Boys' Skylander Birthday Party.

So as most of you know Cameron and Easton's birthdays are in December. Cameron's is the 17th and Easton's the 24th. So we try and have their birthday party the first weekend of December and we do a combo party {not sure how much longer that will last}.

Last year {yes this is one of those catching you all up post. A little late but at least its getting done...right?}They both decided on a Skylander Party. If your not familiar with Skylanders it's a video game. Santa brought the kids a Wii for Christmas the previous year and it was the special Skylander edition. It comes with this power of portal thingy that the little characters sit on and then you are that character in the game and you can switch them out. There are like a bazillion characters {we have about a million of them}. So prior to this party they have been all about Skylanders. They go in phases and as of lately they haven't played it much at all. 

I was thinking of buying a cake to look like the power of portal but got a couple quotes and was like "Oh HELL No!" LOL. I looked at some pictures on the Internet I told myself I could totally make it. So that's what I did. I wasn't wanting a fancy cake or anything. A round cake with 2 colors of fondant on it and the prices were crazy. It was super easy to make. All  I did was roll out white fondant and covered the cake. I used the Duff pre-made stuff from Michael's. I got little square cookie cutters, there were 3 different sizes and I just made about 2 inch panels or so and gently pressed the cutter into the fondant to make it look like stones. Then I just gently laid it on the cake. It was super duper easy. Then I bought them some NEW Skylanders and used those as the toppers. 

The party was held at LazerCraze. By the name you can tell its a Lazer tag place but they also have this huge party area and inflatables for the kids to bounce on. It's a great place to have a party for the little kids. They also have arcade games. It was a great party and Cameron was able to invite all his new Kinder friends from school, which he was super happy about. It was a little weird not decorating and cooking and party prepping but it was SO nice not to have a mess to clean up. 

I saw these invitations on Pinterest and had to have them for the boys. So when you buy a Skylander it comes with a trading card and they look exactly like this. The Etsy shop owner can no longer sell these because it goes against the copyright policy or something like that. Too bad because these are so cool!

 Bentley wanted nothing to do with the slide or bounce houses. He hated them. Nowadays he loved them! Uncle darrin and Cousin Landon enjoyed themselves:)

 We took presents home to open. The kids were bummed but it's just easier to take them home and open. Especially when there's two kids it can get a little crazy. 

This was the best picture out of like 10 different ones. Oh well at least Ryan and I are looking at the camera.

 This was on Cameron's actual birthday day. We took him out to dinner and ice cream. The little crown he got from school and just had to wear out to dinner. And can you believe we still have that crown. It's almost ripped in half because Bentley has gotten a hold of it a couple times but it's still hanging on. 

And poor Easton will never have a cool birthday dinner and ice cream. Everything closes early on Christmas Eve. So we had take out pizza and Baskin Robbins. Then we went and checked out some Christmas lights. We might just have to make that a traditon on his birthday now since everything shuts down so early. It was a wonderful night and we will always remember it. The kids faces lit up when they saw all the lights. Absolutely loved it!

Please forgive me if there are numerous typos. I did kinda proof read. Dinner is cooking, Ryan and  Cameron will be home soon from baseball practice. Ryan always lets me know when there are lots of typos...thanks dear:)

ONE!

Happy Birthday Bentley!!! WOW...where does the time go?! Already ONE! 

Mommy and daddy love you so much...xoxo

Monster Jam Party.

So a little over a month ago we had the boys'  birthday party. Even though their birthdays were still like 3 weeks away we like having their party the first weekend of December. It's a little bit away from Christmas but still in their birthday month. They wanted to have a Monster Jam party with a bounce house. Well since their birthday is in December we had to warn them that it might rain and if it rains we cannot have a bounce house. We told them that several times and they still wanted to have it at home.

So the birthday weekend comes and its pouring rain and actually it poured all week  and was suppose to let up on Sunday the day of the party. That Friday I was running errands for the party and it was crazy out. Pouring and windy. I was soaked every time I got out of the car. So Sunday morning comes around and it's just crazy out! We had a few down pours and one lasted for a while the  backyard flooded and water came into our bedroom:)) Yep water all inside our room, it could have been worse....down the street it was a river and cars were flooded, so thankful that didn't happen. SO we got a little water in the bedroom and had to pull out some of the padding and replace it. We were a little displaced for a few days but nothing too bad. And we went on with the party and the sun decided to show itself but still no bounce house. Everything was waaaayyyy too wet for that.

