Middle Man Turns 5 - DIY Skylanders SwapForce Birthday Party

This weekend we had a blast celebrating our middle son's 5th birthday.  He turns the big 5!  Can you believe it?  I am still wondering where the time has gone and how my little boys are growing up so fast!!

His dream was to have a Skylanders Swap Force party theme, and he's been asking for this since last year when he saw the previews for the game that wasn't even released yet!  He has repeatedly asked for this theme over the last year and I knew that was my only choice for party theme.  

Little Man's 6TH Birthday - DIY Circus

Today was a super exciting day.  Well actually, this whole weekend was super exciting!  Yesterday, my first born turned 6!  WHAT?!  When did this happen? The last six years seem to have flown by.  Yesterday I was reflecting on how much he's grown and all the things that I am proud of him for.  He's well-mannered.  He's polite and smart.  He's a keen learner.  He's excelling in school.  And I think to myself... I'm the Mom of this fabulous 6 year old!!

Today's party was a complete success!!  

Here's a peek at the party!  

10 Homemade Halloween Treats {Perfect Pins}

With the two boys in school this year, I have been giving a lot of thought to classroom parties and ideas for sending themed treats.  With Halloween just around the corner (As my middle guy said, "just at the end of the days" --month--), I've compiled some fabulous homemade treat ideas.  These would all be great for classroom parties as well as for all the special little ghouls in your life.

I'm partial to the gloves filled with various treats.  Its hilarious!

10 Weekly Planner Ideas {Perfect Pins}

Keeping up the momentum in preparation for Back to School, I found all these great weekly planning tools to help ease into the routine and scheduling that will be required now that there will be school AND extracurricular activities (my boys are into swimming and hockey).  

Birthday Celebration Recap: 25 Again

This past weekend was so much fun.  We got a lot in in three short days, and we were sad when we had to get back to reality!  We spent much of the weekend celebrating my birthday with family and friends.  I turned *cough* 25 *cough* (again, this is the third time).  I am happy to share all the events of the weekend in hopes to relive some of it. 

Celebration: Canada's Birthday

This past weekend marked Canada's birthday.  We celebrated Canada Day with a great bunch of friends in our back yard with a BBQ/potluck party.  We enjoyed the afternoon immensely & I really enjoyed the prep too!

The Perfect Potluck DIY

The afternoon before our party, Sarah (Becoming Martha) sent me a link to these super cute & super efficient party DIYs that I think will be a staple in any future get togethers that include a meal.  These little bundles include your cutlery, napkin & plate, all tied together with a little ribbon for ease of the buffet style meal.  This is PERFECT!  I especially enjoyed it when trying to make the kids' plates... there was no fumbling with the stuff in my hands while trying to load the plates.

Party Beverage Tags

I wanted to do something cute to label people's drinks for our party last weekend.  We were hosting a lot of kids and was anticipating a lot of wasted drinks & inadvertent germ sharing.  I again went searching on Pinterest and found some cute ideas.  The problem was I didn't have a few important supplies for creating most of the ideas I liked.  For that reason, I left it to the last minute.  

A Twist on Hand Print T-Shirts

Inspired by last year's Canada Flag t-shirts that we made, I was looking for ideas for something different that could be done using the boys' hand prints.  I couldn't find anything I loved... And then it hit me.  FIREWORKS!  Hand print fireworks!  Yep.  So we did it.


Supplies

various colours of fabric paint
white t-shirts
kids
patience (haha... lots of this one)


See the tutorial here for instruction.

I did each colour separately and washed hands in between.  It was easy with the older boys, a little more tricky with the 14 month old.  Somehow I managed to get his done without any crying or paint-eating.

DIY Centrepieces (in a Pinch)

Yesterday's Canada Day Party was so much fun!  I can't wait to share all the details & decor, but for tonight I'll have to settle for this quick DIY.

I was pretty on-the-ball for this party, and I had everything ready ahead of time.  I had a list and plans and felt pretty good going into the set up phase.  My good friend & neighbour Sarah from Becoming Martha came over to help both on Friday night when we tidied up loose ends - and had a lesson on Cricut use - and on Saturday to set everything up.  We were almost finished when we realized that there were no plans for table centrepeices!  What?!  So a bit of panic mode ensued as Monday was the holiday and there weren't any stores a) close enough & b) open.  What to do?!

Canada Day Party Planning: Door Decor

With just one week until the par-tay, I'm getting super excited!  I've been searching for ideas for games & activities for the kiddos.  I've been looking around for food ideas to compliment our theme.  Its fun & I'm trying new things.


I sat on the couch with a wreath-form (thanks to my bloggy buddy Sarah for lending it to me), two balls of yarn & some straight pins and created a beautiful little wreath. 

Canada Day Party Planning!

Last year we took our boys to the local Canada Day festivities.  All I have to say is: PEOPLE!  The whole park was packed with people everywhere!  It took 45 minutes to get a drink, and even longer for cotton candy!  The kids were able to use a bouncy house after a significant line up, and pretty much this was all we did the whole afternoon... wait in line.

A girlfriend was there with us, and we decided that this year we are having our own Canada Day festivities, and we have begun the planning!  Neighbours of ours rent the bouncers, so we will have one for the kids, we are going to fill up a kiddie pool, use the sprinklers, have some games, food, BBQ, and I'm still coming up with ideas.  We have invited a whole group of parents and kids, and I feel this will be WAY WAY WAY more enjoyable than waiting in lines with young kids in the heat!

Cake Disaster! (Don't Worry! There's a Happy Ending!)

This weekend we  shared our baby's First Birthday with some friends and family.  I like to do most of my party prep myself (and with the help of my wonderful Mom!).  Yesterday's mission was the cake.  Now, normally I am a from-scratch kind of person, however, I have yet to find a really really good gluten-free cake recipe that doesn't contain a million-and-a-half ingredients.  I have found a delicious gluten-free cake mix that I have been using for over a year now, and its still the best one out there!

I left this party planning to the very last minute.  I decided to whip up the cake quickly yesterday.... and all was going well.  I wanted to marble it, so I used a golden and a chocolate mix.