Jack and the Neverland Pirates {2 year old Birthday}

For Jack's 2nd birthday, I took a cue from his very most favorite tv show, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", and turned our home into the Jolly Roger.  

Being a Photographer, I have learned the hard way that if you want to enjoy and remember your children's special parties you need to hand the camera over.  I am soooooooo thankful that my friend Kim Boyd (zoë wedding art) for coming over and spending her day doing what I wouldn't have done.  So I encourage all you moms to hire someone, it's worth every penny to not have to worry about it!

I wish I had taken a picture of the invites (Target) and the RSVP insert (zoë photographic group: design by annie), because the were stinking adorable!!!  

The Dessert Table.

The RSVP card had a place for each child's shirt size.  I painted and customized them so when the kiddos were doing crafts their own clothes wouldn't be at risk.  It also came with an eye patch.

The guest book was a painting my mom did of Bucky, from Jack and the Neverland Pirates.  I had flesh-colored paints and they put a thumbprint and signed their name above.  I went back later and drew on faces.

The front of our house was the front of the boat.

Each child got a mustache, if desired, a tattoo.

This was the sword decorating station.  My wonderful sister helped by cutting out the swords from cardboard.  Such a simple and wonderful craft.   

The next station was the "Skull and Bones Stomp" (Jake reference).  I rolled out bubble wrap and let the kids jump like crazy.

Capt. Jack Ingle got to go for a ride.

The back porch was the back of the ship and the dinner setting. 

I didn't want to have to find enough little chairs so I used hay bails and covered them with fabric.

The menu:  Orange Ships on Water.  Sea Dogs.  Cannon Balls.

I am paranoid, so they are Hebrew National Hot Dogs.

He had a chair like Captain Hook.

I tried to find a fake cannon...no such luck, so I made a slingshot station, which flopped, but was fun to watch the Granpas try to get working. :)  

So instead, I had the kids line up and see who could throw their potato the furthest.

The Capt. enjoying a snack.

Some kiddos collected the treasure.

To finish off the evening, I made the Lost Boys Hideout (Peter Pan reference) where they got to watch an episode of Jake.

Happy Birthday Little Pirate!

Beard Bash {30th Birthday Part 2}

Here is Part 2 of the big event!  The Beard Bash.

If anyone knows my husband, he is so extremely proud of his beard.  I have to say he does grow some nice facial hair.  So for his surprise party with family and friends I made it a celebration of just that...his beard.

The Invitation.

I made the kiddos shirts.

Hanging from our light fixture...I spent at least an hour to make sure they were hair-free.

Do you see the beard?

The man loves Dublin Dr. Pepper.

Chocolate Dunkers from Pizza Hut

I made felt beards for everyone to wear.

You can see the art work I made on the wall...forgot to snap a pic of it.

SURPRISE!!!! 

I'm not sure how it was a surprise since there were so many cars in our front yard, but he was still shocked. :)

Enjoying a cookie

Shooting Range {30th Birthday Part 1}

I am so far behind in blogging that I'm not making excuses, apologies or promises for future posts.  :)

This past July, my husband turned the big 3-0.  I wanted to do something very "Andrew" and, just for added pressure, make it a surprise.  So I orchestrated a two fold event the day before his actual birthday.  

The Plan:  Invite a few of his friends to go to a shooting range I set up on our neighbor's land.  I was going to have everyone, including exploding targets!  I would take his guns down the hill and his friend Brad was going to pick him up to "take him fishing" for his birthday.

What Happened:  There was a major drought, so no exploding targets.  My dad and I got stuck setting up the targets in his 2WD truck so I called Andrew in tears and spilled the beans about part 1.  Which actually turned out to be good, because he was so excited to get his guns ready!  It was something to look forward to...lesson learned.

Here are the invitations

I had sandwiches, chips and salas, meatballs, nerd ropes (a favorite), sunflower seeds and root beer.

I made a goody-bag for each of the guys.  The deodorant was for the after party which was still a surprise.

Targets.

After I set up, I left my camera so they could take some pics and left them to their manly fun.