Crawford's 3rd Birthday Party: The Action

Before the party, Amanda and I were really scared that no one would show. We had RSVP on the invite and only had like 4 calls (see the previous post for how many vests, etc. we'd made!). But, we quickly realized that if it was just our 4 kids - Crawford and Cole would have fun. Luckily, a whole crew turned out and everyone had a blast.

Yes, we even had the silly photo-cut out. $5 on Celebrate Express - who could resist? Conlee was a Dalmatian at Halloween - so she had to be a "prop" at the party! She didn't mind a bit!Amanda's truck had a yellow rope hose - I swear this was the "hit" of the party

My favorite pic of the day. Don't you love their shirts? Amanda found them on Etsy.

Love the pic below. A good family pic - priceless.

At 3:25, we were still worried no one would come. At 3:35, kids were decked out in their gear!

Con ditched the spots for her vest and hat. She's such the tomboy. She stood in the middle of the chaos and just soaked it all in.

We laughed that the house was like a clown car. The door would open and like 8 kids would pile out!

At 4:00, our "prayers" were answered when the "real" firemen showed! This is everyone filing out to go see the truck!

It never crossed my mind that some kids might be scared. Crawford wasn't! He was front and center and never moved a muscle while they talked. He was the first to pipe up when they asked who wanted to get on the truck!

To help get the kids "comfortable" with firemen, they ask the birthday boy's mom to dress up in the gear too. Amanda wasn't paying attention - so I quickly pronounced she'd won the coin toss :) She was a great sport!

Love the pic below. I know that we'll look at this pic 20 years from now and have big grins on our faces.

Second favorite pic of the day - do you get any better?

We sang happy birthday twice. Once just for Cole and once just for Crawford. They each did a great job blowing out their candles.

Crawford and Cade weren't the only people who liked the cake. Con and Cade loved it too!

The proud party planners!

Once the big kids left - Conlee finally got her chance to drive.

Cole and Crawford kept the party going, long after the last guest had gone.

All of their friends did way too much. Can you get over the loot? He was so excited!

He was so wound up when we got home, we told him he could open 2 gifts. He randomly chose Uncle Matt's and Lawson's.

Uncle Matt gave him a spaceship and he flipped out! He loved it.

Next he chose Lawson, who gave him a Spiderman car. If I would have been smart, I would have put the other gifts up until his actual b-day (Feb. 23rd). He was completely content with these 2 gifts.

As he was headed to bed, I told him he could pick one more. It was a super tri-fecta because it was a shaving kit from Cole. No words needed.

I honestly could not have asked for anything to have been any different. I am so proud to say that we worked so hard, but they had so much fun. I'll admit - I'm a little scared of having to do the next party on my own. It was so nice to have someone to help brainstorm and assemble!

Thanks to all of our friends and family for making Crawford's 3rd birthday party so special for him!

Crawford’s 3rd Birthday Party: The Decor

So, it’s official – Amanda and I officially “embraced” (or as Bo would say, went nuts) with the fireman birthday theme. I’ll admit that my favorite part of any party is the planning/prep part! I’m happy to report that while the planning was lots of fun, the party turned out to be even more fun. Picture lots of 3 year olds running and screaming! Below I’ve documented the evolution.

Amanda got the privilege of making the fire truck out of a refrigerator box. In progress…

The finished product. Amazing, right?

I made the house (well with a little help from Con, and Bo too)!

Aside from the “entertainment” – the favors were a HUGE part of this party. Cookies, hats, fire “hoses”, vests w/ custom personalized badges and coloring packets! We made the vests out of felt and duct tape.

While it seems like a lot – it really just took a lot of elbow grease on our part. For example, how long does it take two “novice” bakers to ice 40 cookies – 4 hours!!!! We gathered at Amanda’s and let the kids run free while we iced away. Who knew black icing was such an art form?

For once, the food was not the center of the party. I seem to always do way too much food. We scaled back and only had a few things – which was exactly the right thing to do. We had a dip, cheese ball and corn dogs.

Of course we had sweet treats too! I made marshmallow pops (a big hit w/ the kids).

We did NOT tackle the cake. A wonderful girl out of Rogers made it for us. It was not only gorgeous, but delicious too. Even better – it wasn’t HALF as much as a local bakery quoted us. The entire thing was edible (ladder was white chocolate pretzels).

We had custom standees made of our “firemen”. A bit over the top – but so worth it.

We had the party at the Boys and Girls Club – and that was hands down – the best decision we made. The room was so spacious and it was right next to the kitchen.

A guy I work with created the “custom” badge – so we took advantage and put it everywhere.

Boy’s night/Girl’s night

Bo took Crawford to Feltner’s for dinner and then they hit the Fayetteville basketball game. I love that they spend some 1:1 “guy” time.

Conlee and I stayed in and put “finishing” touches on the party prep. As you can see, I couldn’t wrap gifts until she went to bed. She was having way too much fun with the wrapping paper!

My Monkey

Conlee got a laughing monkey for her birthday. When you walk by it – it starts giggling and rolling all around. She thinks it’s so funny. I heard her laughing out loud and found her rolling around on the ground with the monkey! Too cute.

Look Mom...

...we're a choo-choo train. Yes, he had her legs and was pulling her around the kitchen. Not so safe, but pretty funny.