party – The Bless Your Heart Blog

PAW Patrol Party

Little Wryder Roo turned 3 last week – a monumental occasion for him! He has been SO excited about his birthday (because birthdays are AWESOME) and has been asking for a Paw Patrol party since last year sometime. We had a busy weekend (that got attacked by every child having the nasty cold/upper respiratory infection we’ve all been passing back and forth) so we didn’t plan him a big party, but we still pulled out all of the Paw Patrol garb I got on sale at Party City.

We set it all up on Thursday evening so that when he came downstairs on Friday, he’d have a good start to his day. Sweet boy was so excited!

We made a quick trip to the clinic on Friday and then went to birthday lunch. Originally, I had told him he could choose anywhere he wanted for lunch and, lo and behold, he chose McDonalds. Now, I’m not one of those haters that just absolutely can’t stand the place because it’s non-ogranic or they serve GMOs or whatever…I just don’t like it because I don’t think it’s very good. Except their fries. Enough salt and grease makes ANYTHING good.

Thankfully, our sweet friend Traci got to talking about Mexican food and he decided he’d rather go there instead – hallelujah!

He made a good choice!

On the way to town, he opened the birthday card he got from GooGoo and inside was a ten dollar bill! He was so excited and so we went shopping after lunch and he bought the one pup he was missing – Rocky!

Look at that face... — Look at that face…

He was so excited to pay for it and get his bag, all by himself!

He had a few dollars left and he used it to buy a root beer float! Can you have too much sugar on your birthday?! Nah. Not when you’re three. 🙂

Fridays are usually long days so we waited until Saturday to open presents. He is SO much fun to buy things for 1) because he has certain things he just REALLY, REALLY like and 2) he’s so expressive, it’s just flat fun to see how excited he gets!

The pickup and trailer he's been wanting! — The pickup and trailer he’s been wanting!

He loved the Air Patroller too but he was blurry with excitement so the pictures wouldn’t mean much to anyone but his parents. 🙂

PaPa and RaRa sent him one of his other favorite presents…

He used it all day today. Pretty sure we’re gonna have dirt EVERYWHERE around this place…

Sayble was quite fond of the wrapping paper.

Pretty sure her first birthday is gonna be a ball, too!

We had his “party” Saturday at lunch. I always let the kids make their menus and he went back and forth between steak and hot dogs (quite the spectrum, I know) but finally settled on hot dogs, which worked well for the dog theme. 😉

PAW Patrol on a roll - get it?! — PAW Patrol on a roll – get it?!

He also wanted french fries, fruit (very specific about what berries), punch and pumpkin bread. I turned the pumpkin bread into dog chow, so it worked out.

and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog...of course. — and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog…of course.

I think he had a really good couple of days. As he was eating one last cupcake on Saturday night, he said, “Mom? Thank you so much for my party!” Melt my heart. Anytime, kiddo. You are why I do what I do….

Later that afternoon, our sweet neighbor got married. Despite the icky colds, we couldn’t say no to watching such a Godly couple vow their forevers to each other. It’s so nice to attend a wedding where the couple really gets it, ya know?

The rain was relentless that afternoon and Sawyer didn’t want to mess up her cute hair so we did this:

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... — A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

And yes, I need to do laundry. 😉 I’m working on it, ok!?!

Wrexy had a pretty cute wedding date!

We came home and called it an early night.

I keep saying that I think three is his year! Just today, he’s put on socks and pants by himself AND pooped somewhere other than his pants! (It was outside on the sidewalk but it WASN’T in his pants!) Seriously, I think it’s gonna be a good one…

Phipps County Fair

Sawyer turned FIVE a few weeks ago and she wanted to have a county fair birthday party…so we did! 🙂

She’s not very big into sweets but she really wanted to try cotton candy at the rodeo on July 4th. Turns out, she’s a fan! She REALLY wanted cotton candy at the party so that was the theme of our invitation.

Come one, come all... — Come one, come all…

When I think of the county fair, I immediately think of show animals and I knew Wrex had a few boxes of rosettes in the garage from his show days that I wanted to use. When I decorate for parties, I’m all about using and re-purposing things we already have so this was an easy way to add some purple pizzazz without spending any money.

