celebrating harris and ruthie

I will just let the pictures do the talking. I think we have just come to the conclusion that we will always look like hot, sweaty messes at their birthday parties. That is the downside to having a September birthday in Alabama. Oh well, the kids had a blast and played so hard that they all were soaking wet at the end of the party and they all slept great that night . 

 

Family picture!

 

 

 

 

Photo booth fun! It was such a fun party and we are so grateful to everyone who spent their afternoon celebrating Harris and Ruthie!

the birthday party

details

As I have said before, I absolutely LOVE party planning. I start thinking of the kid’s birthday party months and months in advance and I love coming up with a theme. I think I have it a little harder than most because I have to come up with something that is suitable for a boy and a girl, and this narrows the ideas down a ton. I came across a carnival birthday party on Pinterest one day and I thought that would be a great party theme that would work for both genders.  Since their birthdays are a week apart we are going to stick to one, big, birthday party celebration and have double the fun, or at least for now. My dad offered to have it at their house and their backyard was the perfect location.

A special thanks to Heather for taking these pictures for us and for helping with the party! You did an amazing job and if anyone is looking for a great photographer, check her out!

I had the vision in my head of what I wanted and then of course started googling and looking on Pinterest for help with my vision. I got so many great ideas and I had the easiest time finding circus/carnival themed party supplies.

The pinwheels came from Oriental Trading. I made the banner with fabric from Hobby Lobby, bias tape and stitch witch.

The napkins I got on a trip to Ikea and the popcorn holders came from Hobby Lobby. I made multiple trips to Hobby Lobby so that I could use my 40% off coupon on pretty much every item I bought from there.

Harris is obsessed with nachos and popcorn so I knew these had to be on the menu and they just so happen to be circus food also. I got the nacho holders off of Etsy.

I made party hats for some of Harris’ animals out of cardstock and pompoms. I painted the wooden letters from Hobby Lobby. The picture of the babes was one that I took at the fair that had just so happened to be in town a few weeks before the party.

Had to have hotdogs of course.

The dessert table had cupcakes and the kids smash cake (which I guess they are too old for) and cookies. The yarn banner was made by my sister and me. The red and white fabric came from Ikea. The cake plates were plain and I just hot glued red pompom ribbon around the edges.

 

The cake bunting is made with left over fabric and some striped straws.

The cute hotdog holders are from my friend Sandahlyn and I am pretty sure she got them from the Target $1 section.

These cookies just so happened to be at the grocery store the week of the party. I thought they went perfect with the theme of the party.

The cotton candy came from Oriental Trading and Sam’s. Cotton candy is very finicky though and if it gets too warm it will shrink

We also had a snow cone station at the party. Pretty much all of this was on sale or clearance because it was the end of the summer.

I ordered the red pompom garland off of Etsy.

Circus animals were in charge of holding down the balloons for us.

Thanks so much to Papa and Rhonda for the big bouncy house and thanks to the Laney’s for the small bouncy house! The kids LOVED them!

The red banners are from Oriental Trading and a big thank you to Sandahlyn again for letting me borrow some of hers.

 

 

Special thanks to my sister who helped me for a week straight or more with this party. She is such a trooper and I could not have done it without her! I am not sure how she puts up with me .  Also, to Papa and Rhonda for letting us have this crazy party at their house and for ALL of the hard work they put into their to house to get it ready for it. The kids absolutely had a blast and will remember it forever!

Next post will be about the actual party and pictures of the kids

Harris turns 4

I decided to interrupt my backtracking to go ahead and blog about Harris’ birthday before he turns 5 :)

I am saving the kid’s actual birthday party for another post but I wanted to get some things down that I remember about Harris and get his annual questionnaire recorded too. You can check out his 3 year old questionnaire here.

September 9,2009

  September 8, 2013. They grow up so fast!

I asked Harris the same questions from last year and I was so surprised that so many of his answers were exactly the same. Oh well. I guess he is consistent.

Harris’ 4 Year Old Questionnaire

What is your favorite color? Red

What is your favorite shape? Triangle

Favorite toy: My superman

Favorite thing to do: Go to the McWane Center

Favorite store: “ the green store” The Dollar Tree

Favorite animal: Crocodile, otter, tiger

Who is your best friend? Ridge

Favorite book: Dinosaur book

Favorite TV show: Superman show (I have no idea, I don’t think he has ever seen a Superman show)

Favorite movie: Dinosaur Train (this is a tv show)

Favorite song: Ittsy Bittsy Spider

Favorite thing to eat: Yellow Muffins (Banana Muffins)

Favorite thing to wear: Superman outfit

Favorite drink: Orange juice

Favorite place to go: Ridge’s house (second is the zoo)

Favorite place to eat: “chips, salsa and beans” (aka Mexican restaurant)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Superman

 

Here are some pictures of him on his birthday and around that time. I just want to remember him exactly how he is. He is such a loving, sweet, playful little guy. He can be very sensitive about things (especially if he hurts his sister) and can be very shy. He has such a funny personality. He is a really good little boy and I love getting to see him grow up.

 

All of these pictures are from his birthday. I picked him up from school early and Ruthie up from MDO early and we went to the zoo of course. Then after naps we asked him where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner and he told us he knew where but not the name. So without us knowing most of the time where we were going, Harris gave us turn by turn directions to Chuy’s. He has a great sense of direction. He then got to facetime chat with his best buddy. :)

Lately he has been loving to paint. It is so sweet to watch how careful he is and how proud he gets.

sweet! Superman all day long!

 

He is honestly the best big brother ever. He was made to be a big brother to a little girl. He is so sweet and gentle and always plays with her. They are just now starting to get in little sibling riffs but nothing major or too big to complain about. I am so blessed!

The one good thing about having a time difference between Harris’ school let out and Ruthie’s school let out, is that two days a week I get to have a one on one lunch with my little buddy. It has been some of the best times with just the two of us.

silly fake smile in his hilarious Spiderman pjs . I mean who makes this stuff. So cheesy.

 

best buds

Doing SO much better at soccer this year!

 

 

  He LOVES puzzles!

I love cuddling with him and being silly. He is my sweetheart! Thank you God for this precious child. Help me to be the best mommy I can be to him. I fail daily but give me the grace to be exactly who he needs.