Mommy and Daughter Garden Party

My friend Cyndi is kind of like Martha Stewart (without all the drama). 

She is a great cook and a wonderful decorator

 and she throws parties like it's her job. 

And the craziest part is she makes it all look so effortless.

She's definitely the Hostess with the Mostess.

A couple weeks ago she threw the cutest Mother/daughter garden brunch. 

I mean seriously. 

We should be in a magazine.

There were raspberry lemon baby cupcakes with lemon curd hidden inside.

(I'm sure they have a much more fancy name)  

Yum! 

And rosette cakes pops. 

Of course. 

And bunting

and banners and flowers for decor. 

Mason jars are my fav

Is this not the cutest idea? 

Oh yeah Cyndi is also a garden master. 

I forgot to add that to the list. 

We ate and played games and did fun Mommy and daughter stuff.

It was so much fun!

Someone slow down time a little! 

How are our babies getting to be so big?

In 10 years Mackenzie is going to be driving. 

Stop it, I can't even go there. 

Kenzie and her friend Bella. 

Check out the height difference (they are 4 months apart)! 

I'm so thankful to have such a beautiful, godly little lady as my biggest girl

 and I'm so thankful for friends who throw such fun and special parties. 

Pancakes and Pajamas Party

Mackenzie turned 6 (way back in the beginning of December...yikes where have I been) and I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from her Pancakes and Pajamas party. 

It was such a fun and easy kid party. 

There were pajamas and pancakes. 

And fruit loop necklaces. 

And decorating pillowcases.

And funfetti cupcakes (obvs). 

The party was on Saturday morning. 

The kids all showed up in their favorite pjs and we ate and crafted and celebrated. 

We kept it simple with pancakes, fruit and OJ punch for breakfast. 

When the kids arrived we started on craft number one...Fruit loop necklaces.

The kids had fun stringing the Fruit loops into necklaces and enjoying some pre breakfast snacks. 

After breakfast the girls got to decorate their own pillowcase with fabric markers.
I wish I would have taken an after pic.
They all turned out so elaborate and cute! 

It was a great day celebrating our big 6 year old girl! 

It still feels weird typing that...six years old! 

Crazy! 

How has your December/January/ February been??

Ours has been crazy busy but good. 

Hopefully I'll have an update soon. 

And by soon I mean in the next month. 

Aaron's 30th

My hubby turned 30 on Friday! 

And since 30 is kind of a big deal I had to throw him a party. 

After months of trying to figure out what I would do for him I finally settled on a beer tasting party.

And it was so.much.fun! 

We had each couple bring a chilled 6 pack of beer so we had quite a variety. 

A bunch of us (mainly the girls) don't even like beer but the boys sure had a blast. 

It was so fun seeing them trying all the different kinds and rating each beer.

We even had a prize for the top rated beer (which ended up being New Castle Winter IPA). 

   

And along with plenty to drink (beer. root beer and other non alcoholic beverages) we had some of Aaron's favorite foods...buffalo wings, taquitos and burritos, jalapeno popper dip, and lots and lots of chips with salsa and guacamole.

The party was in our new backyard (only a week after we moved!) so we had a good incentive to get it all set up. The cafe lights, fire pit and bar tables gave the backyard a fun atmosphere. 

We had so much fun celebrating Aaron and being with our closest friends.

We are so blessed by all of the awesome people the Lord has put in our lives. 

And I am so blessed by my amazing husband.

Happy Birthday Babe!

You are the best Daddy and husband a girl could ask for. 

I love you!

Hailey's Welcome Home Adoption Shower

It's baby central over here.

One of our long time friends just brought home her baby girl from Korea! 

They have been on this adoption journey for 5 years so her arrival was long awaited and anticipated for. 

As soon as they got the call to pick Hailey Jane up we knew we had to throw a party to celebrate. 

We went for a colorful, girly, flag/pennant theme for the shower which we hosted at our church. 

It ended up coming together really well.

We made pendant flags for the centerpieces out of scrapbook paper and wooden skewers.

Then we stuck them in ribbon covered mason jars on each table surrounded by punched out scrapbook paper confetti for a little color. 

One of my friends brought her globe and we put a heart sticker over Korea, the country they are adopting from. 

And the cake!

Isn't it awesome!

That would be the work of my friend who has some serious cake making skills.

God even put some colorful decoration in the sky with a beautiful rainbow!

make that a double rainbow. 

And yes...I totally sung the song. 

Everyone was so excited to meet baby Hailey.

I made the pendant banner at the top out of fabric and my friend cut out triangles out of scrapbook paper that we just taped to the  counter. 

Me and my friend Jenni the new Mom to be! 

It was so cute to see all the pink stuff she got! 

Jenni we are so thrilled to finally meet baby Hailey!
You and Mike's perseverance, faith and trust in the Lord during the past 5 years has been a testimony to so many people.
We can't wait to watch Hailey as she grows and see all that God has in store for her little life.  

Baby Caleb's shower

Remember baby Caleb?