For the backdrop, I had the idea to make paper rosettes with Sawyer’s name on them. I just happened to find the purple and white paper fans at Oriental Trading for $0.50 a piece and then cut scrapbook paper to make the ribbon tails. We printed letters for her name and added them to sparkly foam and voila! My favorite part of the party…

Wrex and his dad made these ‘lemonade stands” for me out of old pallets we had in the shop. We added a little paint and our rosette bunting and I absolutely loved how they looked…

We had a glitter tattoo booth, too! I made livestock and ribbon templates, bought some glitter tattoo glue and some glitter and fancied the kids up…I just didn’t get any pictures of any of that. Boo.

We HAD to have a cake walk – Sawyer’s favorite part of the party (besides her uncles, friends and cotton candy).

Wrex found some scrap carpet at Menards and I painted the numbers and made some tiny cakes and the cake walk was born.

Sawyer’s other favorite birthday game is pin the tail on the donkey. We decided to pin the ribbon on the pig – totally fun to watch the kids fumble through this one! I found some farm animal clip art I liked and had them blown up and printed at Staples as an engineer print ($3!!) and we used the pig for the game and the other animals as decor…

The kids got prizes at every game station, so we made little bags so they could keep up with their treasures…

I got lucky and found a roll of purple and white gingham table covering that totally jazzed up our tablescapes. For centerpieces, I bought some purple buckets at the dollar store and planted some wheat seed the neighbors gave us. We watered and waited and two weeks later we plopped some purple animals in them and called it cute!

Uncle Waco ran the cotton candy machine, automatically making him the most popular guy at the party…but he probably would’ve been anyways…

Besides cotton candy, we had BBQ sandwiches, corn dogs, curly fries, corn on the cob, popcorn and pickles!

We opened some presents and just had an all around good time!

The birthday girl got sang to but opted out of eating her cupcake. 😉

At the end of the day, we thanked our guests with goldfish! Wrex thought real ones would be a cool, affordable parting gift but we opted for making goldfish soap so we didn’t upset any parents. 😉

We bought some plastic goldfish and some clear, glycerin soap. We melted the soap down, poured it into bags, added a cute little fishy and tied it up with a ribbon. These little guys were adorable, if I do say so myself.

All-in-all, it was my favorite party I’ve thrown. Maybe it was because I know the birthday girl had such a good time and felt so loved…that’s the point, right?

with her (our) sweet friend, Andrea... — with her (our) sweet friend, Andrea…

Next up is Grandma Rusk’s 80th. It’s gonna be a ball!

Sawyer’s Birth(day) Week

My first born is officially FIVE! Five has always been a big birthday number for her. She made a list about a year or so ago of all the things she felt like she could do once she was five…use a knife to cut her food, climb a tree, go underwater, etc. (Now that one has been moved to when she’s 10. Darn that bad swimming lesson…)

She had a really fun birth-week (and we did, too!) She got to get a pedicure…

and have heart pancakes for breakfast…

She got sang to at the sale barn and someone gave her a dollar and her special friend Mr. Rod gave her some roller skates! She was THRILLED! She picked A&W for her birthday lunch (girl loves her some root beer floats) and then we headed home to open presents. But first, a little birthday park play…

And yes, she wore that silly little birthday crown all day. 🙂

That night, we surprised her with a birthday slumber party! She’s been dying for one of us to sleep in her room with her in her new trundle bed so that’s what we did…for part of the night anyways. Bum feet and babies make an all nighter a little hard but we did our best! She’s been telling people we stayed up “alllllllll night.” It was 9:00, but good enough for me!

We fixed each other’s hair and did each other’s makeup – daddy, too!

(Yes, he IS the best dad on the planet!) We played flashlight tag and restaurant, read stories and played with sister…it really was a fun night. One on one times with her have gotten fewer with the addition of our other little blessings so it was fun for us to be immersed in her world for a little while.

We spent the rest of the week finishing up the details for her official birthday party. Little Wryder has been all about trailers lately…

So when Wrexy loaded up our little fair booths on Thursday evening, Wryder pulled his little car over and was ready to go. It was the cutest thing….EVER.

She wanted a county fair so on Saturday, a county fair we had! Here’s a little sneak peak…more to come later! 🙂

She had a ball and our hearts were so full. THANK YOU to everyone who came and showered her with love… We are so thankful for our spiritual family who fill in the gaps…you all have our hearts.

Sunday, we had brunch and (not enough) great grandma/PaPa/RaRa/auntie/uncle/cousin play time.

The kids are still recuperating – heck, I am, too! – but it was worth every late night, paper cut and sore foot. She felt so loved…

She is.

