An "Old School" Birthday Party

We had so much fun at Avery's first birthday bash on Saturday... and I had way too much fun planning and prepping all of the details. I decided to do a school theme. You know, like A B C and 1 2 3. Invitation:

It helped that my mom is a school teacher and happened to have vintage Dick and Jane books, as well as access to a bunch of other school supplies. I knew I wanted to incorporate the milestone pictures I've been taking of Avery all year. I put a few in frames, and the rest I displayed like this:

It was really easy to use pliers to twist up a wire and stick it in the apples. Each of the other tables had a simple centerpiece...

I already had the Ikea frames from Harvey's 2nd birthday party, and I spray-painted a piece of cardboard with chalkboard paint for the insert, and wrote "A" or "1" with colored chalk. I tied the balloons to a mason jar filled with magnetic letters.

I added a "schedule" to our big chalkboard (although, we didn't really follow it).

So, first up: art. I covered one of the tables with white butcher paper, and added little buckets of crayons and markers. Guests could doodle to their hearts content while we finished grilling the teriyaki chicken.

To accompany lunch (aka dinner), I had my mom buy some boxes of chocolate milk from her elementary school. It was fun to hear all of the kids recognize the cartons from their daily lunches. :)

I made these simple cupcakes out of a strawberry box mix and the frosting from this recipe (because it's to DIE for). Oh, and I used Reynolds Staybrite Liners, because they are my favorite; they really do stay bright instead of all greasy looking like other cupcake liners.

Avery loved her cake...

She had a little help eating it. These three boys couldn't help themselves...

The aftermath:

For the dessert table I displayed flashcards with little eraser stands (just cut a little slice in the eraser for the cards to slide into). The gumballs were a big hit.

We had a paper airplane folding contest. Everyone folded their own airplane...

Then they all lined up at the top of the hill to see who's plane would fly the farthest...

I had a few other playground games planned, and if they got played - I didn't get any pics. But I had chalk and a hoppytaw for hopscotch, a big playground ball to play 4-square or kickball at the baseball field, and jump-ropes. I should have put someone else in charge of taking those pics. :(

After we finally gathered together again, it was time for show and tell...  it was funny that Avery was so into it! She loved each and every gift - so much that she didn't want to put it down to open the next one. I would start to take it away, and she would grab it and shriek to let me know.

I also had a little favor bag for each of the kids. They concealed a few school supplies: a mini composition book, a box of crayons, a glue stick and a pencil.

So cliche, but I seriously can't believe that my baby girl is one!

ETA: Oh man... I completely forgot to add my inspiration yesterday!! (Sorry..)
Amy Atlas's use of the apples inspired my photo holders, I used the wording from this birthday invitation, I expanded on these brilliant flashcards (also used a similar "drawing" in my invite), I replicated these centerpieces, and copied this creative place card holder and this chalkboard schedule.

Mom's Club Olympics

My ward has the most awesome Mom's Club. I've heard stories about other wards, and I'm so grateful that I live amongst women who consistently uplift me, serve me, and welcome me. Last year we just met at a local park every Wednesday. It was especially good for me to have something scheduled to get me out of the house. I was pregnant and just realizing how easy it is to become a hermit when you become a stay-at-home-mom.

This year someone thought it would be fun to plan some different activities so the older kids that were out of school for the summer would have more fun. So a few of us divided up the days so we would each plan one activity per month.

Hopefully I'll get around to blogging about the other activities soon, but this week I planned a little Olympics to coincide with the fabulous Summer Olympics going on right now. I kept things pretty simple.

We did some track and field... sprints & (imaginary) hurdles:

(I'm not sure why Harvey is on the ground..?)

And the long jump:

And a shot put... using shoes (This was hilarious to watch. Can you see the little shoes at the top of the pics?):

We did some gymnastics (cartwheels, somersaults, and handstands), although I didn't get any pictures. After all of the "events" we headed back to the pavilion. I had paper, tape, and crayons for the kids to make their own flag. They turned out so cute!

(For instructions on how to make a flag out of one sheet of 8.5x11 paper and a piece of tape, check out this post by The Chocolate Muffin Tree.)

Then we had awards and treats. I made Olympic Torches (inspired by A Small Snippet), and Oreo Gold Metals (inspired by Mirabelle Creations).

I didn't want to spend a ton of money on the Fruit by the Foot for the medals, so I found these Rips Whips instead for only a couple bucks. And bonus - they came in Olympics colors!

(I copied the wording for the tag from Little Birdie Secrets). The kids loved them. And some even wore them around their neck!

Simple... and fun. The recipe for a great Mom's Club activity.

Potty Training, Part 1

Potty Training.

It's almost been like a dirty word around my house because... to be honest, I've been scared. I had all the excuses: Harvey hasn't been motivated (like at all), I didn't want to train too close to when the baby would be born, we needed to adjust to Dad's new job, I needed to be getting more sleep at night so I'd have more patience during the process... etc.

