Amelia's Horse Themed Birthday Party!!

This girl of mine sure loves horses!!  Her 4th birthday party was a Woody and Jessie's Round Up Theme (horses). We did a fairy themed birthday party last year instead of horse/pony themed party. It was a nice break but I knew we'd be back in the saddle this year. ;)

I do not like to give out lots of candy as party favors. The kids are already having cake and ice cream, they don't need more sugar. I think it is more fun for guests to have props/things to use during the party that they can take home afterward.  At her 4th birthday party- that was also indoors- we gave foam cowboy hats to each child and everyone did a sheriff badge craft that they wore once completed.

For Amelia's 6th birthday I decided to give bandanas to each child. The only place I could find them was a party supply store (since I didn't think we could get them if I ordered them online) for almost $2 apiece. No thanks. I decided to go to a local fabric store and found a great fabric, bought a yard and a half of it, and cut them into triangles.

For a horse themed craft, I got paper grocery sacks from a store, looked online for a tutorial, and cut 17 bags into cowboy/girl vests. This seemed like a great idea until I figured it took about 7 and a half minutes per vest. The things I do for my children! ;) The kids had a great time decorating them. I also think it is a great idea to over plan for kid parties, so for those who wanted something else crafty to do, I had a 2D paper horse craft that they could color and cut out and glue at home.

For games, Amelia wanted to do Pin the Tail on the Horse, and I wanted to have a Horseshoe toss, at an indoor party. We also brought down Amelia's rocking horse she got for Christmas and the kids took turns with that.

For decorations we hung some pink balloons and for the table I decided to use a cute roll of polka-doted wrapping paper I found at the dollar store as a table runner instead of using a table cloth. (I can't handle table cloths at kid parties. Even when you tape them down they slide everywhere.)

Most of the guests invited were from her kindergarten class, and because of privacy laws the only way we could get invitations to friends who had parents I didn't know, was to pass them out in class before the bell rang.

I love planning parties for my kids!! I also love how fun it is for Amelia to help- read: lots of coloring and cutting- and how much she and her friends enjoy themselves. We had a great turnout! All of the kids had a great time!

Brodrick loving all the party action!

Pin the Tail on the Horse DIY: I found a color page of a horse Amelia liked that had a tail that could easily be removed for game purposes. I right clicked and copied the color page. Then I put it into a word document. I then enlarged the image to a size I liked and then traced the image onto the poster board with a pencil. I had to shift the poster board and the image on my computer screen in order to trace the whole image, but it turned out nicely! We did the same thing for the tails and then traced them with a sharpie and colored them in for all the guests.

...traced out on poster board...

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Horse Cake using this tutorial for the general shape...

The kids had great fun coloring a 2D horse craft and decorating their paper bag vests.

More friend! Also, notice the table runner.

Tim cut out some horse shoes out of 3/4 inch particle board and devised an indoor stake for a game of horse shoes!

Some horse themed cupcakes. Toppers were from a coloring page,  sized in a word document, printed onto cardstock, colored, cut out, and hot-glued onto toothpicks.

Friends!

Our politically incorrect game... the kids had fun shooting at the robber with a rubber band gun.

Miles enjoying the horse shoe game! Also check out his stylish bandana around his neck.

This party was much easier with mostly 5 and 6 year-olds. They are used to taking turns and waiting in lines which is golden for party games.

Happy Birthday Amelia!! It is a joy and great privilege being your mom!

Beginning of January

Having a New Years baby sure helps me put Christmas away before the first of the year. I do this to break up the months and prepare for Amelia's birthday and party!

On January 2nd Amelia turned 6 years old!! I say it every year, and I doubt I'll ever stop saying that time is going by so quickly!! I can't believe my baby is SIX! We celebrated as a family on her birthday with some cake and ice cream.

Ready to make a wish.

Tim's dad just flew back home today. We enjoyed his great 4 day visit, despite Tim having a sinus infection. It was a nice visit especially for Tim who enjoys spending time with his dad. The kids got in some good times with him too.

Tim's dad Shelly, and Miles were up late (for our kids anyway) hanging out watching some football and Miles passed out right nest to his grandpa.

Amelia and Lola

Saoir and Taylor (my niece who lives with us) both went home for a month to enjoy Christmas. They both come back in the next week. That will be interesting to readjust to a larger family dynamic and making meals for 7 instead of 5 again.

In keeping with the theme...

Like I said, dealing with lots of sickness over the Christmas break. Amelia and I were snuggling together and Miles snapped this shot of us together.

Of course sickness wouldn't be compete without a visit to the ENT. Two days  after Brodrick finished his antibiotic for a sinus infection, he started to complain of ear pain.  On Dec 28th, he cried all day asking to go to the doctor but we couldn't get him in until the afternoon. Little guy had an eartube that was either clogged or that fell out- but we couldn't for sure see cause of all the wax in his ear, so the doctor decided to treat it as an ear infection.

Not too happy, but relieved to finally be at the doctor's.