Caleb's Second Birthday

Caleb's past parties, continued:

Caleb's second birthday party theme was a no-brainer! He is our little handy man with an incredable ability to operate real tools. He always wanted to open things up to see how they worked and could actually get Brian's screwdriver onto a screw and turn it long before his second birthday! He didn't watch much tv at all, but when he did it was Disney's Handy Manny. He was Handy Manny for Halloween too! Unfortunately the show was so new that there were no costumes available and definetly no decorations...so I had to make them all again. I just got a colouring book (which they did have!) and traced out the show's characters, coloured them, backed them with paper and hung them up around the house. We moved Caleb's tool bench and tools into the living room, set up lots of table and chairs in every bedroom for extra seating and voila! He had close to twenty friends at this party, so it was another fabulously packed house and we loved every minute! We served up Mexican Lasagna and salad, since Handy Manny has latino roots, and played up on the fiesta colours! I couldn't find the file with the party invitation for this one, and Colleen did an excellent job on it too! I will keep looking and try to update the post later. It has Caleb as Handy Manny and everything!

Who wouldn't want the warning?

We put Santa to work too.

The favours. I made cookies from Mrs Portillo's bakery and fudge from Mr Lopart's candy store. I put them in wrappers with stickers that had the character's pictures on it with the name of their bakery/store. There were also Handy Manny stickers and stuff.

Some of my most excellent artwork....ha ha. I commissioned an unnamed artist to make a toddler sized cutout of Handy Manny...but it didn't work out. Nobody noticed. All was well.

The streamers looked so good last year that we did them again. Poor Brian. He still didn't understand why they couldn't stay up all month...again...Christmas decorations!

Where is everyone?

Not the fanciest cake but it did its job. My friend Heather saved the day with her excellent icing-writing skills!

A pretty good representation of the children at the party. You try to get them all in one spot at one time! I love that Trevor is playing and that Caleb is carrying around the crayon bucket!

I cut out letters and put them on the other side that said "Caleb's Workshop." This was the kid's construction project for the party. They coloured it. We still have it and Caleb loves it when we pull it out!

The birthday banner. It did survive!

Our birthday boy and his Pop! We love you Caleb!

Up Next: Caleb's Third Birthday, Dinosaur Themed

Caleb's First Birthday

So I have had a few requests for posts with pictures of Caleb's past birthdays. I promised to put them out this week as a sort of countdown until his Fireman party. I am NOT a Martha Stewart fan but I do aspire to be Martha Stewart-like...and while I know I have a long way to go, I really do put my heart and soul into the planning. We literally (by we, I mean me...later agreed upon by Brian) chose Caleb's first party theme while we were still in the hospital after he was born. We didn't find out his gender until that glorious moment when he was born and Brian said "Sweety, it's Caleb!" I remember holding him later the next day and deciding that our little man needed a Safari Party for his first birthday. I literally planned the whole year. I wasn't wishing away any of his first year, I just knew that such a precious treasure needed a big celebration! I didn't like any of the safari decorations available either, so I made our own. I don't have my brother's artistic skills, but I had so much fun doing this! There are a lot of pictures, you should all know by now that I am not good at editing down my photos...but everyone wanted to see a little something different about the party and I am a people-pleaser! I hope you enjoy this post as much as we did putting it together...it was a walk down memory lane! Wasn't he just the most adorable baby in the entire planet! SERIOUSLY!

Happy First Birhday Caleb!

My friend Colleen has done every single one of Caleb's invitations. She does great work and we love everything she produces!

Some signs on our walkway to the house...

...not like the kids could read, but I was counting on the parents to help out...

All of the kids got safari hats with passports attached (with their names on it). I was going to put the passports on strings to wear, but worried about the little ones and put them on the hats instead.

Caleb had 17 friends show up at his party with their parents in tow. It was a delightfully full house! I loved their favours and attached cute little tags to each box with their name on it.

We served some safari snacks: animal crackers, popcorn, safari animal-shaped sandwiches and cheese, a lion cake and gluten-free cupcakes with lion foot prints on top (chocolate).

Mom and I worked hard on this. I give Mom pretty much all of the credit for this one!

Brian put up the streamers and questioned why they had to come down a few days later (Christmas decorations!)! =) I also made a little picnic spot for the kids out of a green tablecloth: I podgied on some animal footprints that I cut out of black paper. It was cute but did not survive the party.

The following pictures are the wall decorations I made. They haven't survived either.

Note that I forgot to put on the ribbon arms and legs for the monkey. Oh well. Hardly anyone mentioned it...

I wanted to keep the kiddos out of Caleb's room, so since it was a Noah's ark theme, I made a game out of spotting the animals hidden around it.

Caleb's Base Camp. But it was freezing cold and mostly untouched as a result. Oh well.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! Caleb just walked up and started to help himself to Mrs Angie's food! I trust Angie COMPLETELY when it comes to germs, so I was not worried...this still cracks me up!

We had a super fun day! SUPER FUN!

Up Next: Caleb's Second Birthday, Handy Manny themed!

FOUR YEARS ALREADY?

Okay, so Caleb's birthday isn't until Thursday, but we had his little family party today. The last four years have been nothing short of amazing and blessed. Caleb is perfect and we are in awe that God chose us as his parents! Thank you God!

Caleb chose a Lightening McQueen theme for this party and was so excited for everyone to arrive this morning. He kept asking us where they were and when they would get here. This birthday is different than any in the past because he has been living in anticipation of turning four! He has anticipated his parties and picked out the themes (next weekend is his Fireman Party!)! His enthusiasm is contagious, though ask any of my friends and they will probably tell you that I have never lacked in any enthusiasm for Caleb's parties. I love planning them!

