80s Party!!

Some friends of mine asked me to help plan an 80s themed birthday party for their daughters who were turning 13.  The girls are a part of our youth group and their families are good friends of ours so naturally I was OVER-JOYED to help!  After, I LOVE planning parties.  Part of why I am posting this is because I had a hard time finding really creative ideas online so hopefully this will help inspire any of you looking to do a similar party.  The party was at the skating rink here in town. I love going all out for parties and theme-ing as much as I can.

This is my awesome hair for the party!

It was a challenge to think of food that would make you feel 80s.  There really weren't very many good ideas. We had a chicken nugget tray from chic-fil-a (that was a HUGE hit), cookies, assorted candy like ring-pops, lemon heads, candy edible bracelets, pop rocks, pixie sticks, doritos, and smore bites.  

The smore bites were awesome!  Very easy to make.  All you need is golden grahams, mini marshmellows, and chocolate almond bark.  Just melt the chocolate then add the cereal and marshmellows. Once its mixed well just drop them on wax paper in little clumps until they harden.

Also on the table were 2 rub-ix cubes and initial letters covered in glitter.  I also had 80s words around the table with fruit roll-ups.  I wish I had taken better pictures of it.  I honestly thought I did until after the party and I realized I missed pics of some of my favorite things!  Oh well...I'll just have to plan another 80s party soon!  lol.

Of course what birthday party doesn't have streamers??  We put streamers everywhere!  I also made happy 13th birthday banners with neon colors and the pac-man font that were hung in the streamers.  But they are hard to see here and I didn't get a good pic of them. 

I made these little scrapbook boards of the birthday girls for them to keep but to add to the feel. We ended up using them as markers for the gift tables. I used photoshop to put this girl's face on an 80s Madonna album cover.

This one's face is on a Cyndi Lauper cover from Time After Time.

This was our "photo booth" scene. Everyone could come and use a bunch of different props and take their picture.  We had mustaches, 80s buttons, neon hair dye, microphones, and an assortment of bright sunglasses!

Here is a SUPER creative plate of food that didn't make it to the party.  The jello didn't set right and had melted by the time we made it to the party.  The mini ghosts were made with a little tulip cookie cutter that cost $0.50 at hobby lobby.  I'll be using this idea again.

Love this pic of my cool guy!

Photo booth in action...

Birthday Girl Cydney

Birthday Girl Mayson

I didn't get a pic from the front of the cupcakes but they spelled out 13 and I had made some little picture toppers for them. I used the same pic of the girls from their little boards shown above and put them on some 80s papers and taped a toothpick to the back. Easy way to add a very personal touch.

Love this pic of the boys! This is Grant, Eli and "Uncle T".  We pretend he is Grant's little brother.  He basically is just not by blood.

Here's a group pic of all the kids.

I think 80s is a great way to celebrate turning 13!

Family of Four for Four Months!

This is a post I have been wanting to do for almost a month now. Callie will be 5 months in 3 days so I guess I am running out of time ;).  Being a family of 4 has truly satisfied my heart in ways that I could not imagine.  Before Callie was born I would think to myself a lot about how Eli would love to have a sibling to play with.  Here we are 4 months in and we are truly on the ride of our life!

Life is much much busier with 2 kids but so fulfilling.  I could brag on my kids forever!  Callie has been sleeping 12 hours every night since she was just about 3 months old and that has been such a blessing!  Our days with the kids start about 7am and go full steam until about 8:30pm.  Of course there are some naps here and there but LOTS of play!

Eli comes in our room every morning when he wakes up with some assortment of his animal friends.  This picture was taken when he decided to bring them all!  This is his Larry Pirate, Jake (the dog), Gilly (the alligator and his best friend), Gummi Bear (which he named), and "Da Bear" which he named too.  Da Bear has a guitar strapped to him too.  

Eli loves playing with Callie and just being around he in general.  He feels really strange when she is not with him.  The past 2 months he has really grown into an awareness that we are a family.  He has fully understood that the 4 of us belong to each other and have a special bond.  This has been a fun process to watch including him asking me multiple times, "are you my mommy?"  So funny! I always want to respond, YES!  And I have the stretch marks to prove it!  But thats not exactly why he's asking!  haha

This pic of the 2 kids was taken by my mom when she was babysitting recently.  Eli told her, "Take our picture!" and he got down next to her. LOVE THIS!!!!!!

Just a typical day hanging out together at home.  Callie loves to be held and will let the fire of her cries out if you don't hold her enough (according to her internal standard I guess).  So Eli runs around and plays on the couch with us.

My smiley girl!  Its so easy to make her smile and we LOVE to do it! I know I'm biased but I think she is the most beautiful girl in the world.

My little man of God!  He LOVES to strike a pose for the camera.  

Callie and Daddy.  This picture makes me delight in how he delights in her and that she LOVES being with him.

The sweet moments that will be gone in a blink and I will cherish forever.  I don't get to hold her while she's sleeping a lot because there always seems to be so much to do.  But when I can I take the moment because I know she won't be a baby for long.

Um..seriously!  So cute!

As Callie comes into her fifth month she is in 9 and 12 month clothes!  Cannot believe how big she is.  Eli was big like this too but for some reason I thought she would be smaller.  At 4 months and 22 days she weighed 17 lbs and was 27 3/4 inches long!  So 91% on weight and 99% on height.  My goodness!  These 4 months have flown by and I cannot wait to see what the next 4+ will bring!