Jeshua's Kindergarten Graduation

Jeshua graduated from Kindergarten in May.  We had a small party after graduation for our family.  We served watermelon (Jeshua's favorite), pineapple, cupcakes, brownies, blueberries, strawberries, Mike & Ikes, M&MS, and Swiss Cake Rolls.

The diplomas were made with Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls and pull & peel Twizzlers.  The chocolate mortar boards were made with miniature Reese's cups, miniature Ghirardelli squares, mini M&MS, and pull & peel Twizzlers.  The "Congrats" banner is from Michael's.

Firetruck Birthday Party

Elias requested a Firetruck Party for his third birthday.  I decorated the mantle with a Fire Hydrant piggy bank, metal shield and red frame.  The fire hydrant and metal sign came from Hobby Lobby, the red frame is from our eb & ezer designs.

His invitation was made by WFM by Design.  She went above and beyond on the design!

Somehow I went the entire party without taking a picture...I don't feel too bad because I was able to experience the party with him instead of standing in the background taking pictures.  I did grab one photo of his smash cake.  We also served jello, strawberry brownies, and chocolate covered pretzels.  The firetruck in the background came from Hobby Lobby.

Our main activity was "putting out the fire" with blue silly string.  The kids loved it! I wouldn't recommend this activity on carpeted floors. :)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Party

 For Jeshua's Sixth Birthday he asked for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pizza Party!

On the mantle we placed a few pallet wood boards and attached artistic renderings of the Ninja Turtles.  We also displayed his invitation (made by WFM by Design).  He invited fifteen of his closest friends and their families -- the more the better for Jeshua!

We ate pizza before the majority of his friends arrived and just served desserts.  We offered cake, lemon brownies, jello, yogurt, fruit snacks and chocolate covered pretzels.  We had cherry limeade to drink.

My mom quickly decorated Jeshua's smash cake -- both it and the cupcakes were purchased due to my mom's illness.  The topper came from Publix.  The cupcakes were decorated with homemade black and green sprinkles.  The tablecloth was leftover from his Curious George Pizza Party three years ago.

For activities, the kids played outside for a while (a rare treat in January!) while we set up the Foot Soldier balloons.  My in-laws had so much fun with the masks!  After defeating the Foot Soldiers (by popping them) the kids then went on a scavenger hunt to find Shredder (the piñata) while we cleaned up the balloons.  Everyone took home a TMNT cup full of candy and a jar of green ooze.

Elmo Second Birthday Party

For Corban's Second Birthday we celebrated with an Elmo Birthday Party!

We invited close family and a few of his friends from church.  The invitations came from Wonder Fully Made, By Design (my sister).

My mom, who makes all my cakes, was diagnosed the previous month with kidney cancer so we kept the smash cake simple this year -- plain white with red, orange and turquoise polka dots and two orange candles.

The guests were served cupcakes in blue and orange polka dot papers with homemade red sugar sprinkles.

The rest of the food included chocolate covered oreos, chocolate dipped pretzels, goldfish crackers, strawberries and blueberries.

We offered fresh cherry limeade to drink.  The red & white chevron paper, grey star cups and red stripe paper straws were all found at Target's after Christmas clearance sale!

The birthday boy received a Dorothy to keep (and his brothers thought they needed one too).  There is a huge debate on purchasing goldfish because of the large tanks they need to live after the party -- we were prepared to keep them however they didn't survive their four year old owner trying to change their water without mommy's help.

The living room mantel was decorated with red and turquoise accents and the room was full of balloons.  The Elmo balloon came from Dollar Tree, the polka dot balloons from Party City.

Christmas 2014 Mantel

We celebrated Christmas 2014 at home this year -- I started a new job in July and wasn't allowed any time off.  After three years we had to purchase a new living tree.  Josh built the wood planter and we put casters on it for easier moving in and out of the house (it lives on our patio during the other ten months of the year).

The star on our tree was made by a three year old Jeshua who insisted we have a yellow star on top.  The rest of the decorations included burlap ribbon, mercury glass and regular white lights, different sizes of white, grey and black balls, olive wood ornaments we purchased in Bethlehem and beaded tassels we used in our wedding decor.

Our mantle decorations were gathered from around our house.  I used my Demdaco Nativity Josh purchased for me when we were first married (he was able to purchase the pieces on clearance).  I used frames, books and the JOY sign from our eb & ezer projects.  The ampersand came from Target -- I painted it gold.  I filled a glass cloche with black ornaments and set on a pedestal I received as a gift a few years ago from my mom.  The photo is the boys' Christmas picture from 2013 -- they've grown so much in a year! The frame was my grandmother's.

Soccer End of Year Party (a.k.a. How to Plan a Team Party at Chuck E Cheese)

For Jeshua's end of season soccer party we chose to go to Chuck E Cheese.  There were five kids on the team total (and all had siblings) so this worked out great!  In addition to drinks and pizza we served maroon and white cupcakes (his team colors) and the kids received their medals.

At our local Chuck E Cheese you cannot host a team party on a weekend (those are all reserved for birthdays) so went on a Monday night.  Group parties include a reserved table, two slices of pizza per child with a drink, and sixteen tokens per child.  Watch for promotions -- there are often promos for extra tokens if you book during a certain time, book online, etc.  Group parties still require a 10 child minimum but are much cheaper than birthday parties -- $5.99 per child!

eb & ezer: Grey on Grey Refinished Dressers

These dressers were the childhood room suite of one of our customers.  We refinished the top and stained them and painted the base of the dresser with two shades of grey.  We also changed out the hardware.  There is a matching mirror for this set we built a wood frame for and stained it the same color as the dresser tops.