Keith's Star Wars Party

Keith has been talking about having a Star Wars party for a long long time.  We finally got to make his dream come true.

In the past we have always hosted our "friend parties" at an all-inclusive party location such as Pump it Up.  For Keith's 4th birthday I just wasn't feeling it.  There are lots of great party locations in town, but he wanted a Star Wars party... so that's what he got.  At our house. For the very first time.  I was feeling very brave, Kevin humored me and did most of the heavy lifting.

There are lots and lots of great ideas for Jedi Parties.  Tip Junkie has some great ideas and printables.  Make and Takes had Jedi robes for each party guest!  And Vesna named her son Aniken so of course she had a fab party for him featured on My Little Jedi.

So, first things first.... The invites.  Keith loves the invite I ordered for him.  I'm not sure why people don't send pretty little invitations anymore.  These were super fun and totally affordable.  I ordered them from an ebay shop called Makaty Designs and you can print them yourself.  She printed them for me, included the envelopes and got them delivered quickly.  When Patrick had his Star Wars party I made some pretty cute invites but I just didn't have time for that this time.

 The final determining factor to have the party at home was finding A Wish Your Heart Makes because what is a Star Wars party without Jedi Training?  The company provides characters for an hour and a half.  The Jedi Training package includes light saber training, music and games, face painting and an appearance by Darth Vader.  If you have ever seen the Jedi Training at Disneyland it is a lot like that.  Super fun and cool.  The other two actors are Princess Leia and a Jedi Master.  They really have fun with the kids and are in character the entire time.  Keith had no idea they were coming to his party so he was very surprised.

 

After a bit of training.....

Lord Vader showed up.

Keith used the force.

And summoned the courage to fight him.

And pose for a picture.

So that was the entertainment.... The food and the decor:
The whole theme was a light vs. dark theme.  Green and blue for the Jedi kids and black with red for the Dark Side.

The kids had Jedi Dogs, Chewbacca Cheetos, Yoda Ears (edamame) and Fruit Sabers (that were the last thing on my list and were put in a bowl instead).

 This is the Dark Side.  The adults had Dark Side Dogs, Light vs. Dark Salsa, Vader Sabers (red vines), Sarlacc Dip (red pepper hummus), and Sith Strawberry and Spinach Salad. 

The cake was the best cake we have ever had.  Donut cake!!!!  Keith isn't a big cake or ice cream kid but he loves candy, marshmallows and donuts.  So I "made" him a donut cake.  Again the Jedi and Dark Side theme.  I wanted the Dark Side donuts to be chocolate but their was a bit of a language barrier and he was a little befuddled that I was asking about red sprinkles.  I made the stars and his name on the Silhouette.  The C3-P0 was from our Easter Decorating set.  Best cake.




The tables were decorated with Star Wars toys from our personal stash.  The kids were welcome to play with them.

Each guest received their very own light saber.  I found a couple of websites that carry decent light sabers. 

I also wanted to give them a little something more (because I'm crazy like that).  So I made Hoth Pops.  If you haven't heard of them that's because I made it up.  They were large marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with sugar crystals.  Because Hoth is the icy planet. 

 I had so much fun planning the party for Keith.  He was lucky enough to receive some really nice presents from his friends.  Lucky boy. 

I wish I had got Lauren a little Star Wars onesie.  I found one in my endless searching for ideas that said: "This is not the baby you are looking for." 

Oh and one more thing.  You saw the Darth Vader picture for the Dark Side Buffet.  That was a photo my father in law took in Disneyland.  Cheap and easy... Costco.  And I like decorations that come from our existing belongings or can be reused.   Keith and I also found this poster
and it is his new obsession!  He loves it. 

Half a Year

Happy Half Birthday to my sweet sweet baby.  Lauren is six months old today!  And yes, I can believe it.
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She weighs 17 lbs 13 oz. She's 25 inches long.

She's sitting up on her own.

She loves the water. Tonight she played in her bathtub for 20 minutes.  When she sees the shower or her bathtub she screams with delight.

She makes eye contact across the room and bats her eyelashes.

She eats avocado, pears, bananas AND nurses all the time.

She still sleeps in our bed for most of the night.

She loves her daddy and thinks her brothers are hilarious.

She still pukes all over herself and me on a regular basis.

She can put her pacifier back into her mouth while she is in her crib.

If she really wants to get somewhere she rolls.

Her jumper is her favorite toy.

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Part of me wants her to stay like this forever but most of me knows that the best is yet to come.  I love you Baby Lou!

