberries

Drinks

Orange Juice

Sweet Tea

Water

Coffee

The "starter" breads.  Oh how yummy the croissants were.

The drink station

My brunch was all the gift that I wanted, but having the generous and beautiful friends that I do, they surprised me with some lovely gifts.  One sweet friend got me a lovely tea cup with new devotional books and my favorite candy and breakfast teas.  Two sweet friends went in together to get me some flowers and chocolates.  All of the gifts were unexpected but truly appreciated!

My beautiful flowers.

I LOVE this candy and the tea inside!

Confession: Cole opened a tea bag thinking it was candy I was trying to hide from him!!!  HA!

More than the gifts and the wonderful food, I LOVED this day for a simple, selfish reason.  This day was about being "girly".  We used the good china.  We ate food that we normally don't enjoy because it's not meat and potatoes.  For a few hours today I got to have something "pretty" and "frivolous" because I love that.  For a few hours it wasn't about cowboys, trucks, monsters, Avengers, and hunting.  For a few hours it was about good food, pretty place settings, and good friends.  Today was the perfect day for this Birthday Girl!  

JACOB IS ONE!

I can’t believe it has been a year since our precious Jacob Alexander arrived!  Time has certainly flown, faster than I wanted it to for sure.  My precious miracle baby just turned a year old.  Part of me sat and watched the day in surreal wonder, I was questioning every how can he really be a year old!

I must admit that I wasn’t as organized planning Jacob’s party as I should’ve been.  In all honesty, coming off the three birthdays, our anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, I was thinking it was time for a break.  So when I looked at the calendar and realized Jacob’s birthday was less than two weeks away, I did go into panic mode.  BUT, I think that his birthday turned out perfectly, in spite of my lack of party planning with this party.

I was looking at a Little Monster theme, but we settled for a Construction theme, mainly because I had a TON of construction themed toys since he does have three older brothers, and it made party decorating that much easier.  Of course I browsed Pinterest and made the invitations and party decorations.  Since I had time slip away from me, I had Maggie take Jacob’s first birthday photos and I think that everything turned out perfectly.  From his matching cloth diaper and birthday shirt to using the boy’s dump trucks, the party décor and theme was one that worked together perfectly for this time crunched mama.

The special birthday outfit.  Love that his diaper matches too!

Mama and Walgreens have been crafty crafty!

I think the invitations are adorable!

We opted to have Jacob’s party at Crystal Lake Play Park in Lake Wales. It was the perfect setting.  He was able to play and run and be super happy in the cool Florida weather.  We didn’t open gifts at the park, Robert didn’t want to deal with that mess, so we took everything home and it worked out perfectly.  Jacob was too busy swinging, running after his brothers, and playing in the dirt to take time out to open presents anyway.

First birthday photo shoot fun with sister.

The photos used to make the tablescape for the party!

More than the perfect birthday for my rainbow baby, Jacob’s birthday is a reminder that there is joy that can follow a tragedy, there is always a reason to celebrate, and more than that, we serve a mighty and loving God!

HAPPY 1^st BIRTHDAY JACOB!!! We love you and are so happy to have you here with us!

COLE IS 3!

I can’t believe Cole is now 3!  Where had time gone?  True to fashion, I let the birthday boy pick out his party theme.  This year Cole chose Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, his all time favorite show for his birthday theme.  Being me, I set to work cruising ides from Pinterest and Etsy and then made everything.  From the invitations to the tablescape Maggie and I cut, glued, and then put together everything for the party.  I think that our craftiness paid off and that his birthday was a huge success.

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Making the invitations.  Aren't they cute?

Water bottles and treat jars ready to go!

Setting up the party.

I LOVE how his centerpiece turned out!  The colors work so well together!

This year we opted to have his birthday at the play park in town since the house is totally decorated for Christmas and I didn’t want Christmas to overshadow Cole’s birthday.  The kiddos had a great time playing, swinging, and running around.  The adults had a great time munching and visiting.  More than that, we all had a great time celebrating our Terrific  Three Year Old Cole!

Playing and visiting.

Best part of the party....time for presents!

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out to celebrate our precious Cole!  Cole had a Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog Meska, Mouska, Mickey Mouse Party and it was an awesome day!

THE BIRTHDAY FUN CONTINUES!

Our birthday celebrations for November continued.  We celebrated John Robert’s 11^th birthday with his requested meal after spending the day at Kissimmee State Park with friends.  Both of the bigger kiddos miss going into the woods since Uncle Bill passed away and we can’t go to the K Rocker anymore.  That’s why this year’s celebrations were so special for us.  Not only did we get to head to a beautiful Florida ranch, but we got to hang out in the woods too.

This year I also rubbed off on Daddy more, he HAD to give the birthday boy his gift early.  John Robert’s gift this year was totally Daddy’s doing and he was so excited he couldn’t wait!  The birthday boy has now been outfitted with his own tool belt and the start of a collection of tools.  I think that Robert had a twofold purpose with this gift.  First I think he was tired of John Robert using his tools.  Second and most of all, I think he wants to help start our children off with what they will need as they grow and prepare to leave our home.  No matter what his reasons behind it, Robert did all the shopping and planning for this year’s birthday gift.  Both Daddy and John Robert were thrilled with results.  AND, after only one weekend of tool ownership, some simple repairs have been completed by a very happy John Robert!



While this wasn’t the year of “BIG” parties and fan fare, it was still the time of year to celebrate the joy that is our big kiddos.  Now it’s time to plan for a very spectacular Mickey Mouse birthday for our soon to be 3 year old man!