Happy 4th birthday me matie

This year Daxon decided to celebrate his 4th birthday with a pirate party. We originally decided that this year we were going to have something low key, as the last three birthdays were big parties (last year we rented a popcorn machine and a cotton candy machine). But as the day approached, it became clear that was not going to be the case. So began the planning of a pirate party.

Food is always a big thing around our house, you cant have a special event or party without food!! (personally, I think food is what makes a party) So to make it fun I came up with pirate names for all the food.

The veggie tray I called land lovers and made a palm tree for the middle, using a carrot and a green pepper. (I broke the handles off the plastic swords and used them to hold the pepper on the carrot and then used the other half of the pepper as a stand). I cut cheese cubes and called them pirates gold. What's a pirate party with out pirate swords?? So we cut fruit into pieces and stuck them on plastic swords, Daxon was such a big help with putting the fruit on the swords, I think he made most of them! We also served hot dogs and buns, but since I know Daxon prefers his hotdog without a bun, I cut some of the hotdogs both ways, half ways up and put them in the oven for about 10 mins, they curl up and look like squids! This was definitely a hit with the kids, we called them silly squid. We also have a pasta salad which we called treasure salad.

For the party favors, I first made a skull stencil using a picture that I found online and then put it on the front of a brown paper bag, using black spray paint I then painted over the stencil. I printed off tags that said "Thanks for being me matie", using a lighter I then burnt the edges and tied them to the bags with a black ribbon. The bags where filled with a 25 piece Jack and the neverland pirate puzzle, a glow stick sword, pirate stickers and pirate candy
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For entertainment we had a treasure chest pinata, which I made using the steps from this site (I just couldn't justify spending $20.00 on something the kids were going to smash). I was so excited the way it turned out and it actually stood up to a lot of beating. We also had a tattoo station which we named "Jolly Rodger Tattoo" and extra glow swords from the treat bags which the kids had fun playing with.

I don't think we could have asked for a better day and a better little boy (or should I say young man) to celebrate!!

Happy October 31

If you ask Daxon what he wants to be to when he grows up, hes going to say a fireman. I think its a stage all little boys go thru and Daxon has been in it for two years now. So I pretty much knew the answer when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween and I was even luckier that he already had a fireman suite. (which he wears on a weekly basis, because hes 3 and he can) So what does a fireman need?? A fire dog of course, which he designated Tatum to be! I was lucky to find a lady who was selling a dalmatian costume which was the perfect size. So there you have it, I had everything planned a month before Halloween, well so I thought. You cant be a fireman and a fire dog without a firetruck. So after some searching, this is what we ended up with!

 The fireman and his fire dog

 The fireman pulling the fire dog in the firetruck

 

 The firetruck, which I made using two pieces of cardboard, that I painted to look like a firetruck and attached them each piece to the wagon with zip ties! 

It was a total hit with everyone who seen it and work out perfect for taking Tatum trick or treating around the block! Daxon loved pulling it. Since she is still so small I took her highchair seat and put it in the wagon, so she could be strapped in.

I cant wait to think of a matching costume for them next year!