Brennan's Construction Birthday Party!

After writing about the boys' birthday parties this year, I realized that I never shared Brennan's Construction party from last year!  And I cannot just let it go, because that was a really, REALLY fun party to put together.  

We had just moved from Florida to Michigan and were living with Brian's parents' while we searched for a new home of our own.  So I had plenty of time to put together a really fun party for our little 4 year old!

 

Decorations were a blast to put together.  We used black paper lanterns as "wrecking balls" and coils of orange raffia as " extension cords".  Since the boys have lots of construction trucks, we had lots available to decorate the table!

The menu included all kinds of snacks.  Friends, I had SO.MUCH.FUN coming up with all of these names.  Some were from things I had seen on Pinterest, others I came up with on my own.  Here's the rundown:

Construction Cones = Candy Corn
Pebbles = Reese Pieces
Gravel = Puppy Chow
Lumber = Vanilla Wafer Cookies
Spackle & Drywall = Hummus & Pita Chips
Nuts & Bolts = Chex Mix
Beams & Concrete = Carrots & Dip
Bricks & Mortar = Crackers & Cheeseball
Landscaping = Broccoli Salad
Debris = Chicken Salad
Wrecking Balls = Rolls
Rocks & Stones = Homemade Chicken Nuggets

We served lemonade at the "Cooling Station", had a Dumping station for gifts, and put out all of Brennan's construction books for his friends to read while at the party.

The cake was by far my favorite part!  I picked up a pack of construction vehicles to decorate the "construction site".   The giant crack in the center of the cake was a happy accident.  Brennan thought that it was awesome, so I rolled with it!

This big guy loved his construction party.  We had hardhats for the kids and Brennan had a blast handing one out to each of his friends.  And of course his brothers had a blast too, because what 2-year-old boy wouldn't?

Daddy even dressed up in his hardhat and toolbelt, like a "real construction guy" according to Brennan.  That just elevated Daddy right past superhero status in his mind!  It was definitely a day full of great memories for our little family!

Brennan turned FIVE! {an Invention Contraption Party}

Continuing on the birthday party train, let's recap Brennan's 5th Birthday!  Brennan requested an "Invention Contraption" party.  Yeah, that one stumped me.  I also wanted to keep it really simple.  

So the plan?  Sheetcake with Mousetrap on the top, build-your-own dessert cars, and a table full of scraps of things for the kids to build their own Inventions & Contraptions.  I found a Mousetrap game at a thrift store for super cheap, bleached the pieces, ran them through the dishwasher, and set it up on a big giant sheetcake.  Brennan was THRILLED.  

I would love to show you the cute little dessert contraption bar that my Mom put together for the kids to build things ... but this party was apparently so laid back that I forgot to take photos of anything but cake and gift opening.  Oops.  Also, the giant table full of fun scrap things for the kids to build their own inventions?  Forgot to photograph those too.  

But honestly, we enjoyed this party so much.  The relaxed atmosphere was just the perfect way to celebrate our first baby turning FIVE.  I can hardly believe it.  How did that happen?  

This boy.  He has the most amazing spirit.  His heart is huge, his laugh is infectious, and his imagination never stops.  This sweet boy, the one who made me a Mommy, makes me so proud to call him mine!

The Brothers turned 3! {a Firefighter Rescue Party}

So, yes, Beckett & Kiernan turned 3.  And, yes, it was back in September.  But someone was asking me about it the other day and I realized that I never posted pictures of either of our birthday parties this year!  

The boys are big into firefighters lately.  Pretty standard for a 3 year old boy, if you ask me!  I wanted to keep it pretty simple this year, but still fun for the boys, so I focused my efforts on desserts.  Kiernan REALLLLLLY wanted a "real" firetruck cake.  So I did my best to create one for him.  Brian & I laughed through the entire process because the cake just did not want to stand up and the icing did not want to stay on the cake.  Is it the prettiest thing ever?  Hell no.  But the boys loved it so I'm calling it a win.  

The cupcakes were red velvet and delicious.  I lumped a few different colors of icing in a bag and got nice and sloppy with a cake tip to try to get a bit of a flame effect.  Again, not all that pretty, but the boys sure loved it.  

And to round out the dessert table?  More chocolate.  I ordered some police/fire/ambulance chocolate molds from Amazon and whipped up a batch of colorful chocolates and some dark chocolate ones for those of us who prefer our chocolate to be as dark brown as possible.  

The day was simple and sweet.  Surrounded by our closest friends and family, we celebrated our babies taking one more step toward becoming big boys.  It's just so hard to believe that they have only been in our lives for 3 short years.

They really love each other fiercely ... so fiercely, in fact, that hugs often usually almost always result in wrestling matches.  We tried to make sure that this hug was an exception to that rule.  Wrestling matches are really better left until after candles are blown out.   