WD’s JD Party

Our sweet little Wryder loves tractors. They are, hands down, his favorite thing right now. He loves to watch them work ground all around us or look at pictures of them on the internet or play with his or ask Mr. Rick for rides… With his second birthday coming up, we knew a tractor party he should have!

DSCF2830 — Wrex cut these tractors out of foam for me and I painted them up

I love the little John Deere boy...reminds me of WD — I love the little John Deere boy…reminds me of WD

DSCF2819 — He got such a bang out of the plates and napkins – so glad I bought them!

We had some of his favorite things to eat, including:

harrowed hamburgers
sickle mower sweet potato fries
garden tractor veggie tray
four stroke fruit
compact corn on the cob
duel fuel lemonade

The dessert table - always the best part! — The dessert table – always the best part!

He's a little blurry with excitement! — He’s a little blurry with excitement!

Especially eating it :) — Especially eating it 🙂

He got some great gifts including a barn that folds up with the animals inside that he can take to the sale barn…

This got lots of play time this weekend... — This got lots of play time this weekend…

Some baby ducks, now named Jack and Danny…

and his favorite gift, a “boy cow” hat!

I can’t believe this little guy is almost two! It feels like his first two years went faster than they did with Sawyer. Hard to believe she’s gonna be five. Yes, five.

We’re all still trying to regain some rest after such a fun weekend with the fam and the kids are definitely going through grandparent detox. Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean… 😉

60 Years Together

This year, the Phipps’ celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss! 60 years, people!

They made the choice in 1954 to love each other for better or for worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, never to divorce…and they’ve succeeded! I’m sure they’ve had hard times and disagreements and stressful months/days/years…but they made the choice to love each other regardless and stick it out for the long haul! We are so proud to be from this long line of love…

Wrex and I have actually attended two other 60th anniversary celebrations, one of which was Grandad Phipps’ brother. The Lord has put some incredible people in our path, it’s true…

We had the honor of decorating for the grand occasion and I regret to inform you that I didn’t get too many pictures. I left my good camera at home, my iPhone was full and in my nauseous state, we just tried to survive.

With that being said, I’ll share what few I do have!

We went with a neutral theme…lots of white, off-white, gold and a buttery yellow.

The happy couple - matching, no less! — The happy couple – matching, no less!

My favorite part of the party was a display of Doug and Alice’s wedding ensembles. How incredible is that going away outfit?! Grandma was so tiny when she got married we barely got that thing on the mannequin!

Alice's going away outfit, Doug's suit, Alice's wedding dress — Alice’s going away outfit, Doug’s suit, Alice’s wedding dress

We had pictures from their biggest anniversary milestones…

Through the years... — Through the years…

We had this little pretty at the entrance of the banquet room…

and this right above the welcome table. That really puts it in perspective, doesn’t it?

About a month before the party, I put together a list of questions to ask the Phipps’ and then called them up on several occasions to interview them. It was, honestly, one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. There is sooooo much rich history there…stories we need to know! We laughed so much, it was almost unbearable!

Did you know Grandma left her wedding and went straight to the dentist to get a tooth pulled before their two week honeymoon?? The dentist did the work for free as a wedding gift, but Grandma told him he didn’t need to do that because she’d been waiting to marry a rich rancher so she could get her teeth fixed and she just had! HA!

I took the interview and turned it into 60 facts about 60 years. We printed them out and then (painstakingly) put them on a huge board to display at the party. We loved how it turned out and people really seemed to enjoy reading little tidbits about their life together.

There was cake and punch and a popcorn bar…boisterous conversations and laughter. They had such a great turnout; there were well over 100 people that came to hug them and bless them and celebrate with them!

Before we left, Grandad told us thank you for all we did and he said, “I hope you guys have 60 years, too.” And he didn’t say it in a “I hope you actually make it!” way…he said it like 60 years is worth it. We’ll make ya proud, Grandad…we promise!

****If I gather up more photos from the rest of the fam, I’ll be sure and share them as an update!****

DIY: Painted Flatware

I’m thanking the Lord for that cozy weather we had yesterday. I don’t know what it is about clouds that make me productive but they do. I got my flatware project done – yay! – and today I’m gonna show you how simple it really is.

I’ve done this before for a baby shower I hosted for my sister. I used hot pink for that event and I absolutely loved how they turned out.

This time, I chose a matte black paint; maybe not as exciting as electric pink, but I think it’s gonna go well with the rest of the decor.