Even though there was no bounce house the boys still had a great time. And really that's all who really matters. I am not concerned with everyone else {I mean a  little bit}, as long as my boys have fun that's all we care about. I ordered this cool Grave Digger pinata and filled it with gold fish, graham crackers and m&m's. Instead of having your typical party favors I ordered these little monster jam boxes and the kids filled them up with the snack pack of goodies that filled the pinata. It was so funny watching the kids try and hit the pinata blind folded. So after the first time around we took off the blind fold. It was a little hard for them:)

At first I wanted to order a cake shaped like a monster truck but then after calling around and getting some quotes I just couldn't see paying that much for a cake. Then when Cameron said he wanted me to make his cake I started  thinking and looking around. I came across this blog where I got the idea for the cake and thought to myself I could totally do that.....and I did!!! The boys loved the cake and thought it was "super awesome". 
I made 3 cakes put two together and then the third one I used for the ramps. I used graham crackers and brown and gold sprinkles for the dirt. I had some posters of the invitation made and used for decorations and I also put up some pictures of the boys at a recent Monster Truck show we went to. 
I made the little fabric flag garland, I just love making these! Its super easy and looks so cute. Then afterwards you can use it for decorations around the house. I hung these ones I made for the party in the playroom. So it kinda has a Monster Truck theme now. I also took the posters I had made and put those in there too along with the all the monster truck wall decals. The boys think its so cool.

This was the awesome invite I found on Etsy.

 Eating left over birthday pizza for breakfast the next morning:))

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to this guy..........

The hardest working husband and father!!!!!!

Thank you for all you do for us. We love you so very much and hope you have a great birthday. The boys and I will be hard at work later making your favorite.......Funfetti cake:)

3

Happy Birthday to the best Christmas present EVER.......I still cannot believe you decided to make your arrival on Christmas Eve.

Happy Birthday Easton!!!

Mom and dad love you so much, you bring so much joy to our lives with your sweet smile and your even sweeter little laugh.

5.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Seriously cannot believe you are already five years old....where does the time go?!
Mom and Dad love you so much.

Happy Birthday Cynthia.

I can remember the very first birthday party I went to for Cynthia. We were in 7th grade and we went on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood........and since then I have been to pretty much every party, except one which i think was her 16th birthday because we were in a "fight", our first and only fight.

Cynthia and I have been through a lot together over the years. And we have only had that one fight {that I remember}. She was there by my side when I got married, she was the one to host my bridal shower and 2 boy baby showers,  she was there when Cameron and Easton were born and she has been to all of their birthday parties.

 

She was always the oldest in our group of friends. She was the one to get her driver's license first. A blue rusty beat up VW slug bug { I looked and looked for this one picture but couldn't find it}. We used to sneak it out before she got her license. We did some naughty things while in high school but who didn't?! We used to pile so many people in that little blue beat up bug. We drove every where in that thing. To our soccer games, to baseball and football games. In town and out of town.

 

After high school she went away to college for a year then came back and then went away again and then I went away and she was still away and then I came back and then she came back for a while and then she went away once again and then came back for a little bit and then she met a boy {love you Joe}.........and that was the end of her coming back. She has been gone ever since and I don't think she's coming back {maybe a little closer one day}. She is now planning her wedding....YAY!!! Which means I now get to plan HER bridal shower.
We still talk almost every day. She is always there when I need advice or there just to listen while i vent away. We have been besties for more than half our lives now and I cannot imagine my life without her in it. I am so lucky to have a her as my friend.

