The 1st Birthday Party
Last Saturday, the boys celebrated with their first birthday party. Preparations for this big event started weeks ago (ok, maybe months). We new we wanted a pumpkin party at our house and I knew I wanted the perfect pic for the invitation. I found the most adorable pumpkin hats on Etsy, found the basket at Target, and believe it or not, Justin & my brother took the perfect picture!! There were 100's of shots taken before we found the winner.
Once the invitations went out lots of planning commenced. Perfect decorations, perfect shirts, etc. We were blessed that my mom came out the week before to keep the boys and help me make crafts!
The day of the party was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny day with a high near 80 and breezy. The boys woke up and knew there were lots of things going on at their house. Ma gave them John Deere tractors so they kicked the morning off having a blast opening them and playing.
All of the food turned out amazing. The "monster eyeball" sausage balls were a huge hit (Beckett and Eli loved eating all the left overs for breakfast too!). We had pumpkin dip with scooby bones graham crackers. The tiniest cheeseball mini pumpkin patch. After much trial and error, the mini pumpkins made awesome centerpieces!
After a great nap, we were ready to PARTY! We have this empty side lot where the moonwalk was set up. Justin built a horseshoe pit. We brought out the corral, ball pit, blankets, jumperaoos, set up the drinks & desserts in the drive way. A cute craft table where kids (and big kids :-) decorated foam pumpkins. It was the perfect set up.
I think this is a good place to talk about the highlight of the party.. CRAVE cupcakes. There is a place here in Houston called CRAVE that if you ever visit here, is a must do. They are .. I can't even describe how amazing. We had banana nut and pumpkin. The boys had chocolate with vanilla icing. Poor Eli :-( We bring out the cupcakes, put the hats on, start singing, and (you can see in the picture below) he grabs the elastic for his hat and pops it right as its time to eat! Look at the sad face. My heart was breaking for him. He ended up enjoying his cupcake but he had the saddest red welp across his face. Learning lesson: ribbons on the birthday hats!
The adults got in some yummy CRAVE action too :-)
The front walk turned out amazing! Mom has a cricut and we used it to make the cutest pumpkins and decorations. I bought little wood circles and stakes at Hobby Lobby, sprayed them orange, cricut the letters on each one and we tied raffia around the bottom. This was one of my favorite projects!
I also got to enjoy the party! I am grateful to all my family who came and helped so that Justin and I could enjoy the party with our boys. I am incredibly grateful to all our friends and family that came and shared in this special day. (and of course, our sweet Jen who took these AMAZING pictures). At one point in the afternoon, I looked around.. the sun was shining, my sweet boys were laughing & being loved on, our friends and family were relaxed and enjoying themselves, the breeze was blowing. I just closed my eyes and thanked God for all his goodness and blessings. I felt our angels smiling down at us. It was a perfect celebration of a beautiful first year!
Love,
The Riley's
Once the invitations went out lots of planning commenced. Perfect decorations, perfect shirts, etc. We were blessed that my mom came out the week before to keep the boys and help me make crafts!
The day of the party was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny day with a high near 80 and breezy. The boys woke up and knew there were lots of things going on at their house. Ma gave them John Deere tractors so they kicked the morning off having a blast opening them and playing.
All of the food turned out amazing. The "monster eyeball" sausage balls were a huge hit (Beckett and Eli loved eating all the left overs for breakfast too!). We had pumpkin dip with scooby bones graham crackers. The tiniest cheeseball mini pumpkin patch. After much trial and error, the mini pumpkins made awesome centerpieces!
After playing for awhile, Dee Dee took us outside to see the moonwalk being set up! And of course, the birthday boys got to try it out first :-)
I think this is a good place to talk about the highlight of the party.. CRAVE cupcakes. There is a place here in Houston called CRAVE that if you ever visit here, is a must do. They are .. I can't even describe how amazing. We had banana nut and pumpkin. The boys had chocolate with vanilla icing. Poor Eli :-( We bring out the cupcakes, put the hats on, start singing, and (you can see in the picture below) he grabs the elastic for his hat and pops it right as its time to eat! Look at the sad face. My heart was breaking for him. He ended up enjoying his cupcake but he had the saddest red welp across his face. Learning lesson: ribbons on the birthday hats!
The adults got in some yummy CRAVE action too :-)
The front walk turned out amazing! Mom has a cricut and we used it to make the cutest pumpkins and decorations. I bought little wood circles and stakes at Hobby Lobby, sprayed them orange, cricut the letters on each one and we tied raffia around the bottom. This was one of my favorite projects!
My two little guys had a blast at their party. When I look back through the pictures, I am so happy at the JOY I see on their faces. The bounced, the went down the big slide, the little slide, they played in the balls, they crawled, they LAUGHED and GIGGLED.. it was awesome :-)
I also got to enjoy the party! I am grateful to all my family who came and helped so that Justin and I could enjoy the party with our boys. I am incredibly grateful to all our friends and family that came and shared in this special day. (and of course, our sweet Jen who took these AMAZING pictures). At one point in the afternoon, I looked around.. the sun was shining, my sweet boys were laughing & being loved on, our friends and family were relaxed and enjoying themselves, the breeze was blowing. I just closed my eyes and thanked God for all his goodness and blessings. I felt our angels smiling down at us. It was a perfect celebration of a beautiful first year!
Love,The Riley's