the good old goodie bag...

I am in the midst of getting ready for Ethan's first 'school' party this weekend. Typically his parties have consisted of hanging out with our family in the backyard and having a cookout. It is usually a pretty big ordeal for me since I am a little of a freak about decorating for the occasion and always serve a TON of food. This year will be a little different.

You see, Ethan told us earlier in the year that he wanted to have a kid party. Yes, we have had kids at our party in the past but he wanted to have it at an actual location outside of our house with a bunch of kids from his school. He even had chosen a specific venue for the special occasion, that being Elevated Sportz which is a large trampoline party place close to our home. I was a little hesitant about it but it has worked out pretty well recently considering we have been on vacation for the last week and a half and my husbands (eek) twentieth reunion is this weekend. I have had absolutely no time to get ready for this party besides ordering a cake and picking up goodie bag supplies. Thankfully for us, they take care of the rest so all we have to do is show up and let the kids go crazy and someone else gets to clean up the mess.

Speaking of goodie bags, Target is my new best friend. I actually have a closet full of old goodie bag items that I either have not used or on a few occasions forgot to hand out. Ethan refers to this as my closet full of fun and it indeed is. Let me just put it this way, we never run out of bubbles. My stash was a little low so I made a run to Target and picked up an assortment of fun stuff without blowing up my wallet.

Let's hope that this party goes off without a hitch and we all survive!

Let's Celebrate...

This past weekend we rang in Ethan's 4th birthday with a BBQ/party to celebrate. The weather turned out great for the occasion and we all had a great time. I recommend anyone that has young children with summer birthdays to invest in a bouncy house. The kids were entertained for the whole party and it was a lot cheaper to buy one on Amazon than it was to rent one. Also, I was very happy because one of my friends overheard one of the kids say that the party favors were the best one's that they had ever gotten. Pulled on my heart strings a little when I heard that. ;)

Also, if you are looking for space/robot themed party supplies they are almost non-existant. I would recommend checking out some of the smaller boutique sites like Bake it Pretty or Oriental Trading Co since many of the party stores did not have this theme.

Sewing Project #3 Finished - Homemade Birthday Banner

This past week I had some time to finish the homemade birthday banner that I had discussed in a previous post. Once I got my sewing machine up and running the process went by really quickly and it turned out great. I got the pattern and materials from here and its a great first project to make at home and adds a touch of backyard vintage to any kids party. The most time consuming part was cutting all of the patterns out but after that it was smooth sailing. I'm in search of my next sewing project so if anyone has any great ideas let me know....

Sewing Project #3 - Birthday Banners. Oh Boy!

Ethan's fourth birthday is quickly approaching and we plan on having a backyard shindig to celebrate the occasion. I LOVE hosting kids birthday parties and I am always on the look out for decoration ideas that are not going to break the bank. I found a birthday banner kit through Amazon and since I have been looking for projects to use my sewing machine this seemed like the perfect fit.

I will be sure to post the finish product in the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

Ethan's 3rd Birthday Party.

In the past we have had Ethan's birthday party in the back yard with a BBQ but this year we decided to actually go to a place instead. Thankfully we decided to do this since on his party day it decided to be cold and rainy in Seattle. This is not typical for this time of year but it is Seattle. It was also Seafair weekend, and really bad traffic but thankfully everyone was able to make it.

We chose to have his party at one of his favorite places, The Children's Museum at the Seattle Center. We rented out the Jungle room for his party and invited friends and family to join in the fun. Ethan was so excited the day of his party and had such a great time.

For his cake my co-worker Julia made at Ethan's request a candy frog cake with matching lily pad cupcakes. This was one of the highlights of Ethan's day since he LOVES candy frogs.

After the party Ethan played with his friends in the museum and then went on the merry-go-round to round off a great day. Thanks so much for those that were able to come and help him celebrate!