Jack's 2nd Birthday Party

The theme of Jack's party was Cars and Trucks. We celebrated at Mimi and Papa's house a week after his actual birthday.

I always thought boy parties would be boring, but I have had so much fun planning Jack's last two birthday parties.

The decorations were all primary colors. I used my Silhouette digital cutter (similar to a Cricut) to make all the cars, the banner, cupcake toppers, and favor tags.



















We made a felt road through the food table and put some of Jack's big, chunky cars and trucks on it.





Mark made these cute signs to put around the table. They were framed in Dollar Tree frames.





We made Jack a little birthday shirt with an iron on transfer.









We had cupcakes (ordered from Wal-Mart... if only I was talented enough to make perfect cupcakes).









For the first time ever, I decorated cut out sugar cookies with royal icing. It's the kind of icing that hardens onto cookies. It has always intimidated me, but I've seen so many great results, so I gave it a try.



It seems like it took all night, but I was pretty happy with how they turned out. Maybe I'll try this again in a few months. :) I made them for party favors... everyone got two in a bag tied with a little favor tag.



Jack got so many great presents. He was so cute opening everything.





We sang happy birthday and Jack got to eat his car cake that I made him. I know, you are all jealous of my awesome cake decorating skills. If I had only thought this one through a little more...







The shirt came off so he could go to town on the cake, but he was really neat the whole time. And he barely ate any of it, because he hardly eats anything EVER!









We had so much fun with family and friends. Brad, Vicky, and Ruckus even came in for the party!



This little lady had a lot of fun, too!



And, for the record, I can't get over how BIG Jack looks in all of these pictures!

All I Want Is You

Jen,
Happy Valentines day.  This song makes me think of you.  What an incredible 14 years it has been.  There have been so many transitions as the seasons of our lives have changed.  But the one thing that remains constant is that "All I Want Is You"...

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you'll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night

You say you'll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbor in the tempest

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You...

Cake Boss Party

 

 A few weeks ago, Kate got invited to a Cake Boss party.  It was such a good party, I had to share!!

I had Maggie, the birthday girl, in my class last year.  Her mom, Michelle, was my parent volunteer.  She watched Kate and Jack for me one day a week during summer school, so Kate and Maggie got really close. They are both totally crazy. :)

Michelle and I share a LOVE of party planning, creating, etc. She found this party on the pinterest site and recreated it perfectly!!  

  The decorations were perfect! 

 

Each kid got a chef's hat with their name on it and the cutest apron I have ever seen!

 

They each decorated a little banner to go on their cake and then got to decorate individual cakes!

 

After they were done, she had a little backdrop set up and each kid got their picture taken with their cake.






They each got to take home their cakes in a little box with muffin cups and a rolling pin tied onto it. Adorable!!



I'm a sucker for a good kid party, and this one was awesome!

ELMO!

Gran got us tickets from work to go see Elmo Makes Music at the Peabody Opera House a couple weeks ago. What a great venue!!!

The tickets rocked!! It was ice cold that night with crazy wind, but these tickets included valet parking. So, no running with kiddos in the freezing cold for us.

They also included food and drinks prior to the show in the Peabody Lounge.





Notice how every picture of Jack taken with our phones is blurry?? The kid doesn't stop!











There was a play area for the kids before the show started. It was so cute. There were lots of sets for picture taking... posing in Big Bird's nest, Oscar the Grouch's trash can... super cute!!









The show started and our kids were in Sesame Street Heaven!





Kate danced all over the place (thanks to our awesome seats, it didn't affect anyone else, so we let her just go at it!) and Jack yelled and waved at all the characters.





It was such a FUN night!!! Thank you, Gran, for the tickets!!!

Weighing In

Both kids had doctor visits this week. We were really late on Kate's 4 year checkup.

They are both doing great.

Jack: 2 years old



Height: 35 inches (70th percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs. 11 oz. (50th percentile)


Kate: 4 years old



Height: 43 inches (93rd percentile)
Weight: 45 lbs. 12 oz. (94th percentile)

Kate is TALL and always has been, but we were surprised that Jack actually moved into the "above average" range for height. He's always been shrimpy up until the past couple of months. He finally is outgrowing his 18 month pants and is wearing mostly all 24 months or 2T. Yay!!