This party was catered by Flo's Diner. Brian and I acted as her sioux chefs and kept the menu simple. Nothing says Route 66 diner food like hamburgers (grilled), homemade ketchup, ice-cream floats and french fries! Yummers! We topped it off with cupcakes: Caleb chose white cake with white frosting. Dad says he needs to be properly instructed in cake choice (as in...choose cholocate Caleb!), but our dude has always loved vanilla. Sorry Dad! I tried to get creative with the cupcakes and wanted to put them on his racetrack toy, to look like his Cars toys were racing. I am not sure if I really pulled off the look, but Caleb loved it and that is all that mattered...I did remember to turn the toy off so that we didn't have a cupcake pile-up!

Caleb had a blast and is now eagerly awaiting his big party with his friends next week. He loves his new toys but he will be the first to tell you that he just loved having everyone here with him. He still misses Chrystal and Shane and we think it is because they were here for multiple days...he knew they would still be here when he woke up in the morning and would play with him all day! Our little boy is as social as we are and that is a true blessing!

Happy Almost Birthday Little Dude! We love you!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the quiet holidays. Have y'all noticed that? Or is that just in our world? We spent the night at my parent's house and embraced my Mom's invitation to make it a pajama day...though shortly after lunch Caleb discarded his pjs and ran around in his underwear the remainder of the day...which I am sure still qualifies!

We are extremely grateful for my Mom and Dad, aka Grammy and Pop...and Chai. They are a big part of our dude's world and never fail to make us feel loved and special. Thank you for all that you do Mom and Dad!

We had a really good meal, I still say my Mom makes the best holiday meals ever, and a lazy day. We watched the Macy's Day Parade and Caleb was so excited to see the Buzz Lightyear Balloon...we had to rewind several times so that he could see it! He was a non-stop ball of energy in a room full of lethargic adults full of turkey! He did not stop moving ALL day! Uncle Matt set up all of his old legos in my parents living room and it is Caleb's favourite place to play! Though by late afternoon he was camped out in the loft with our old Fisher Price toys while we watched him and a bit of the Cowboys game (in our lethargic state mentioned above...).

Thank you God for our many blessings. For our little dude, for our little family and for my parents. They made Thursday a delightfully calm and special day! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Reading with Grammy! She gave him a new book when he woke up that morning and by this point I had lost count as to how many times they had read it. We now read it at least once a day. "There Was A Coyote That Swallowed A Flea" from our roadtrip through New Mexico!

Enough with the camera Mommy!

Have I ever mentioned how handy our little dude is in the kitchen? He is fantastic and genuinely loves to help. He had his little hands in every dish we made!

Daddy helped keep Caleb entertained while we got dinner on the table.

Dad and Brian got the same pajama pants for Christmas a few years ago and just happened to wear them at the same time...they didn't think this photo op was nearly as cute as I did...but they did cooperate!

TIME TO EAT! Wish you could have seen Chai jumping around trying to get in on it too...we would see her little head and ears flop up and down as she tried to snatch a snack! I think she is part kangaroo...And note Caleb's enthusiasm for his little A&W glass. Pop introduced it to him that morning and he loves it...I used to drink out of it when I was little!

Sweet Weekend

Have I ever mentioned how much we love our friends? Seriously, they are the most amazing group of people. We love them dearly. They are so friendly, generous, inspiring and encouraging. And this past weekend we got to fill our time with them! How great is that?!?!

One of Caleb's little buddies was celebrating her fourth birthday and we were so excited for her Tangled party. Charlie is the most beautiful little Rapunzel! So precious. I absolutely love her Mommy, Mary, and we are trying to be brave as they prepare for their move next week. NEXT WEEK! Sob! Charlie was born four days before Caleb and has been an ever-present pal in his classes at Church. Her older brother, Ty, is also one of Caleb's favourite people, so this was a fantastically fun start to our weekend! Mary even let me in on the party planning and I HAD A BLAST!

painting with Rapunzel and Ty

the boys

showing off his royal headwear

sharing with Princess Tatum...so proud!

After the party we went home to put up our Christmas lights. You have no idea how much this excited our dude. He has always loved Christmas lights! You shoud hear his excitement every time he sees a house all lit up! This was also the warmest day we have had for doing this....Caleb is usually bundled up so much that he can hardly see or move and Brian is typically in sweats and a toque and gloves! What a difference!

my boys hard at work

my expert!

having a blast with the pile of leaves he raked up all by himself!

Thrilled! So Thrilled!

And to top it all off, my friend Chrystal and her husband Shane flew in on Sunday to spend a few days with us. Chrystal and I have been friends since GRADE ONE and she is the only friend that I really kept up with since our move to the States. I love her to pieces and this was such a fantastic treat! Caleb and I stayed with them for four days in 2009 when we flew up to Edmonton and then to Saskatoon. Caleb really connected with them, especially Shane, and I was super curious to see if that would still be the case. It absolutely was. He had so much fun with them and has spent the last two days lamenting the fact that they left. I feel you buddy. I feel you. We miss you Chrystal and Shane! COME BACK!!!!! Pleeeeeeeeeease! We love you!

Dear Sweet Chrystal and Shane

Shane made a cucumber sandwich and I was so excited to be surrounded by people who don't think I eat wierd food!

Caleb and his buddy Shane

I miss game nights! This was so much fun!

Caleb was already bummed that they were leaving...

Caleb totally took this picture completely by himself! EXCELLENT!

I need to dig up some old pictures of us....I can't imagine what life would be like without my ray of sunshine, aka Chrystal!!!!

I don't have any pictures, but Caleb and Brian also got to go to little Emily's first birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I can't believe that sweet Emily is already a year old. She is one of the sweetest little babies I know and I don't look forward to the day that she won't want to cuddle anymore...Happy Birthday Emily! We love you too!