Legree's 2nd Birthday Party... part 2... the decorations

Legree's birthday party this year was a John Deere theme. If you don't know us personally, or Legree, then you don't know that he is OBSESSED with John Deere (no other tractor will do). Ben's father restores antique John Deere's and has quite a few, so Legree has grown up aroud him. I have a picture of Legree when he was 2 months old sitting up on an antique tractor. One of his first words and his first multiple word was "John Deere". So, it was only natural to have his birthday party John Deere. I scoured the internet for John Deere decorations and everything was just SO expensive. So, I just decided to get crafty and do it on my own. It was pretty easy to just stick to the green and yellow theme with a couple of tractors thrown in. Legree loved the theme! The whole ride home from the party he kept saying "My John Deere party!" "My John Deere party!" It made this mommy's heart melt! For all the hard work, time and effort to hear his exciment even after we left was PRICELESS!

Here are some pictures and descriptions...

This is a banner I made to hang up at the party. I did one like this last year with a picture for each month. So, I used those same pictures for the first year and then printed off pictures for each month for the second year. I attached the pictures to the ribbon by... get this... sewing them onto the ribbon! Who knew you could sew pictures, but you can! I used my circle cutter to cut out 24 circles and wrote the month on each one. It turned out super cute and everyone loved seeing the pictures!






I purchased the cupcake toppers and wrappers from Chickabug on Etsy. Super easy and cute! I just printed the PDF off that she sent me, cut them out and put them on the cupcakes. I found the cupcake stands on clearance at Walmart for $3 a piece! Can't beat that! I took ribbon and tied it onto the cupcake stands for some extra pizzaz. The Happy Birthday hat was given to Legree on his 1st birthday. Thank goodness it didn't say 1st birthday because it was perfect for this birthday. And I completed the cupcake table with a picture of Legree on his tractor.



This was a big hit at the party! A Balloon wreath. I can't take the credit. I mean I made it, but the idea came from here: http://www.howdoesshe.com/birthday-wreath. I love this blog! They have the cutest crafts and ideas. This one was SO easy and precious!




And here's a picture of the food table. Nothing to fancy. Just the food, the wreath and a couple of pictures of our little man around it.

This is not the best picture of these little gems. But they are cake pops. Ever heard of them? Well you need to go make some... now! Because they are OH SO GOOD! Do you like to eat cake batter? You know like the spoon clean of cake batter? Well, these puppies taste just like cake batter, but they are fully cooked! I got the idea here: http://brodyfrancis.blogspot.com/2011/04/cake-pops.html .

I'm so glad I made them! I had these in cups sitting on each table for people to eat as they wanted. They were soo good! Everyone was begging for the recipe on how to make them. Basically you bake a cake, cool it, crumble it all up in a bowl (like into little pieces), mix it with a can of frosting, roll it into balls, stick it on a lollipop stick and coat it with melted candy and cover with sprinkles. Sugar rush much? Seriously, give them a try! YUMMY!

And last but not least the kids table. Pretty simple but the kids loved the tractors on the table. And each kid had a bag with their name on it. They got crayon rolls monogrammed with their name on it (thanks to my sister in law Keri), a coloring book (I just printed off farm pictures off the internet and tied the papers together to make a personalized coloring book. The cover said "Thanks for coming to my party! Love, Legree) and they had a package of John deere fruit snacks.

There you have it! Pretty cheap but still very cute nd fun for the kids!

Next up, the party, the guests, the birthday boy eating his TWO cupcakes AND the John Deere Choo Choo train!! Yup, you read that right... Legree had a John Deere pulling a little train at his party (courtesy of his Paw Lewis).

I feel so blessed...

to call myself this little guy's mommy...

Birthday details and more pictures to come soon!

Legree's Birthday party... Part 1... getting ready!

Legree's 2nd birthday party will be this weekend. I've been stressing myself out like crazy about it! Last year I said I wouldn't do this and all the months leading up to it I said it wouldn't be a big deal, I wasn't going all out, I wasn't going to invite many people etc etc. And now here we are, just a few short days from his party. We have 50 or more people coming to his party, I've made two banners, his outfit for the party, got tons of decorations, made a wreath, got food all lined up, am making all the cupcakes and an extra dessert. I'm crazy! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love decorationg and throwing parties. And I love my little man like crazy so combining the two just seems logical and even more exciting for me (although still a bit stressful).

Why do you need 50 people at a two year olds birthday party might you ask?? Well, we just couldn't leave out anyone! We want to share our little guy with ALL of our family and friends and not exclude anyone. Our aunts, uncles, parents, cousins, brothers, sis-in-laws, nieces, nephews and friends have all played such a BIG role in getting us to this point, we don't want to exclude anyone in the fun!! Plus Legree loves a crowd to show off too, so he'll have a ball! We also both have big, close knit families so there you go!

So, next week I'll have pictures of all the decorations, my little man (Daddy says I'm not allowed to call him a baby any more!), and all of our family friends together to celebrate the most important little boy on earth! Ok, well he's the most important to me :).

Legree did not disappoit!

Legree certainly did not disappoint me this year at the beach. Not that he really could... but I was super excited to see how he'd react to the wide open space, the sand between his toes, the waves, the waney (water). His reaction was better then I could have expected! Seeing these things through your child's eyes is like reliving the beach as a child again yourself. It makes you really appreciate the beauty, simplicity and fun that God gave us in a beach!

The highlights from the trip:

1. Legree running around and trying to keep up with all the "big kids" (his cousins). He played ball, danced, and showed off for them like I've never seen before! He was a hoot!

