Mickey and Minnie Mouse Party

Miles and Brooklyns' birthdays are 3 weeks apart and since they each aren't at the age of having their own set of friends, I decided to have a joint birthday party.  Let me start off by saying that I absolutely LOVED doing this.  It meant... one invitation, one cake, one set of decorations, one week to prepare, one set of party favors, one meal, one weekend for party, etc, etc.  It was AWESOME.  I successfully was able to do everything for their party under $200.  There's no way I would have been able to do that having 2 parties.  Not to mention, had we had two separate parties... we would have invited the same exact people-- no one less, no one more so it really only seemed like the right thing to do!!  

I had been brainstorming themes, for months, that coordinated but wasn't in love with them because I didn't feel like it was things either one of them were into.  I really wanted to have a Pancake and Pajama party but Brooks thought that was too girly and not boyish enough for Miles.  Then one day, I was walking by the play room and saw both Miles and Brooklyn were dancing and jumping around to Mickey and Minnie Mouse on the Clubhouse show.  That's when it hit me!  Duh!  What a perfect age for them to be at where they both like Mickey and Minnie and that theme would go GREAT together!  

I opted to use Minnie's red and white color scheme so that I didn't have to buy or tie in pink polka dotted things with Mickey's red, yellow, and black colors.  After throwing enough birthday parties the past few years and killing myself over all the details, spending tons of time, energy, and money into all the aspects of the party... only to throw it away or it sit in a box when the party's over... I went smart, functional, and minimal all while making a statement and I think it worked... not to mention my pocket book and time schedule appreciated it!  I felt like I was able to enjoy this party soooo much more!  The kids had a blast, I got the theme across, and everyone left with a little something that I thought they could use in the future!  

So we had all our friends come over around lunch time.... a) so that our entire weekend wouldn't be occupied with getting the house ready for the party b) we'd be finish by nap time (still a necessity around our house) c) gave the kids plenty of time to enjoy their gifts that evening

Brooks grilled "Hot Diggity Dogs" and I fixed "Minnie" Pizzas for our guests to eat.  I made the kids' cake- which we were all sick the week leading up to the party, so I was grateful for a sweet friend who came and helped me the day before.  Thankfully, the weather was beautiful for party day so we spent a majority of it outside.  The kids played on the swing set, jumped in the jump house, and just ran around riding on bikes and scooters.  We let the kids open their gifts, which was pure mayhem.  That was the only downfall of having the joint party-- I stayed next to Miles opening his presents and Brooks was helping Brooklyn, but neither one of us were able to see what the other one was getting/opening.  On top of that we had lots of little kids helping open presents adding to more of the chaos.  Our little ones still enjoyed that time though!

After presents, we sang Happy Birthday to the kids and had all the kids eat their cake outside!  We gave our guests homemade Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears, which they graciously wore for the singing time and they all looked precious in them!  

I didn't plan on any games except for the pinata my mom sent for the kids party!  The kids loved taking turns swinging at the pinata, but unforunately the bottom came out of it by the 3rd kid so it was fast lived.  After all the candy got picked up, a few kids took turns wacking the pinata just for fun!  Overall, it was such a fun and relaxed party.  The kids had a blast and we had minimal clean up/pick up and enjoyed celebrating our kids special day!  I think I just might do as many joint parties as I can get away with until their older and have their own set of friends!!  

Happy 3rd birthday Miles and Happy 2nd Birthday Brooklyn!

 

Did I mention Grammy was here with us? She drove in late Thursday night and was a HUGE help all day Friday and Saturday with the preparations and the party!  Couldn't have pulled off half of it without her!  So glad she was able to celebrate with us since the last three years we haven't been home to celebrate our kids bdays with family.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

The day we left Saudi we got to celebrate Jacob Asher's first birthday (even though he still hasn't turned 1 yet).  We were so excited to be apart of this special time in his life and were so grateful Steph was willing to throw his party early and on the same day they arrived back from vacation.  It was a fun time to spend with Jacob and I still can't believe he's almost 1.  We loved watching Jacob with all his friends at the party and our kids had a blast partying with the birthday boy.  He was so big crawling around to everyone and knew it was his party!  I couldn't imagine not making Jake's first birthday cake, but his party was the same day we were flying home.  I don't remember whether I begged Steph to let me make his cake or if she asked, but either way, I kept some of my cake decorating supplies and worked on making his cake the day before.  It was a fun cake to make and I'm glad it worked out!!  Happy Birthday sweet boy.  We love you so much and have loved watching you grow up this past year.  We're going to miss seeing you everyday.  

More BIrthdays

Miles was so tired from partying it up at his daddy's bday party the night before, he couldn't stay awake before we left to go to his friend, Graham's birthday party!!  Thankfully, he slept in the car the entire hour and half drive and was excited to go to another party!

Graham and Miles are a few months apart and have had the opportunity to "grow up" together while living in Saudi.  We were excited to spend the day with our friends, The Acords.  Che had lots of fun activities planned for the kids with the Surf's Up theme!  Gavin and Miles loved making cereal necklaces, going fishing, coloring, and eating some yummy snacks! It was precious and lots of fun for everyone.  I was able to make the cake for Graham's party, too and happy the surfboards and palm trees withstood our weather!  The kids got to play outside at the beach, even though the wind was blowing hard, they didn't mind.

 

Happy Birthday Graham!

Ladybug Party

We celebrated Brooklyn's first birthday with a Ladybug party!  We decided to have her party at the house since it was just going to be our close friends and then had dinner afterwards.  We decorated everything in red, black, and white.  I used pictures from her 1 year photo shoot around the food table (pretty sure I went overboard with this, but who cares, right?!?) and made grilled cheese sandwiches with some fruit and chips and dip.  I saw on Pinterest the idea where you use plastic tablecloths and stream above the ceiling, so we did that with the extra tablecloths we had and it turned out cute!  Brooklyn came downstairs from her nap and saw the ceiling and couldn't stop staring at it!!  

I went back and forth for weeks about what I wanted to do with her cake and decided to push myself and try something new.  I could have gone with just polka dots everywhere, but loved the idea of a ladybug on top so that's what I did.  Each tier was a different flavor of cake and it was all edible.

I found Brooklyns outfit on Etsy and it was actually what prompted me to do a ladybug themed party.  I thought it was precious and had to get it!  She loved wearing her tutu and played with it throughout the party.  Her bow was rather large for her and she kept pulling it off, but oh well! We invited our close friends so Brooklyn got to play with Jake and Savannah.  Jack and Aden came too, along with Graham.  It was a fun time with all the kids running around.  Gavin, Tucker, and Peyton played together and were anxious to sing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, as well as eat cake and open presents!  

When it came time to sing Happy Birthday, Brooklyn knew what was going on.  She locked on to her cake and didn't take her eyes off of it.  She was excited to eat some cake!

 

Opening presents was some what of a challenge, but her big brothers were there to help mommy out!  I had to keep reminding them those were Brooklyns presents when they kept saying it was all girl stuff!  FInally, we have girl books in this house!!  I've waited years to have girly books!

Not to take away from anyone else's gifts they gave Brooklyn, but as always, Mi-Mic and Aunt Steph gave the favorite gift... a beach chair with matching umbrella for when Brooklyn's outside on our beach soaking up some sun!  She was beyond excited when we set it up and she insisted on sitting in the chair!!!  Too cute!  We got her some sunglasses so she's all set for some beach fun!!

 
It was a fun birthday party for Brooklyn.  We can't believe our little girl is already 1 years old!