Lula

Patrick has been babying his loose baby teeth for about three months.... On Saturday his sideways eating (that's what you do when you can't use your front teeth because your tooth is loose) caused another tooth to fall out.  That one wasn't being babied... what's the moral to the story?

Anyway, his bottom tooth fell out (look at Keith behind him in this picture, ha) and he wrote a note to the tooth fairy.... well our tooth fairy because there is more than one.  Guess what?  The tooth fairy wrote back!

Just in case you were wondering....  Our tooth fairy is a girl, she is very smart, she wears pink with red polka dots, her favorite color is purple and her name is Lula.  Thanks Lula.  Come back soon for that front snaggletooth.

Happy Birthday Keith

Dear Keith!
First of all, let me say: YAY 4!  We have been working on that for three weeks and it is so true.

We have been having a lot of fun together lately.  Especially since you decided that you are a big boy.  That turn of events has been pretty amazing.  You still ask to sit in my lap and often request cuddles but you are in fact a big boy.  You have curbed your finger sucking, you (generally) do a good job of listening and following directions and you are my little helper.

Here is what I know about you, God gave you a heart of gold.  You are so caring and sweet, it amazes me.  Your ability to make people (children AND adults) feel special is a true gift. 

You live your life like it is a gift and I love that about you.  Everything around you is "your best" or "your favorite".  You hug everyone and gently kiss your sister like an angel.


My prayer for you, my sweet son is that your spirit will always remain carefree and lovely.  I love you because you are you. 

Love,
Mama

Sleep Sleep Baby

I'm a bad mommy.  Lauren is in no shape or form Baby-Wise.....

Patrick was a horrible sleeper.  I hardly ever put him down, I was never away from him and he slept in our bed until he was 18 months.  He was still sneaking into our bed when he has 5!  Now he sleep walks (last time he grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter) and has to read a book to fall asleep.  He never learned how to self-soothe (no pacifier or anything, I was his pacifier). High maintenance.

Keith was seriously baby wise.  He slept in his own bed at six weeks.  Not only that, he slept through the night!  This wasn't "sleeping through the night" as in 4 hours, he slept for 9 hours and I would have to wake him up in the morning.  And he would take great naps.  (now we are learning that he has a ENT issue but more on that some other day). He learned how to self-soothe early and that was fantastic. Lovely baby.

Now we have Lauren.  You would think that I would have it figured out but I don't want to figure it out.  Neither of us is racing to get her to sleep in her crib.  She has no real set schedule.  She often naps for hours in her car seat.  She catnaps most days and then one day will take a three-hour nap (fat stores!).  She is our first pacifier baby and that has positives and negatives.  Bottom-line: she's pretty high maintenance.  So sometimes she falls asleep while she's nursing and I stay in one spot for extended periods. sigh.

Something Strange

Last week was rainy and long.  BOO!  On Thursday I sent Patrick and Kevin out for a little Father-Son bonding. YAY!  Patrick really needed new shoes and his tadpoles needed a new house.  So off they went....

 Patrick's New Kicks.  Nice.  But it was weird.  All of the sudden he seemed so different, so tall, so old.

 Was it the shoes? I'm not sure but Friday Morning Mommy tears are uncalled for so I just took some pictures of my big boy.

 So handsome.....

 Then yesterday he went to breakfast with Grandma and Uncle Robby dressed in crazy layers of clothes, sweats and a beanie....  Today, he dressed for church in this:

 He is still Patrick, but he has a new style.  A new attitude.  Something is definitely different about him.

 Wow.  Where's my baby?

p.s. I'm embracing his new sense of style.  Given my straight and narrow styling, I am kind of looking forward to what he will put together next.  And I actually considered taking him shopping for his own clothes!  FUN! Purely Patrick

So wrong, yet so right.

 When you're a mom, you're a mom all the way....  Look at this picture from Devre's wedding.....

 

Here, take a closer look.

   

What's wrong with this picture? 1) I forgot to put on half of my makeup! 2) Lauren is desperately crying out for help!

Three kids make getting ready for a wedding very interesting.  I would be tempted to categorize that as "not fun"

What's right with this picture?  I got time with my oldest and dearest friend (Haidee. We've been friends since we were six?!?!) at my soul sister's wedding...sigh.  When we were younger and my dad would take us out people always thought we were sisters.  biggest compliment for me.

Look at our first-borns....they could be brother and sister, no?

I'm so grateful that Kevin was there to help with kid management.  One day we will be able to take these little people out in public.  And Lo-Lo and I are both rocking the fur!