If you know me, then you know that I love art. I don't really have much time to sit down and paint or draw lately. Who am I kidding? I have no time! So, I get my fill by doing art things with the kids.

The other day, I bought some cheap shaving cream, sprayed it on the table and let the kids have at it. N had a blast drawing in it and pretending it was snow for Mr. Freeze. He played in it for over an hour! It was sort of messy (he had to take two showers to get it all off of him, which is why he is only in shorts here), but it left my table smelling yummy!


Emma, on the other hand only played in it for a milisecond. My Morning Glory doesn't really like to get dirty, so she went off to play with the window markers. Have you ever seen these? I LOVE them, and so do the kids. They are not messy at all and totally washable.

Nathan's party was a blast! We all had so much fun, including my new little four year old. Have I said that I am still in shock that my baby is 4? Complete shock.

First up, the invitation! I love creating invites for parties. I think that it really sets the mood for the whole party. For N's party, I wanted to do a trifold. I decided to play on the whole secret identity thing, since every superhero has one. Here is the front and the inside flap.

And then the inside with all the party info:


And the back:

Anyhoo, we had about 15 kids come to the party, so it was a full house--but that is the way I like it! When everyone arrived, I had tables set up outside with capes (that my mother is law, Judy made. Thanks Judy!) and felt stickies to decorate them with. Also, I had a Spiderman candy necklace for each kid to make. Its always great to have a craft for the kids to do when they first get there, because it allows time for everyone to arrive.


Some kids finished before others and those kids played on the playground in our backyard. Major thanks to Lisa because she saved me by taking pictures of the day. Can you believe that I didn't pick up my camera once! Too busy hosting and enjoying!

Once all the kids were done, I had two games for them to play. The first one was "Find the Kryptonite". I spray painted some rocks neon green and then hid them in our sandbox. Each kid had to find the Kryptonite in order to save Superman. They were quite the little superheroes!


After that, we played "Blast the Villians". Garett drew three different villians and we taped them up on the fence. Each kid had a can of silly string and they all blasted the villians with it. They had a blast doing that and wanted more can of silly sting. Next time, next time...


So, I thought I would be ambitious for his party and try to make the cake myself. After staying up until 4 in the morning working on it, it tasted great, but looked a little sad. It leaned and I just prayed it would not fall over before the party was over.


It was so much fun to see Nathan while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. He ate it up!


My usual cookies. Can't have a party without them!


We also had a candy buffet. Each kid could take box and fill it to their heart's delight with all sorts of superhero candy. I had so much fun naming all the candy!



Each kid was sent home with their decorated cape, candy from the buffet and a goody bag. I filled the bags with a superhero washcloth that opens up when it gets wet, crayons, a personalized superhero coloring page with their name on it, handpainted superhero peg people (done mostly by Garett), a sticker scene, and pop rocks.

We had a bunch more, but they were all given away and I forgot to take pictures beforehand. These are what my husband I spent FOREVER painting. Fun bonding time. :)

The kids surrounded N during present time. It was so funny!


My baby is growing up so fast. I see this picture and all the childhood innocence that it holds, but I can't help but also seeing a little boy who will soon spread his cape out and fly. Hopefully he always believes in superheros and always believes in our love for him. To the moon and back, N.

Last week, I was tired of watching Pinky Dinky Doo, so I told the kids that we were going on a surprise trip. Immediately their ears perked up and the million guesses started. I just smiled, packed us a picnic lunch, got everyone dressed, loaded up our wagon and off we went. You could feel the excitement in the car. Use the word "surprise" and the fun factor multiplies tremendously. Of course, I had to get a shot before we left.


The minute we pulled into the parking lot, N screamed, "ZOOOOOO!!!!" He told me that he knew all along, but just didn't want to ruin the surprise for Emma. Hmm, right kiddo.


They were having a dino exhibit there, but as much as N loves dinosaurs, he doesn't love life size ones that move. This statue was as close to them as he would get!


Emma knew exactly what she wanted to do first--ride the carousel. We bought our tickets, picked our animal, went round and round, our turn was over, and on came the flood of tears. "One more turn!!!!" I caved. What is a mom with a crying kid to do. So, we repeated the process and the end result were more tears.




They quickly dried with a promise of a snow cone, though!


Oh yeah, lunch, animals, and the splash pad were squeezed in there, too! ;)


The kids and I had a blast on our surprise trip. I am already planning our next surprise for Friday!

STOP! Time needs to slow down. My little baby will be four at the end of this month and I have no earthly idea how it happened. Its like a blinked and there was this little boy standing in front of me, no longer a baby in my arms. Oh, he's still my little cuddle bug, but I know that one day soon it won't be like that anymore. I just want to grab on tight to this time and not let it go.

He has already informed me that he wants to be called "Nate" instead of Nathan. He tugs his hand out of mine as soon as we step up onto the curb out of the parking lot. He can put on his own shoes and socks with ease. He knows how to work an iphone. My "little wide eyes, bright eyes, beautiful blue eyed baby" is now my precious big boy.

His party is going to be superhero themed. So, I took my little buddy out for a photoshoot. I'm saving a lot of the pictures for his invite (which I am SO EXCITED about getting), but here are a few from that evening!

One of the things that I love to do most is plan a party. I don't know what it is about it, but every bit of it makes me happy, from the little details, to the night before mad dash to get said little details finished, to the look of my kids' faces when they see the final product. Love every minute of it. N's birthday is coming up in exactly one month and I am in busy party planning mode. E's second bday party planning has already started, too!

But...

Emma turned one back at the end of October and we had a super fun party for her. I am just so behind on things with Christmas, then the move, and just life, that I never posted about it!

Her theme, because all of my parties have to have themes, was "Our Little Pumpkin is turning One!" Here was her invite, front and then back:


Our colors were pink, orange, and black. Here is her cake from Misty. She's done all of our b day cakes since N was born. They are sooo good!

For the adult favors, I made pumpkin favors and wrapped them up with pink ribbon. For the kids, I bought pumpkin bags and filled them with different things. I made sure to buy them big enough so that they could bring their very own painted pumpkin they picked from the pumpkin patch home.

I made a banner that I hung behind the table. Each circle has her monthly picture on it. I really wish I could have taken a better shot of it because I was so happy with the way it turned out!

Just a few more detail shots.

Outside, we created Emma's Pumpkin Patch. We set up some bales of hay, had a ton of pumpkins of all sizes and a scarecrow we made ourselves. Each kid got to pick out a pumpkin and paint it. We set up a folding table with paint, all sorts of paint brushes, and an art apron that I personalized with each kid' name. It was so much fun to see all their creations!


So, that is part one. I am being beckoned by a little superhero to fight some bad guys! Part 2 will have to wait!