Sunday, December 27, 2015

Paw Patrol North Pole Adventure Party

Graham definitely wanted a Paw Patrol party. I wasn't totally on board (especially since i didn't want to have to redecorate my house at Christmas time to accommodate all those Paw Patrols). But then it came to me, we could have a Paw Patrol North Pole Adventure and give Graham what he wanted while still keeping up my Christmas decorations. A win-win for both of us!

Here is the big boy right before his party.


Here are the invitations to the paw patrol party.  I bought these wood bones online and painted them white.  I used vinyl and put each kids name on their bones and asked them to bring the bone with them to the party.  I used them as part of our activities during the party.


When the guest walked through the door I wanted them to feel like the had entered the north pole, so I used a lot of stuffing (to look like snow) and some cute paper trees and north pole signs.  Hopefully, there was no mistaking where you were.


At the front entry table I decorated with the favor gifts.  I wanted to give favors that would had things that were interesting to the kids.  And again mixing the North Pole and Paw Patrols.  

So, in the cute gift boxes (which I got at Target) I included

A big Candy Cane Chocolate Bar.  Because what kid doesn't love a full size candy bar.

Cute sugar cookies decorated like bones and paw prints.  (thanks to my talented neighbor)



and these awesome Christmas 3D glasses.  They turn christmas lights into different characters.  They really are so cool.  We used them to go and look at christmas lights and they made the night so much fun. 

On the gift boxes I included a tag that said "Inspected by "elf #56"  Santa's workshop = thank you division.




Here are some more decorations I had throughout the house.  Again I used stuffing as the centerpiece to make the tables look like they had snow.  A lot of pompons to make it feel like white winter wonderland.  I bought clear paw print stickers and put them on the floor and shutters, so add to the dog-theme.  




To start out the party, I had each kid choose a coloring page.  They got to color them and put stickers on them.  Then my husband turned each one into a paper plane that we used later on in the party.

For the food.  I wanted to have a north pole breakfast theme, but Graham was adamant on having hot dogs and cheetos, so since he was the birthday boy I obliged.  For the cupcakes I bought these mini paw patrol characters and make a North Pole sign out of a paper straw.  They were perfect. Simple and added to the theme perfectly.

For the menu, we served hot dogs, chips, carrots and ranch.  Fruit salad and yogurt with sprinkles and Chocolate Milk.  I learned to keep food simple.  The kids don't eat it and you end up throwing most of it away.  So, pick foods they eat and keep it simple! 


For the party activities, we had a ton of North Pole Games to play.  Here is what the kids played. (because it rained all day, I had to do these indoors, but the original plan was to do it outside).


1) Snowball Toss - I bought these snowballs and paw patrol buckets and  the kids had to stand behind the line and throw the snowballs into one of four buckets.  The first person to make it into a bucket won a prize.  

2) I made these snowball poppers (scroll down to the bottom of the page for instructions).  We used mini marshmallows to pop.  The kids had a ball with this.  They could have done with for an hour.  These really are the coolest things.  

3) Snowball Cups - Used the snowballs again and put the striped cups in a pyramid and the kids got to knock them down.  The first kid to know all the cups down got a prize.

4) North Pole Bingo - got the bingo game at Target

5) Reindeer Ring Toss - I got a cardboard reindeer head and put it up on the wall and the kids got to throw the rings to try and hook one on the reindeer's antlers.  The kids loved this one too.  In fact they loved all these games, we ran out of time!  The first kid to get a ring on an antler won a prize.

6) Candy Cane Fishing - I hooked a candy cane to a wooden dowel and then the kids had to fish a candy cane out of a cup using them candy cane hook.  If they were able to do it, they got to keep the candy cane.

7) Paper Plane Target Practice - those coloring pages we turned into paper planes were used for this game.  Each kid got their paper plane and had to stand behind a line and try to fly their plane through a hula hoop.  First one to do it, got a prize.

But the way, the prizes were wrapped up (like a christmas present) box of Scooby Do Bones.  Again to go with the doggy theme  :-)

After each activity, each kid got a sticker to put on their bone.


Then we sang to the birthday boy and had cupcakes and ice cream.


And then opened presents.  Yippee!


Graham said it was the best party ever.  He loved having his friends over to celebrate.  He loved the games and he loved getting paw patrol toys.  Ironically, he didn't own one paw patrol item, so needless to say, he is well stocked now.  Thanks everyone.  Happy birthday big boy, you are finally 4 years old.  (he has been saying it for a year (because he is almost 4 feet on our wall height tracker), but now you finally are!  Love you tons.


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Jake's 6 year old Star Wars Birthday

I never posted Jake's birthday on my blog.  What???  I definitely need to get these pictures up and documented, since it was Jake's Star Wars birthday... you know the thing he is obsessed about.  And in honor of it being Star Wars = The Force Awakens opening weekend... might as well post this.