Last weekend we had the pleasure of throwing his baby shower for my best friend Anna as they prepare for his arrival home!

Caleb's little life has been so amazing to watch. 

He's only 4 (almost 5) months old and God has already used Him mightily for His glory.

Caleb is proof that God is the Creator and Sustainer of life

and that He is full of mercy and grace.

What a great God we serve!

Here are a few details from the shower.

One of our friends made the cute "Mighty Mouse" onesie to represent Caleb's nickname in the NICU (the doctors called him mighty mouse because he was tiny but strong) and we decorated the mantle with some fabric bunting and pictures of Caleb over the past 4 months. 

The backyard was also decorated for the occasion but since it was sooooo hot we pretty much stayed indoors. 

We asked each guest to write a little note to Anna or baby Caleb and then a few of us shared them during the shower. 

It comes in handy to know a baker. 

One of our friends made the most delicious lemon cupcakes ever. 

Seriously I could have ate them all.

Oh and I totally forgot to take pictures of the rest of the food but we had lots of yummy brunch things...egg casserole, potatoes, french toast casserole, muffins, fruit, croissants, etc.

We also played a couple simple baby games. 

Because what's a baby shower without games.

And the best part of any shower...presents!!!

Anna finally got some BLUE in her life with tons of cute boy stuff (she also has two girls at home so they are overwhelmed with pink right now). 

It was so fun to be celebrating Anna and baby Caleb and we are all counting down the days until he is home. 

Wesley's Animal Rescue Mission birthday party

There's an animal in trouble.
There's an animal in trouble.
There's an animal in trouble somewhere.
-Diego Animal Rescuer

Wesley's 3rd birthday party couldn't have been easier.

He is super into Diego right now so we threw a little Diego inspired party at a near by park.

When the kids got the to party we let each of them decorate a pair of binoculars (made out of toilet paper rolls and yarn) with animal stickers and crayons. 

I also had some animal snacks for the kids to munch on as they were crafting.

The kids loved decorating the binoculars and 

using them to look for animals in trouble.

Once all the kids arrived I gathered them together and told them,

"There's an animal in trouble.

There's and animal in trouble.

There's an animal in trouble somewhere.

 Dora and Diego heard that you guys were going to be at the park for Wesley's birthday and they gave me this letter to read to you.

Letter...

"Welcome Animal Rescuers! Some animals are in trouble and Dora and I need you help rescuing them. Will you help us? (yes!!!) Thanks! Follow the signs at each stop and Mrs. Kristin's instructions to help the animal in trouble". 

The kids were sooo excited they jetted off as fast as they could. 

The first stop was the Butterfly Wing Repair Center. 

I thought I'd include the instructions I read at each stop in case you want to know all the gushy details...

"Welcome to the butterfly rescue center. These butterflies have a broken wing and need your help to fly again. Find the first aid kit and put one band aid on each butterfly wing."

*The butterflies were made out of card stock (and decorated by me and the kids) and taped onto a baseball dugout at the park. 

The kids each got 2 band aids to put on a butterfly of their choice. 

The little ones had a hard time opening the band aids by themselves (if I did it again I would have had them all out of the package so they just had to take the sticky tabs off) but other than that they loved it.

At stop number 2 we encountered the silly Bo Bo Monkeys.

"Those silly Bo Bo monkeys are causing trouble again! They stole all of the baby monkey's bananas. When Mrs. Kristin calls your name, grab a water balloon out of the bucket and step up to the line where you can try and stop the Bo Bo monkeys." 

The water balloons were a huge hit!

We had each kid stand near the pool noodle and throw 3 water balloons at the Bo Bo monkeys.

The third stop was the Owl Toss.

'The mean old bear is blocking the path! Each person needs to throw the owls into the hoop before he will let us through."

*We used some owl bean bags I had left over from Mackenzie's 2nd birthday party. 

And next was the Spider and Snake Crawl

"Welcome to spider and snake valley. To make it to the next animal in trouble you must crawl under the net without touching any of the dangerous spiders or snakes. Good luck!"

The kids crawled under 

and then back again. 

The final stop was to help a baby bird.

"Help!  A baby bird is in trouble! She has lost her home and needs our help to build a new nest. Dig in the sand to find sticks, leaves, and grass to build her new nest."

The kids did a great job working together to find all of the stuff I had buried and they even found some other things around the park to make the baby's nest extra comfy. 

Of course no party is complete without cupcakes.

Funfetti cupcakes to be exact.

As I was passing out all the cupcakes and helping kids put straws in their drinks I forgot to tell the kids not to eat their cupcakes yet. 

Whoops...

look at Wesley's face :)

So stopped to sing Happy Birthday and let Wesley blow out his half eaten cupcake. 

Then Wesley opened his presents, the kids played a bit at the park and we were done. 

I think it was one of the most fun and less stressful kid parties we have done. 

Oh and for the favors we just did fun dips, now and laters, water guns, water balloons and a sticky frog.