Gid is 2! Party Post!

Our little monster is 2! Yikes!

So we had a party!

The white is the design. I grayed out the address, sorry friends who don't know where we live. (Though frankly, I can't imagine anyone reading this if they don't.) That zig-zag in the corner is where I cut out the 'monster bite'.

Then I spent my time prepping! Making banners, photo backdrop, signs, shirts, etc. I got googly-eyes galore and found a 'game' that could be a memory for Gid later. I ordered balloons and cupcakes.

Here's how it all turned out:

When you walk into the clubhouse:

 Let's start with the banner:

see the doors? Gid loves the Doors from Monsters.

"Blue Juice" (kool-aid) monster dispenser. :)

 AND HERE'S THE CAKE!

 smash cake monster with fuzzy monster cupcakes. soo cute!

Monster fruit. :)

We also had some of Gid's other fav. snack foods: cheese and crackers, lil' smokies aka "hot dogs," and chips.

We had a dice game where you roll to draw a monster. Everyone drew monsters for Gid. I'll make a book for him to enjoy later!

PHOTO BOOTH! I made the doors from butcher paper. Katie took pics of everyone who came!

(We won't include those. They got e-mailed) However, Nama and Gid was just too cute to resist sharing.

His shirt says "2 cute ...for a monster" while mine says "Momster." Chris also humored me by wearing a shirt that read "We've created a Monster!"

This monster is 2!

Cute Birthday Cake. Luckily his uncle had a match book in the car, cuz his scatter-brained mom forgot the lighter!

 He really enjoyed us singing, he made us do it again!

But would he just dive in and smash that cake like a 2 year old? OH no! My clean little monster demanded fork and knife.

He spent the time enjoying cutting and eating his cake. 

oh and sharing. can't forget sharing.

 We opened a few presents. (I can't STOP people from giving him presents. Especially grand parents. Spoiled little boy.)

Nama got him a pop=up tent that he HAD to play with IMMEDIATELY!

I also got him a little digital camera. Yes it's facing him, but he loves running around telling everyone to 'cheese!'

We were talking at the party about how much I save by having a talented family. So here's my quick 

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Becca - my balloons are always perfect!

Eve - I pin someone making cute cupcakes and then you, amazing cake decorator that you are, make even better ones for me to show off. They're always a highlight of these parties!
Katie - pictures are the perfect present for us, every time! #photocred

Nama - My mom always shows up and gets to work and makes things happen so I can organize the things I planned and made and decorated and then enjoy my son's party. Then she stays late to help and make sure everything is all cleaned up. I can't imagine how she used to do OUR fancy parties without a 'her' to help. :) We're SO spoiled!

Another super fun party for this boy!

DIY Demin Roads

Today, Gid wanted to play cars and roads. We pulled out his denim roads (that I made for him for Christmas) and I realized I'd never shared!

Basically, last summer I found a pin and realized I had a bunch of old ripped pants I'd saved for ...something. I'm a crafty pack-rat. I acknowledge this.

And we took a few days to get it done.

The first day I just cut out a bunch of road shapes. Straight, curvy, turns, and intersections. Gid liked to lay down right on top of whatever I was cutting like a cat, so once they were all cut up, I was done.

The next time I pulled them out, I made a quick stencil (That link- it's my .studio3 file. You're welcome.) on cardstock. Yellow tulip soft fabric paint and a movie later I had some painted roads.

Then I packed them away so that when Christmas came around they were totally new to go with the new cars from his dad. I'm not looking forward to the days that I have to craft in secret from him.

Have so much fun! With your own roads, they are so fun! It's like the best of...train tracks and a road rug combined! Lots of combinations, fold up soft, and they take up a large space without the expense and required storage space.

Here's Gid (still in batman jammies, I know!) and his roads, and the pic that I posted to insta. He waited so patiently so that I could get a pic.

 

2017: More Meaningful Moments

The first 'new year' that Chris and I spent married we made resolutions. They didn't happen. The next year we got the first year's done cuz they just...stayed. But we DID get our passports. So woohoo.

The following year we decided that instead of having resolutions we'd have a motto. ("What's a motto?  - nothin' what's a motto with you?") 2014- Shiny. I was determined to have a shiny, miraculous year. And guess what, I did! I got pregnant, we went to New York, and I had a shinier disposition that year.

2015's theme: Enjoy Today. I painted mantle letter blocks to remind me. And I focused on enjoying each day with my brand new baby. Finding something to be happy about each day really helped me savor that time while he was itty-bitty.

When 2016 came around there was no way I was taking down that Enjoy Today (I love it) but we chose MAGIC as our theme. We went to Disneyland and Harry Potter World and I found the simple magic in the little things with my son. (While enjoying each day, as we decided these are going to be continuous).

