Where Does The Time Go?

Oh my!  It really was a long time since I regularly posted on my blog.  Time really does seem to slip by so fast.  It seems like just a few days ago it was the beginning of the year.  I can hardly believe how much has happened since the first of the year.  So the next few posts I'll try and do a little recap:

January:  Went to Hawaii with my husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandson #1 to visit with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson #2.  We planned the trip especially so we could be there to help celebrate Harper's 1st Birthday.  My what an event!  His party was circus themed and that meant that we all needed to come up with a costume to wear to his party.  

I made him a little red and black ringmaster jacket because of course he was the leader of the circus! 

 

Harper with his Ringmaster "Ring of Fire"!  He had just started walking a few days before his birthday but still wanted to crawl sometimes.  He would crawl and crawl through his "Ring of Fire" and then look up at us and wait for us to clap our hands and say "Yeah Harper!"

 

My daughter was the fortune teller of our circus.  She was absolutely beautiful in her costume and her hat and of course Harper is so cute!  Heather planned a fun and beautiful party for her little sweetie's 1st Birthday Party!   She planned every little detail and thought of everything to make it a wonderful party!

 

My husband was dressed up as the beautiful Bearded Lady.  I was really surprised but he really did enjoy himself in his costume!  He was wearing several items from female relatives.  His dress was our daughter in laws grandma's, the shoes were my mom's and he was wearing my earrings and brooch.   I was getting a little worried as he was getting so many compliments.

I was a cheetah.  I looked everywhere for a costume!  I looked for things that I could just put together into some kind of a costume from regular department stores.  I think I bought ever type of item I could find in cheetah print.  I just couldn't find what I wanted so I ended up buying a ready made costume online.  I was going to sew my own but found it was actually less expensive to purchase one ready made.  It was made out of some stretchy material that showed every lump and bump in my body!  I really didn't like that too much.  Unfortunately it also was waaay too hot for Hawaii to wear for too long.  I ended up having to take it off after about an hour or so.  I was way too hot to wear it all day.  I guess I should have thought of that before I decided on wearing and keeping the costume 

I don't know if you can tell or not but I had to add some bling to my costume so there is a lot of crystals on the neck collar.  I had to have my bling on even in a costume!  

 

My son was a bucket of popcorn.  We took everything to make his costume with us to Hawaii and then assembled it in our hotel room.  That is medical tape that is making up the stripes on his shirt and the label that says "Popcorn".  The popcorn was popped the morning of the party in our hotel microwave and then hand sewed onto his hat.  Every time you got close to him he smelled like fresh popped popcorn.  Yum!

My daughter-in-law was half man/half woman wearing a hot pink formal dress on one side and then a man's white button up dress shirt and dress slacks on the other side,  My son in law was a crazy silly carnival performer wearing the zebra hat, tie and suspenders.  That is his brother wearing the clown costume.  

Connor was the man that shoots out of the Rocket (Cannon).  He didn't keep his Rocket costume on that long because he was really hot also.  His costume was so cute!  I actually found it at Halloween time at Target and saved it for the party.  We knew that it was going to be a circus themed party for several months.  Actually when we gave Heather her baby shower before Harper was born it was also a circus theme.  Talk about coming full circle!  

Here are a couple of pictures of the decor for the party.  The inside of the house was decorated as well as the backyard where most of the party was held at.  There was a candy bar for the guests to help themselves make little candy goodie bags to take home with them.  

 

They had circus cookies, Goldfish crackers, Smarties, M&M's and Sweedish Fish to choose from.  Heather had made and decorated all of the cupcakes for Harper's party too.  She's so talented!

 The adult "liquid refreshments" were kept on ice in a old hand carved canoe.  It held a lot of ice and drinks for all the party goers.

Here is a picture of our little family at the party.  The scenery in the background was a beautiful addition to our family picture.  I believe that is a Banyon Tree behind us.

