Sound the Alarm! Happy 4th Birthday!

Last week we celebrated our little boy turning 4. He's been talking about turning 4 for awhile so this was a big day for him. I really like the idea of doing an activity together as a family to celebrate our birthdays, and N is in love with fire trucks lately, so instead of a big party we opted to set up a tour of the local fire station with friends, followed by a family party at home later that night. I was excited Lucas was able to join us for the tour as well since it was a work day.

I'm not going to lie, I do love throwing a party though. I love all of the details of a party. So even though we were doing something low key and getting a few friends together for the tour, I did end up putting together some cupcakes to send home with everyone as a little favor.

We also wanted to do something to thank the fire men and women for all that they do. I made a batch of this yummy popcorn to take to them. Seriously good.

I wish I had been able to capture N walking around holding the fireman's hand. It was adorable. They walked hand-in-hand while N asked what everything was on the fire truck and was awe struck by everything he was told. I love having him get to know real life heroes.

Little Miss enjoyed the tour as well.

The birthday boy had the opportunity to get a print out of his heart rate while being shown around the ambulance that had just come in.

Holding their ears while the siren goes off.

The group. How adorable are they?

Buddies.

These two are like two peas in a pod. What a great morning.

We set up the kitchen for our little family party after dinner. N had waited patiently all day to get to dig into his presents.

A couple of the gifts.

The big gift this year was N's first big boy bike. We had been planning to get him one anyway but it was really exciting for him since it was the one thing he had been asking for. We had taken him around to several shops to get an idea of what he liked and this Radio Flyer bike is the one he kept clinging to. I'm glad I was able to snag it on sale before the holiday rush.

It's hard to believe we put four candles on a cupcake this year. I'm so thankful to God for this little boy who made me a mommy.

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl

I love planning parties. I had loads of ideas for miss M's 2nd birthday, thanks Pinterest, and yet none of them came to fruition. In fact, I'm not sure there is one homemade item that made it to our little family party...except for the birthday girl herself!

We've had such a worn out, wild ride the last couple of months that I tried to think about what my baby girl would really want. What does she love right now?

And the answer...Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Oh how she loves her some Mickey and Minnie. And while I normally shy away from all things character, I decided to embrace Miss Minnie and shower my little girl with her all Saturday long.

Simple and fun. Perfect.

I downloaded these cute printables from here. I think they added just enough "homemade" touch to satisfy me.

While she had no idea what she did to deserve all of the fun and presents, she definitely picked up on how to unwrap the gifts.

M is getting into playing dress up a little bit and loves to change her shoes and carry a purse around so when I saw this cute Minnie dress on sale I snatched it up. She loved getting to be like Minnie for the afternoon.

I took N to the store a couple of weeks before his sister's birthday to pick out a gift. He was very proud to give it to her and remembered exactly what he had gotten her.

I hope they always stay close.

Oooo-ing over one of her Snap 'n Style dolls.

She will kiss anything that is a baby or is a picture of a baby. The card was no exception.

While she loves to play with her brother's cars and trains, I was glad to get a few girl items in the house for her to enjoy.

When I was at the store I came across this musical birthday card that played the "Hot Diggity Dog" song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. M thought it was hysterical to keep opening and closing it to get the music to play. We did not.

I'm so thankful the Lord gave me the desires of my heart to have this little girl. I cannot imagine life without her. She is a determined one who already has an opinion of her own, yet she is loving and kind and gives the best snuggles and kisses.

There is nothing like this little girl's love for her daddy. The feeling is mutual.

Love her.

Big brother giving some assistance putting on this princess' shoe.

Perhaps too much sugar?

Can't miss those birthday phone calls from those we love far away.

In honor of the Clubhouse theme song...we had hot dogs.

The little miss gently blew out her candles. I'm surprised she actually blew the flame out she was so gentle.

We topped the night off by watching her new Minnie Mouse dvd.

Happy 2nd Birthday Madeline Grace. We cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for you, and we feel honored to get to be apart of it all.

Choo Choo! Look Who's Two!

I can hardly believe my little baby is two years old. He has been such a blessing to our family and we love him more with every passing day. I thank the Lord for trusting in us to raise him into a God-fearing man and my prayer is that He will grow up to serve God in amazing ways.

We went with a train birthday party theme this year as that is pretty much all we hear about from our little man. It's an understatement to say that he is obsessed.

I managed to find these cute wooden train whistles and train suckers to go in the goody bags that went along with the train theme.



I wanted to keep things somewhat simple this year and just focus on N getting together with a few of his little friends for a play date at the park. Hubby was able to take a couple of hours off of work to join in on the fun.

The spread.

I had the idea to make a personalized placemat for all of the kids. I was able to snag some Thomas & Friends images from online to print out and laminate. Almost all of the boys were into Thomas so I figured it'd be a huge hit! Oh, and check out the little conductor's hats I found for each of the boys. I was so excited about these but when I went to give one to N to wear he ran from me and refused to put it on. Go figure.


One of the boys looking cool in his conductor hat.

Little Miss got into the birthday spirit as well by wearing her cupcake outfit.

The birthday boy!

What is better than getting messy with a truck and some sand? Let's just say most of us needed to undress our boys before they went into the house.

A few of the boys.

N attempting to blow out his birthday candles.

The gang. Five 2-year olds and one almost 4-year old. Fun times! I couldn't help but laugh when one of the boys grabbed a toy and yelled "mine" and within seconds you hear several of the other boys repeating him yelling "mine" as well.

We opened gifts as a family later on in the evening once Hubby was home from work. I promise I didn't even ask N to put the bow on his head. He's a natural.

We love you Noah! Happy 2nd Birthday!

What a beautiful day.