So a few weeks ago she tells me she's pregnant......Yes, can you believe it?! FINALLY!!!!
So all within a year she gets engaged, is going to have a baby, and get married! Craziness!!!! Their sweet little baby BOY {yes she is having a freaking boy, can't anyone make a girl?!} is due mid-April. I couldn't be happier for her and Joe. Cynthia has wanted to have babies for as long as I could remember. She is going to be such a good mama:)

Okay so now on to the picture. This was her 18th birthday. It was just us girls having a sleep over at her house. I guess we were just bored or something. We got this wild idea to do our hair all funky and crazy. So we did that for awhile and then for whatever reason we decided to drive around town and we ended up at Quick Stop. This was seriously one of the funniest memories ever. Someone had a cigar i think they bought at QuickStop and we were all posing with the cigar and acting like jackasses with our hair all a hot mess. I looked and looked for the rest of the pictures we took while out on our little joy ride but couldn't find them. I guess this is one of those things where you had to be there. It was seriously soooo funny!!!!

Happy Birthday Cynthia!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and all your birthday wishes come true. And may this next year be your happiest!!!! Love you....XOXO.

 Cynthia with Easton.

Easton's baby shower:)

Two.

Happy birthday to our little Christmas bundle of joy. We still cannot believe you were born on Christmas Eve. We will try our best every year to make sure your birthday is as special as you are. You are so stubborn and have a temper like we have never seen. Just like your brother you drive us nuts sometimes. We love you and are so lucky to have you as our son.

Happy Birthday Easton!

Four.

Happy Birthday to our sweet boy! You are full of energy, crazy, and drive us nuts sometimes but we love you so much and can't believe you are already 4!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Wacky Tacky.

A couple weekends ago we had the boys' birthday party at Wacky Tacky. Its this great jungle gym type of place for the kids. They absolutely love it there. So this year we decided to have their party there. We were super impressed the way they had things going. Everything went smooth and was very organized. They had 3 parties going at once and each party just rotated in and out of the different areas so your party was the only party in a certain area. Sometimes when we go to just play we can be there up to like 5 hours! Lots and lots to do here.

We like to have their party the first weekend of December since both their birthdays are so close to Christmas. Cameron's is the 17th and Easton's the 24th. It was so nice to have the party at a place like this because they did all the set up and clean up. It did feel kinda weird not being able to decorate and set up things but oh my was it so much easier.

Little Miss Autumn {My cousins little girl}

Easton and Dad climbing up the super duper fast slide.

This is another slide they loved.

This is the super duper fast slide. It was so fast! I didn't go down it but all the adults that went down said he was hecka fast. Easton didn't have a problem with it and in fact he loved it but poor Cameron hit his tailbone or something and started to cry a little, he got over it fairly quickly.

See.....he loved it!

Kayla

 This Cameron hurting himself on the super duper fast slide.

 My Uncle Stephen with Autum { Uncle's Granddaughter} and Easton.

Everytime we come here to play this is Cameron's favorite. They have these little air gun thingys that shoot foamy balls. Then there is this thing in the middle and you fill it up with balls and hit the button and they all shoot up in the air. The kids love this area.

Easton was getting so mad because he couldn't climb over this, he kept falling off as it turned. It was pretty funny to watch.

It's impossible sometimes to get them to look at me.

And finally they both are looking at me:)

Cameron was trying to block Easton's mouth because Easton was trying to blow out the candles before we were done singing.

I wanted to get a picture of all the little kids on this chair but there was no way that was going to happen.

Well at least we are looking at the camera. I am pretty sure we got one with all of us looking at the camera.

We purchased this little slide show disc they made for us but for whatever reason I couldn't get it to download so I just took some of the pictures  from the slide show and included them with the pictures I took. So sorry for the picture overload.

There is so much at this place but there were a couple areas where everyone stayed and played the most. I can't wait to take the kids back but that probably won't happen until after the holidays and school is back in. This place can get crazy around this time of year. And especially now it's been crazy cold here for us. But usually if you can wait until about noon to go it calms down a little bit and it's not so crazy. One down side to these kind of places is that they are germ infested. I think this is probably where we all got our little runny/stuffy noses. Poor Cameron's upper lip is red and chapped from rubbing the snot away. It's still stuffy today but doesn't seem to be as runny. 

And since our video camera took a dump on us in January Ryan took some short clips with our little point and shoot camera. Here are a couple.



Who knows maybe we will have another birthday party at Wacky Tacky next year:) And Cameron is already telling us he wants a Monster Jam party.