Here was the entry.  I think you knew what the party was about when you walked through the front door, right?  I loved the decorating and planning this party.  So, much to do and so much fun.


The favors were personalized acrylic cups with rolls in them.  And then a whole lot of Star Wars figurines to adorn the table.



Each kid got their own lightsaber and jedi robe.  These young padawans were ready to start their jedi training.  
The food table was full of galactic food.





And the invitations were mini lightsabers.







The kids were given a "jedi training" checklist.  After they finished each training task, they were given a star sticker to check of their official training.



Their first task was to "build a R2-D2 unit".  All the pieces were put together in a bag with a key on how to build their R2-D2.

The next task was to "follow instructions from Master Yoda".  This was a game of Simon Says.

Next task was "Lightsaber Training".The kids grabbed their lightsabers and a balloon.  They had to use their lightsabers to keep the ballon off the ground.  The person that kept their balloon up in the air longest won a prize.



The next task was "destroy the Death Star".  The kids played Cornhole.



Next task, was to "pose in the intergalactic photo booth".  I made "thought bubbles' to have each kid hold up.  I am so sad, I can't find my pictures of the kids... so, this picture of Chris will have to do.




Once they had finished all the tasks in their training, they got official Jedi certificates from the big guy himself.  Darth Vader.  He made a special appearance to put those new Jedis to the test.





The kids had a great time battling Darth Vader.


Time to open presents.

I made the girls Princess Leia buns.


And then there he is the Birthday Boy.  He loved his party and was so appreciative.  It made my day to know that he loved every detail of the party.  It makes all the hard work and time worth it.  I love my jedi so much!



Thursday, September 3, 2015

1st day of school

My second consecutive post... I wish I could keep it up.  Let's go back a couple of weeks to the first day of school.  I have to admit, this year I had mixed emotions about summer ending.  usually I can't wait. 11 weeks (minus a couple of trips) having 4 kids stuck in a house because it is too hot outside, no pool day after day can get on a mom's nerves.  But this year, I enjoyed the sleeping in and the kids were really good.  And we did get invited a lot to swim at other's homes, so it wasn't half bad this summer.

But here we are back in school.  The kids were excited and couldn't wait to see their friends and meet their teachers.  And Graham started preschool this year, so I have a few hours a week to myself.  I have to admit, it is weird to have the house so quiet for a few hours.  Half of me likes it and half of me doesn't.  But luckily, I have 3 years of this before he is gone, so it will work out great.  I get a few hours to myself and then I get to have him with me.  Best of both worlds.

Okay, so here are our traditional first day of school pictures.  enjoy!






Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Celebrating Turning 8 this year

I am not very good at posting on my blog these days.  Life is busy and my blog is what suffers.  So, instead of trying to go back and start at the beginning of summer, I thought it might be best just to start where I am in life (and if I can I will go back).

So, I saw this adorable idea on pinterest and thought to myself, we have to do the same thing this year.  My little Ella turned 8 this year along with several of her cute friends.   So the moms and I made sure we could make it happen.

We got the girls together in their baptism dresses and the "I like to look for rainbow" balloons and made our way to the temple so we could commemorate their important decision to be baptized this year.

I love the way the pictures turned out.  I love this cute little girls.  I love that they decided to be baptized and I love their cute friendships.  So much to love and so much to capture and celebrate.

It is great to be eight, for sure!









Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Jake's Star Wars Party


I'm pretty  sure i have mentioned maybe a time or two that my son Jake LOVES Star Wars.  I mean breathes, sleeps and dreams Star Wars.  So, of course for his birthday party it had to be Star Wars.

Let's just say it was a blast for both him and me.  I mean what's not to love about planning a party centered around a galaxy far, far away.  

Here are some pictures of some of the fun things we did at the party... with the details coming soon.

It was a jedi training party, so each kid got their own jedi robes, light sabers and the girls got Princess Leia buns.  Here is a picture of the padawan crew learning the ways of a Jedi.


And here they are putting those skills to the test with Darth Vader himself.  Darth Vader had to make a special visit just for the birthday boy!


We had a backdrop for pictures and some fun thought bubbles with famous quotes.




Some present opening - of course everything was Star Wars which made Jake's day.  He can't get enough of this stuff.


Some more fighting Darth Vader.  He definitely had his work cut out for him with this bunch of jedis.


More jedi training... the force was strong with these younglings. 


They had light saber training where they had to keep the stormtroopers from touching the ground.


And the birthday boy himself :-)  Love him to pieces and his love for Star Wars.   He is such a joy to have in my life.  Tender-hearted, inquisitive, a good helper, gives the best hugs and kisses, a great sibling and a happy son that adds so much to our family.  I love you bud!!!