 

Every year on their birthday, Beckett & Kiernan each get their own "cake", candle, and birthday song.  When they were babies, we attended a birthday party for my friend's twin boys, and at the party we sang to each boy separately.  I loved the thought that even though they share a birthday, they each deserve their own song!  

We sang for Beckett, then we sang for Kiernan, and then Brennan serenaded them with his "May the Dear Lord bless you" version of the birthday song.  Beckett liked it.  Kiernan was ready to finally get to examine the firetruck cake.    

After lots and lots of cake was consumed, we tucked away into the living/dining room to open gifts.  We are so, so incredibly blessed to have such thoughtful people in our lives.  While a party with all of these wonderful people celebrating them would have been enough for our boys, they certainly enjoyed opening gifts.  

All in all, it was a sweet, calm day to celebrate 2 sweet, not-so-calm little boys, while surrounded by those we love the most.  We really couldn't ask for anything more!

Except for Rescue Bots.  Apparently we can always ask for more Rescue Bots because we can never have enough.  This is a lesson that I am still learning.  The hard way! 

June 2013.

Oh June.  What a great month!  

First of all, I have to say that I've had a lot of fun watching Brennan grow & mature lately.  He is taking fewer naps, which provides for more one on one time with him while the Brothers are napping.  Some of the big favorites this month were puzzles and learning about volcanoes.  At one point he was "reading" a volcano book while watching a volcano video.  Brennan and I even had a nice little fro-yo date after a very, um, dramatic haircut for him.  It's nice to be able to spend a little one-on-one time with my biggest baby.  

My photografriend Lisa and her hubby have 3 kiddos - 6 year old twin boys and a 2 year old girl.  With as much traveling as we do and as many photo shoots they do on the weekends, we rarely have the opportunity to get everyone together.  But we took advantage of a free weekend in June and headed over to their house for a BBQ.  Brennan loves to play with the big boys, the littles love to run around together, and we parents love to be able to sit and chat while the kiddos run wild.  

Early June was filled with lots of normalcy.  The Brothers are starting to require timeouts on the regular, which just reminds me that they're quickly approaching ... 2.  They're still quite snuggly babies though.  I must admit that there are days when I'm just "touched out", but it's rare that I'll turn down a bedtime snuggle because I know that these moments won't last forever.

Brian filled up the pool in the backyard and the boys have had so much fun swimming and playing and trying to keep cool.  They love squirting each other with the hose and practicing their swimming techniques.   Mommy & Daddy are enjoying the ability to put our feet up and watch the fun with beers (and a camera, duh) in our hands.  

Father's Day was pretty laid back in our house this year.  The boys (and by that I mean "I") bought Brian a few small things.  We tend to keep Mother's Day & Father's Day to small, meaningful gifts, usually something that the boys make.

This year I found a great deal on a remote control helicopter and decided that it would be something that all 4 boys could enjoy together.  I hid it successfully in the bottom of my closet until 2 days before Father's Day when Brennan discovered it and yelled, "Daddy!  Look what I found!"  Brian smiled sheepishly at me and said, "Um, I think he found my Father's Day gift".  They all spend most of Father's Day enjoying the helicopter together and all-around enjoying the most important man in our life.  I always knew that Brian would make a great Dad, but I had no idea that he would be this amazing.  We are all so lucky to have him.

Much of June involved playing outside, getting dirty & sweaty, and taking baths to remedy the situation.  The boys love to draw with chalk, play hopscotch (kinda), ride their bikes and "fix" the cars.  Of course, Florida summers are pretty hot and the sun is intense, so we try to keep the outside times reserved for early mornings or evenings.  They also really love to be "naked" when they're outside, if you couldn't tell from the pictures.  We're totally that family.

Mr. Beckett looooooves to drive the car.  And Kiernan really prefers to ride shotgun, so there is much less arguing than I anticipated.  Whenever they drive around like this, I have visions of them in 15 years and my heart does little flip flops.  They're growing up too fast.    

As I said, bike riding is a favorite past time around here.  Brian recently found a great deal on a bike on Craigslist, so he has been biking to work occasionally to help build up strength in his leg.  Brennan's physical therapy has helped with his strength and it's becoming easier for him to ride his bike.  They've attempted a few father/son bike rides, but they usually only make it to the end of the block before turning around.  Baby steps ;)  The brothers love to get in on the bike riding action too, practicing on their trike or sitting on Brennan's big bike.  Kiernan's favorite part is wearing Brennan's bike helmet.

Uncle Cory came for a visit a few days before my birthday.  On Friday the 21st, we headed to the zoo for a few hours.  Since there were 3 adults, we decided to ditch the stroller and let the boys walk.  I think they really enjoyed the freedom, and it was much less chaotic than I imagined it would be!