What you’ll need:

Flatware – any and all; doesn’t have to match (I prefer it not to)
Painter’s tape
Spray paint that adheres to metal. (I prefer a model car paint put out by Krylon but maybe there’s some better options out there??)
Clear acrylic top coat
Acrylic coat and spray paint

Step 1: Prep and clean your flatware.

I ran these through the dishwasher this morning and then got busy taping.

I wanted these to be painted at differing heights but the possibilities are endless.

Step 2: Paint the back sides of the flatware.

I always start with the backs because I’m usually half-way in a hurry when I’m doing all these projects and if any side is going to be less than perfect, I’d prefer it to be the back. This model car paint dries to the touch really quickly so after I let them sit for about 5 minutes, I flipped them to do the fronts.

Step 3: Paint the fronts of the flatware.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the clear acrylic coating.

This was something I did not do with the pink set of silverware. They’ve held up pretty well…there are a few nicks here and there…so I thought I’d try adding this step this time to see how they fare. I’ll let ya know…

Step 5: Let them dry for 24 hours.

A very important step, obviously. Put them on a flat, dry surface that they won’t stick to – ie – no paper.

Old records work well... — Old records work well…

Step 6: Pair your flatware with some killer dishes.

I love this project because it’s cheap and easy AND it’s one of those details that can totally make a dinner party. Scourge your local thrifts, find some cheap flatware and funky it up!

Moooooove Over Monday

Mondays always kind of make me blue. I love weekends with my family and I dread Wrexy going back to work for the week. This weekend was no exception…we had a really fun time celebrating him.

Sawyer is kind of like her mom and gets really excited about events and functions so we decorated a little for daddio. Surprise, surprise, I know. She wanted to throw him a cow birthday party but we were in Denver that weekend so we decided to throw him a cow Father’s Day!

The cards at the top are bidding cards they use at the sale barn and then I just found a cow template I liked and made the bunting.

More bidding cards turned into silverware holders

He was so cute and appreciative of all of our hard work. I went to take everything down last night and he asked me to leave them up one more day. So many reasons to love that man…

On Saturday, we did a little shopping and then ran to town to celebrate the birthdays of two sweet friends from church. The second party was a pool party and we got in a few good minutes of swimming before the storm clouds started rolling in. The kids are both little fish so it was a lot of fun. If we lived in town, we’d be at the pool every day, no doubt…

On Sunday, the kiddos surprised daddy with sweet shirts that we ordered that said, “I love my daddy.”

Wryder was still a little tired from the parties the day before and was none to excited about having his picture taken.

I am not loving mommy right now... — I am not loving mommy right now…

That's a little better — That’s a little better

He did, however, take seven steps on his own! YAY! He might just walk yet!

All in all, it was a great weekend. We took daddy to eat a yummy hamburger, got a root beer float and then let him take a three hour afternoon nap. What’s better than that?!

We sure love our {cow buying} daddy!

Slumber Party Surprise

Sawyer loves to lay in bed and talk. I’ll go to tuck her in and snuggle in beside her…she’ll roll my way and say, “Let’s talk about something.” Most often, I oblige and we’ll chat for a few minutes before prayers and sleep. I so enjoy getting to hear what’s on her little heart and mind and I pray this is something she never tires of.

For a while now, she’s wanted me to stay and sleep with her and I’ve been promising a slumber party for a while, so last night we did just that!

I reminded daddy that it was slumber party night while he was still at the sale barn and told him to get excited. He did just that!

"Woot woot" = how cute is he?! — “Woot woot” = how cute is he?!

She couldn’t wait for him to get home so he could help us set the tent up in the living room. I was just thinking we’d camp out in somebody’s bed but I have to admit, the tent was a lot more fun!

DSCF1820 — Where’s the living room floor?!

Wryder had a lot of fun, too. He made it until about 6:53 and then the crib was calling his name.

We made a fun supper, complete with a sleeping bag sandwich and we had lots of treats on hand for our ‘midnight’ snack.

Meet Freddie and Fergula...names compliments of Sawyer. — Meet Freddie and Fergula…names compliments of Sawyer.

We did our make-up (which then resulted in an impromptu bath)…

Played some Old Maid and Go Fish…

Holding all those cards is hard for little hands!

Daddy ended up with the maid and she thought that was funny!

Watched an Umizoomi we hadn’t seen…

with Pink Teddy, of course... — with Pink Teddy, of course…

Played flashlights…

and then called it a night!

This was cheap and easy entertainment and we all loved it! The tent is still holding strong in the living room and there is lots of playing still going on. Naptime will be glorious today…