While I did want to make sure Harvey was ready, I think we waited mostly because I wasn't ready. Plus, in the spirit of full disclosure... it's just so convenient when Harvey has a diaper on. We don't have to stop mid-grocery-trip to dash to the bathroom. I can send him to a play date without worrying that my mom friends will have to change an accident with the extra stash of clothing I had to pack.

But... it was time.

Harvey said he wanted to wear big boy underwear about three weeks ago, so I jumped on it. We didn't wear diapers during the day at all, and I bought juice, salty snacks and treats to get him excited. And it worked. (Harvey is a big fan of food). I put the "big treats" on the back of the toilet in a little basket as a visual.

If he went potty, he got to choose something out of the basket. My theory was that it would encourage him to drink fluids all day.. or eating something salty would make him want more fluids. (While this worked great for a couple days, I didn't want to continue it for fear that the junk would mess with his system.) More fluids = more chances for success on the potty.

Periodically throughout the day, I also asked him "Are you dry?" And if the answer was "Yes!" then he got a small candy - like two skittles or candy hearts. I read in Pottywise for Toddlers that it is important to reward the success of staying dry, not just going on the toilet. True potty training means that the kid is staying dry in his underwear... right?!

Anyway, then Avery went through a terrible sleeping phase, and I started getting NO sleep, and it seemed like Harvey refused to poop anywhere except in his underwear, so I gave up for a while. I put all the treats away, didn't mention his underwear, or make him go on the toilet if he didn't want to. (I know, reverting back to diapers is the number one thing I've heard not to do when potty training, but I was in survival mode.)

Then, last Saturday we were invited to a Potty Party by my friend Hannah. I hoped it would get both Harvey and I excited about the concept again.

Hannah made the cutest treats:

(seriously... aren't these little toilets adorable?)

(and these Oreo truffles were to die for...)

I whipped up a couple of labels for her:

We stuck them on with clear packing tape to help the drink become water resistant, but my labels were a smidge wider than the tape, so it didn't work as perfectly as I had hoped. Here are the labels if you'd like to print them for a party of your own (just cut the drink labels thinner than the tape so your drinks will really be water resistant!)



Here is an alternate link for downloading the file: Potty Party Printables

For all the details on Hannah's party, check out her blog.

As for us... Harvey is back in underwear, (so far) enjoying adding stickers to his Potty Progress Chart, and earning treats from the cute treat jar we got from the party. Wish us luck!!

Oh.. and any advice from the seasoned Potty Trainers out there??? I'm ALL EARS!

Harvey: 3 Years

Wow. Where did the time go? I blinked and now my baby boy is THREE.

He loves Curious George (in fact, we are on our 8th day in a row watching "George and the Elephant" aka Curious George: 2) so I thought it fitting to have his party at the zoo, with some George inspired cupcakes and colors.

These cupcake toppers were SUPER easy to make. I found the instructions here, but they required several punches I didn't have. Instead, I whipped them up in Photoshop, and assembled them in a snap. If you want to make them, here's a printable for you. To download, click the little arrow in the bottom right corner, or click the little printer to print without saving. 

Here is an alternate link to download the file: Monkey Cupcake Toppers

They were super easy to make. After cutting out all of the pieces, I just used a flat glue dot to attach a sucker stick to the monkey head. Then I used 2 pop dots to attach the nose/mouth (and hide the stick between them) so it was lined up just below the eyes.

Isn't he cute?

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Oh! And I must tell you about the cupcake liners! I wasn't even searching for monkey liners when I found them (at Smiths) but I liked the colors and thought little monkey faces were cute. (Sheesh, the photo doesn't even show them.) Anyway, I bought them and when I got home I realized they were AWESOME. Reynolds Staybrite Baking Cups are foil lined so they stay totally beautiful and don't get all dark and greasy looking after baking. I hope they get more popular and start making oodles of designs. I will buy them forever. I used this recipe for banana cupcakes, and they were so delicious!

Anyway... I also made up these little favors with lemon drops and red jelly beans inside to give to everyone who came to the zoo with us. All of the kids got a red or yellow balloon as well.

My little guy was in heaven with his cousin buddies...

 And I picked a good theme because man, our zoo has a lot of monkeys!!

I got this shot on accident, but I love how you can see my nephew's reflection...

 And this guy was cracking me up! He just sat there with his arms folded. He wiped his nose once, then put his hands right back in that position.

We had a blast with our family celebrating my cute little buddy. I sure love him!

And I can't end this post without listing my 3 favorite things about him:
1) He shares; his toys, his treats, and even his special blankie. With everyone.

2) He is quick to say sorry. And I hope he always will, as it is a quality that will carry him far.

3) He is thankful. He often says thank you without any prompts from me. I love his little "thanks, mom!"

Oh.. I can't stop at three, so here are a few more.
4) He is a great dancer.

5) He has the best belly laugh ever. I can't resist tickling him to hear it just one more time...

6) He is athletic. Seriously, he can throw a mean football.

7) He is smart. I am often amazed during our conversations. He remembers everything!

I love you Harvster!