This photo has both Heather's side of the family and also Ryan's family.  The only people that were missing were Ryan's sister and her husband.  They were not able to make it as Erin was in college and was close to graduating so she couldn't leave to come and help us celebrate. 

Here is my husband and I with our adorable two grandsons.  We feel so lucky to have these wonderful, sweet little boys in our lives!  We didn't know what we were missing until we had grandchildren.  They truly do teach us about unconditional love.

One of Harper's favorite things to do is to go on bike rides.  So what better way to end the party then with a bike ride complete with costumes and balloons. 

We really felt right at home with all the other guests who were in costume also.  There was a lot of silly costumes and it made for a wonderful 1st Birthday for our little birthday boy Harper!

Connor's 2nd Birthday Party

Right after we got back from our trip to Mexico it was our only grandchild Connor's 2nd birthday. We helped our son and daughter in law throw a large party at the park for him. We held it under a canopy and was able to hang decorations and streamers from the ceiling along with decorating the tables. He had a Sponge Bob themed party as Sponge Bob is one of his favorite characters right now. There was BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and dips, a couple of different kinds of salads, fresh fruit, soda, water and of course cake, cupcakes and ice cream.



I think there was about 60 or more people that made it that day to the party. In addition to the playground to play on there was of course several other games for the kids to play. They had a pinata with lots of candy in it and then there was treat bags for the kids also.




They kids really enjoyed playing in the little pools full of bubbles. There was wands and other things to use for the bubbles but a few of the littler kids, including Connor, had more fun playing in the pool of bubbles then out of the pool using the bubbles.



Of course there was presents galore! I think little Connor got a whole new wardrobe and many many new toys for him to play with. He got a little tricycle that came with a little storage compartment on the back from his Grammy and Gramps. He couldn't quite pedal it at first but he climbed right up on it and wanted to stay there for a long while. He also got a child's size lawnmower and a shopping cart filled with fruits, vegetables and other products. He also got a big wheel vehicle which when his daddy was a little boy it was one of his favorite things to play with.



The best part of the party was seeing him interact with his little and big cousins and all of the other kids. In addition to David and I, his other grandparents were there too along with 1 great grandpa and 2 great grandmas. Many of his aunts and uncles and other family members were able to attend that day too. There was quite a few of friends of the family in attendance also.



The weather was very nice that day and his party was just perfect. I can't hardly believe he's 2 already!

Happy Birthday Sweet Connor!

Our sweet little grand baby turned 1 already on May 26th! Where or where does the time go? It seems like he was just born the other day. He has grown so much in such a short time. He is walking around (when he wants too!). He has several teeth and knows how to use them! He is such a sweet little thing and I am totally and completely in love with him! He definitely has this G-Ma wrapped around his cute little finger!



I told you he's gorgeous! He's got such a sweet loving spirit. He loves to laugh and cracks us,and himself, up all the time!



His daddy BBQ for all the 50 something guests. They served Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and 3 differently seasoned Tri-Tip roasts. His mommy arranged for all of the other food with some guests pitching in. There was chips and dip, crackers and cheese, 7-layer dip and tortilla chips, french bread and artichoke dip, fruit salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, green beans, a tossed green salad and all kinds of other delicious dishes!



There was a bounce house for the kids to play in and they sure looked like they were having a lot of fun in there!



There was lots and lots of presents! I don't know how one little boy can need or use so much stuff! Clothes and clothes and toys and toys! Of course this G-Ma might have contributed a lot of the presents but what can I say. I love my grandson and I like to SHOP!!



Of course there was cake and cupcakes and ice cream for everyone.



Then there was a pinata for all the kids to try their luck at. I'm not sure if everyone got a turn though. They started with the birthday boy Connor and then let the kids have a turn by their age.



There was one tired little baby boy at the end of the day! He almost made it all the way through his party before he nodded off! Like a good little host he did stay awake long enough to see his guests off and made sure that they all went home with a goodie bag!