My favorite thing about our zoo is the opportunity to feed so many of the animals.  The boys love the interaction with the deer, birds, and giraffes in particular.  It was such a great morning.

As it neared noon, Brian stalled and stalled.  He seemed to be taking his sweet time and the boys were getting hungry and tired.  So of course I was getting annoyed.  Then when we left he wanted Chick-Fil-A.  When I suggested we drive through and he refused, finally declaring that he wanted "4 to 5 fountain Cokes", I knew he had something up his sleeve.  I had no idea what it was, but I decided that I better just go with it.  Imagine my surprise when I was waiting for our drinks and my parents and sister walked through the door!

It was the greatest surprise.  I was over-the-moon excited to see them, especially George since I hadn't seen her since Christmas.  After lunch, we headed back to our house.  We chatted while Brennan and Brian played in the rain.  It was an awesome day!

On my birthday we headed to Brian's office for a cookout with our friends.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.  My Mom & Brennan made me a cake and that evening we sang Happy Birthday and I opened a few gifts.  It was a wonderful birthday, and I have to say, 30 feels pretty good.

Sunday we headed to the beach.  It was nice to have lots of extra hands and the boys loved body-surfing. 

The difference in the boys' personalities is really evident at the beach.  While they all enjoy being in the water and playing in the sand, they each definitely have favorites.  Mr Beckett prefers playing in the sand, often under the shade of our tent.  He's a sand thrower, but luckily his favorite target is his own head instead of his brothers.  Kiernan likes to chase things.  I know.  Shocking, right?   Birds, waves, airplanes, people.  You name it, the kid wants to run after it.  On this particular trip he was having a blast pointing out all of the airplanes.  While he likes to play in the sand with Beckett & chase things with Kiernan, Brennan's favorite thing is to be out in the water with an adult (usually his Daddy) holding him and "jumping" over the big waves.

I can't even explain how much easier it is to go out to eat with more adults to help with the boys.  We seldom eat out at restaurants because A.) it gets expensive with our growing boys and B.) it's chaos.  So it's nice to have extra adults around to help control the chaos so that we can enjoy a meal at a restaurant now and then. 

Aunt George came bearing gifts for the boys and they kept her busy while enjoying those gifts.  She supervised time in the rice box sensory bin, helped with the painting kit she brought, and manned the pump for the airbrush kit she brought for Brennan.  Mommy enjoyed telling Brennan to "go ask Aunt George for help" while she was here :)

Of course, everyone got plenty of snuggles while they were here.  Each boy seemed to have a favorite person to stick close to.  Brennan had lots of fun with Aunt George, Kiernan loves his Grammy, & Mr Beckett wants nothing to do with anyone but Grampy.  So on the rare occasion that Beckett went near Grammy, we had to snap a picture to document that he does actually love her.

Going to the pool at their hotel was another HUGE hit.  Apparently I have 3 little fish.  It took Brennan a bit to get used to the pool and he insisted on wearing his swimmies.  I hadn't planned on putting swimmies on the Brothers, but had thrown them in the bag just in case.  When Kiernan saw Brennan's, he insisted on a pair of his own and wouldn't let anyone help him swim.  Beckett wanted a pair on too and required a little more assistance, but they all had an absolute blast in the pool.  It made me sad that they don't get to enjoy Grammy & Grampy's pool more often!

The boys also wanted to show Grammy & Grampy how we take walks around the block ... footloose and fancy free.  Brennan showed off his car spotting skills when we crossed the street and they all showed off their "Red light, green light" game.

It was so hard to see them leave, but it was made a bit easier knowing that Brennan and I would head to Michigan in a few short weeks.  What a wonderful way to end a great month!  

MonkeyFace Racing {Brennan's Race Car Birthday Party}.

So we had another birthday party at our house a few weeks ago ... or a month ago.  Whatever.  I'm a little behind.  Oh, and as always, forgive the terrible photography.  My house is full of light and I have a crappy camera and I have no idea how to make the 2 be friendly.  

Brennan turned 3 years old and decided on a "racing car" theme for his party, so I ran with it!  

As usual, I designed the invitation myself.  I created a "MonkeyFace Racing" logo (Brennan's nickname is MonkeyFace ... I have no idea why) and made my own little spin on a pit pass.  Lots of fun and Brennan thought it was the coolest.  

We hung up some "Welcome Race Fans" and "Gase Raceway" signs outside.  Brian stopped at the auto parts store and grabbed a few empty boxes that they were willing to part with, and we sat them outside next to Brennan's PowerWheels car, along with an empty gas can, some hose, and a few other car-ish things.  Cute little way to set the mood for the party.