2. Legree loved the beach and wanted to go as deep as he possible could! Everytime a wave would hit him he would just die laughing. And he'd lick the water off of his face and say Yumm Yumm! ( So gross!).

Here's a picture of Legree going as deep as he would go. He would get mad if we tried to help him walk or stay steady in the water. When we let him go, he'd walk out until the water was up to his chin. SO SCARY for this mommy!!

Here's a picture of a wave hitting him and his reaction!! What kid likes getting hit in the face like that with water?? What a crazy boy!! (By the way, we did not normally let him get hit that hard with the waves. Although he would have loved it if we would have let him. This was a big one that hit him hard, he loved it, but normally we helped him jump them)

3. Ben and Legree build a sandcastle that Legree called a "Barn" for his John Deeres. He's always worried about where he's going to put his John Deeres. Even on the beach! He must have sat there an hour building onto his barn and playing in the sand.

We had so much fun at the beach we are ready to go pack! We were only there two days and only got to go out on the beach twice. We weren't planning on taking another beach trip and try to save the money, but we both decided we just have to. The memories are too special. We'll just cut corners and save money elsewhere. So, I think we'll be headed to Garden City beach sometime in August for the week with my parents!! I'm SO excited for them to get to see Gree out on the beach and playing. And they are too!!

Getting ready for Edisto

We're headin to Edisto tomorrow to spend the weekend with Ben's family (all his aunts and uncles and cousins on his dad's side). We went last year for the whole week with them. We are trying to cut expenses so we decided to only go for the weekend this year. I am SO SO SO excited to see Legree at the beach this year!! He was a TON of fun last year. He had just started walking and was into everything. He would just crawl right into the ocean last year. This year will be even more fun I'm sure! I just know he'll run around like a wild man! Pics and details to come soon...

Legree on Edisto beach last year... ohh the sweetness, the babyness, the cuteness in him!! I could just eat him up with a spoon!!

The world according to Legree...

Legree is now 23 months! I can't believe my little baby will be 2 years old next month!! So, in honor of the 23 month mark I thought I'd share some 23 month old "thoughts and ideas" according to Legree.







He sure is head strong and wants things his way already! When he gets an idea in his head it HAS To happen or a tantrum begins. We're working on that, but between mine and Ben's genes, stubborness is bound to be one of his fine qualities!




1. The word "green" does not exist. That color that you are referring to as "Green" is called "John Deere". You won't convince Legree otherwise.




2. The word "red" also does not exist. That color is "pink" and any shade of red or pink is "pink". Also, don't tell Legree otherwise.




3. All balloons are "mine bawoons" (Legree's) and he thinks he should have one whenever he sees it. Once we get home with a balloon, all interest is lost.





4. Pancakes and dip-dip (syrup) come before any form of drink in the morning. When Legree is ready for a drink, I hand it to him, he sits it on the table and then immediately picks it back up and starts drinking it. Why he can't just start drinking it when I hand it to him, I will probably never know!





5. If you say the word "fries" in front of Legree, you'd better be prepared with fries in hand to give to him. If not, you'll hear the word "fries" about 10,000 times until you hand them over.




6. Don't tell Legree you are going somewhere until you are 100% ready to walk out the door with him. Otherwise, tantrums will ensue!




7. ALL tractors are John Deeres. Doesn't matter what color or make they are, if they are real or just in a coloring book. They are John Deeres and he loves them.




8. Whenever I give Legree a blank page of paper to color on, he always "draws" (scribbles) and announces it's a choo-choo train.


9. Legree now knows when we are passing by the local park. If we don't pull in, I hear "park? go n there!" Over and over again...




10. Mommy's hair is solely for Legree's pulling and playing with pleasure. 23 months and I still can't break that habit. It hurts like crazy, but is so sweet too!




11. Once we get outside to go somewhere he generally bolts for the fence to see the dog. I have to tell him that we're going to see Ian or Kaylynn to get him to come too me. I think he'll probably catch on soon that we're not really going to see them (at least not all the time). So, I should probably stop huh?





12. If the dishwasher is open, he must help get the dishes out. It doens't matter if they are clean or not, they must come out.





13. No one is allowed near him while he is... doing his business. If you try he yells "nooooo" and hides.


14. The word "yes" does not exist. Instead if you ask Legree a question and he wants to answer in the affirmitive it is answered with "I do". Like: Legree, do you want something to eat? I do! Legree, do you want to ride tractors? I do! He never ever answers with a yes. So weird!




15. He will not say Grandma or any variation of it. I think he's said it about 4 or 5 times. He can say about anything now and he knows who his grandma's are, of course. But he refuses to say it!




16. Popsicles and syrup are their own food group and he tries to make sure I give him 5-6 servings of each a day. (That doesn't happen, but he begs constantly!) Here's Legree with a "pop". While he eats the "pop" he says Yum Yum! And then followed by... COOOOLLLD! And he shivers... that's what he's doing here.







17. If he doesn't recognize a food, he will not eat it. Even if it's really good. Like hot dogs. He won't touch them because we don't eat them too much. But I know if he'd just try it he'd like it. Ohh well!




18. Going "outsii" (outside) to play with "Kiwo" (Kilo) is an essential part of the day. Don't mess with this time or you will get a serious tantrum! We often "fight" about this everyday. I won't let him go out while he's tantruming over going out, which causes more tantrums, which causes more time outs. It's a mess!




Okay, that's all for now!