Here we are! 2017!
The motto for the year: More Meaningful Moments

It started with a late night with a sister at the end of 2016. We were watching OK GO's video: The One Moment which is super cool. It's all filmed in 6 seconds and then slowed down to fill the song in a way that was profound to me. We can MISS EVERYTHING if we don't pay attention and MAKE OUR MOMENTS MEAN SOMETHING. Then we watched an interview where he was talking about living his life to make More Meaningful Moments and I immediately paused to EUREKA! There's 2017's theme. We're going to make More Meaningful Moments. We're going to do, and enjoy, and make the most of every crazy-mom-of-a-2-yr-old moment! I'm looking forward to seeing what those moments CAN mean when I'm looking to squeeze all the meaning from each second.

I've made a big vinyl for my wall (since I'm not taking down that Enjoy Today, I adore it. Especially for my spring months when I don't really wanna change ALL my decorations.).

PICTURES!

#CallsChristmas2016

Oh man, guys, this was a full Christmas. I may have pushed a bit too hard.

We crafted our fingers off. Even Gid made thank you cards, took pictures, painted, stirred. Everything we made he stirred. The kid loves to paint and stir.

Then we had the last 'away from home' Christmas day. TOO much. Gid left his toys to go to Nama's, Pop-O's, and Nana & Papa's homes. All 3. Next year, we stay at home. We'll do Christmas Eve and family can come to us whenever, but I'm staying in jammies all day and Gid gets to play with all his toys and nap in his crib. YIKES He may not be in a crib, just his own bed. haha.

But our Christmas cards got sent (oh dude, that to-do list was long, but when it's all checked off, so very nice). Here they are:

Aren't the pics great? My sister, Katie, took them! She got the cutest pics of my baby in front of the tree in his nice clothes. You see, he got a little stool from Grampa Ivie for Christmas and he LOVES it, so all we had to do is set it by the tree early in the day with some books. We come in from taking pics and he sits down and reads. So CUTE!

 Merry Christmas!

#CraftyCostumes or Adorkable Dress-up!

ok...it's been established that I'm crafty and a celebrant right?

so it's no surprise that I like to dress up (and make those around me do the same)

Chris has always been amazing about matching costumes, which is nice. Halloween has been awesome over the years:
2010: Star Trek

2011: Mermaid and Pirate
2012: Fighter Pilots!

2013: Monster and kiddo (Chris got to wear jammies.)
2014: Mummy and Vampire

2015: Star Wars

2016: 101 Dalmations

April 2014 I learned of the Salt Lake Fan-Xperience. It's like a ...bonus Comic-Con. I dressed up, each day. My favorite day was Chell. (If you haven't played Portal... Do.... ASAP. It's STILL my favorite video game ever. So great.)

So of course I went from then on. SLComic-Con 2014:

Han Jago, Leia Katie, Death Star me, Vader Chris and Stormtrooper Jacob

Comic-Con 2015:

FanX2016:

 Thursday we wore our Harry Potter Costumes. 

Friday Firefly: Baby Jayne (thanks to Marilyn for the hat!), River mom, and Kaylee Tessa. (And we got to meet Levar Burton!)

Saturday was just Tessa and me. Portal and her companion cube.

Comic-Con 2016:

 Dr. Horrible Jacob, Captain Hammer Gid (that's a fun story in person!), and Fan girls. "We do the weird stuff!" ahahah! (oh, and another dr. horrible we found. forgot to get one with just us.)

 Friday was Harry Potter. Any chance to wear my new robes (see Harry Potter b-day for pics of said robes) and dress him up like the cutest little house elf! Tessa met the fat lady. :)

 Saturday I had my whole Turtle crew! (Gid LOVES turtles.) Tesssa made an adorable April in all yellow with her own hair. Turtles: Mikey Chris, Donnie me, Raph Gid, and Leo Katie. Jacob humored us with the mask as Casey. Pop-O was Splinter.

Then there's the trip (#momlovesmatchers)

The plan was Blue. So we Disneybound - Dory, Marlin, Nemo:

Mickey and Minnie: 

Harry Potter:

How about random events like-

FairyTale Festival:

Dragon Eve, Prince and Princess Seth and Julia, Fairy Mother me, Squire Gideon, Sir Christopher the valiant, and Little Red Tessa. :)

Dr. Seuss Day:

We've got stars on ours!

Harry Potter's Birthday:

2015: Ravenclaw and Mandrake (everyone else dressed up too.)

 

2016:

Here's most of the everyone else - we had quite the crowd. Not pictured: Chris and Dad.

 

Here he is again in his house elf costume! And my new Adult Robes! (cuz I can't ALWAYS dress as a student, at some point that kid will be a student and I need to be a 'grown-up'. I got my robes by apprenticing at Madame Marilyn's Couture Robes for the Modern Witch. ;) haha Eventually we'll make my other set. I'm really enjoying learning to sew without being a total failure.)

 I'm sure there have been other events I'm missing. We like to dress up. And I love to make them myself - or I should say put them together. We love our #CraftyCostumes!

This was actually a random Sunday where he ran away before he was totally dressed and LOOK how cute and Risky Business he looks. I love it!