Birthday Parties!

Looking for birthday party ideas?  Tip Junkie has been featuring all kinds of fun party themes and today the theme was PIRATES!  Well... you know.... we might be known for our pirate obssession. ;)

G-man's 1st birthday, the Pirate Birthday Bash is featured as #5 (but pictured as #6 - they work too hard over there, so I don't blame 'em for having a hard time keeping it all straight!)

Be sure to visit Tip Junkie for ideas on parties for boys, girls, tweens and teens!

xoxo,

A Semi-Homemade Guide to Parenting?!?

Thanks for all the comments and concern about the health of the Semi-Homemade Family! I'm happy to report that we're all feeling well, although we got an unplanned break from work & school last week. Mr. Fix-It's grandmother passed away and we spent several days in OK, celebrating her life and spending time with family.
Meanwhile, the girl that sits by me is healthy and back at work, and The Company has sent out Flu Communication, with helpful tips, such as:
~Try to avoid close contact with people who have the flu
I already feel better......

So.... I feel like I've got lots to share with you, but I've got to get things back in order at work and home first. Until then, I'll share with you a little reading material I came across...

This is totally up my alley because:
a - I like to laugh
b - it's possible I have an unusual love of pirates
c - I'm the mom who never read any of those baby/toddler books...
I don't know how to whisper to my baby... I probably don't have the happiest baby on the block.(although mine were pretty happy, in spite of their clueless momma!)... I wouldn't know the first thing about training my kids to sleep (does that make me UNbaby wise?) I really never had time to read those books, and never really cared to (gasp!) I, ahem, like to find my own way. But.... I did read a Jenny McCarthy book or two... if it's funny and something I can relate to, I'm there! Life is serious enough as it is, right?

Therefore, The Guide to Pirate Parenting: Why You Should Raise Your Kids As Pirates and 101 Tips on How to Do It. Here's what it entails:

Never before has raising a pirate been so easy! If you're like most parents, you long to raise your children as pirates, but just don t know how. In Guide to Pirate Parenting you'll learn:
~Ten benefits of raising a pirate
~At what age your child should be able to remove a bottlecap by taking out his glass eye and using it as an opener
~The best place to maroon your disobedient child
~How to remove chewing gum or a giant octopus from your child s hair
~The difference between plundering and pillaging
~How to convert your minivan into a pirate schooner
Each information-packed section ends with, Your pirate's progress, a short quiz that shows whether your child is reaching his or her pirate development milestones.

Hee hee!! Happy Monday - and more to come soon, I'm so ready to discuss Halloween with y'all!

G's Semi-Homemade Pirate Birthday Bash

Are y'all ready for the (gigantic, Texas-sized!) recap of G-man's Pirate Birthday Weekend? I hope you like pictures. I do... love 'em! (One of these days, I'm gonna take a photo class!) There's probably... a hundred pictures here.... I wanted to share all my semi-homemade ideas and all or fun! But don't say you weren't warned!

But first things, first... I'd love, love if you'd go check out the sneak peek from G-man's Rocker Baby Photo Shoot with Kristie last night. I get a free print if I get a certain number of comments on her blog, and I'd love to blow her away with tons of comments! Check out my punk baby & also the sweet pics he took with his Big Sister and 2 very large lollipops in front of the old fashioned candy shoppe downtown! Then be sure to leave a comment. Much thanks!

But back to the all pirate weekend.

Let's start at the beginning..... after running around like a mad (wo)man on Friday, putting together all the special touches, we woke up on Sat to this:

RAIN!!!!!! Can you believe it?! Of course, I had NO back up plan.... (How could I? I mean, I had just put together Plan A within the past 24 hrs.... Plan B was still on my to do list, somewhere under "make sure all guest bathrooms have toilet paper!")

Luckily, most our guests were family from faraway places, and we were flexible as far as start times. (I got extra points with the manager of the beach club for being a "breath of fresh air".... apparently, another party-planning mom was not being so... ahem.. flexible... and made a scene.)

Out of nowhere, the rain cleared, the sun came out, and it was perfect party weather! We headed off to the beach club....

We had rented the pavillion closest to the splash pad! We hung Cap'n G-man's sign, some balloons...

and some pirate pennants and we were set!

While our guests played, I set up lunch.

Semi-homemade beach party menu:

sub sandwiches (picked up by Mr. Fix-It earlier that morning)

pirate peg legs (cheetos!)

goldfish crackers

assorted drinks

and pirate cupcakes to celebrate G-man's first!

I made nothing for this party.... just added my little creative touches to (try) to make it look special! Our sandwiches looked like boats after I added sails:

To decorate, I used the red tablecloths and bowls I scored for 75% off because it was 4th of July clearance! Then I framed G-man's birthday invite and a storyboard I made that said, "thanks for coming!"

We had invited an intimate crowd for G's first (afterall, I DO realize he won't remember this party. But I will. His Big Sis will.) But it got even more intimate when our friends, the P's, had to leave town for a funeral... and when Mr. Everything and Miss Priss had to be out of town as well. But when you plan an intimate party, you just have to be prepared for it to be very.intimate. I do think tht Mrs. Everything and the fam had a ball! (And we'll have to make it up to Miss Priss and Presley with a future beach club date!)

G-man's very first taste of cheetos! Loved 'em (of course!)

On to CAKE!!! The toppers from Custom Parties to go were awesome! They have tons of party themes to choose from. Go check them out and tell them I sent ya! They did the fun Cap'n G-man sign (pictured above), these toppers, some stickers and favor tags (all pictured below). These semi-homemade touches (meaning homemade... but by someone else!) totally made the party!

Here, G has just caught sight of the cupcake deliciousness.... (see the splash pad in the background? Tons o' fun!)

And now I'm super excited, Mom.... bring on the cake!

Time to sing!

The favors.... well, I ended up with alot of good ideas. Which I mostly couldn't use because I had run out of time (saw THE cutest pirate-y stuff on Etsy that I wanted to do... this and this... but it was too late to order!) So, I took that inspiration and came up with my own semi-homemade ideas...

I found some funny color bath foam at the store (top right) and personalized it with those fun stickers from Custom Parties To Go. Then I added goldfisheys in a pirate cello bag, skull suckers, pirate stickers and pencils, plastic telescopes and big bling pirate rings, and nemo fruit candies. Threw it all in a red paper bag (bottom right), with the favor tags (that read: Thanks for coming to my party! Love, G-man) and some red tulle (duh. YES, even for a boy's party!) and it was done. Lesson here? Think it thru earlier... not day before the party. ;)

So the dinner turned out to be a family-only affair.... which was probably for the best, considering the silly factor and how out-of-control it got.... I bought tattoos, thinking the kids would love them. As in the kids under the age of 5. Turns out, tattoos are fun for all ages! But first, dinner....

Semi-Homemade Birthday Dinner -- Brisket Tacos

Brisket Tacos - Those of you who know us, know our love of brisket tacos. Which we were so excited to share. If you'd like the recipe, check it out here. It's a crock pot recipe, so I turned it on before we headed to the beach - easy!

Queso, chips & Mr. Fix-It's famous guac

Cake

Homemade Ice Cream (I'll post the recipe I used soon - it was yummmmmy!)

Aren't those paper plates cute? Almost as cute as Mr. Fix-It working on that ice cream freezer! :) And it was beeee-utiful outside that night, so we had people eating both indoors and out. When I breezed through to take pictures, everyone gave me their best "Arrrrr!"

I decorated the house with gold coins, skull balloons, the color red, Little People pirates, and this Semi-Homemade Pirate Centerpiece:

The "how to" is easy and totally semi-homemade. I took a red ceramic container..... bought a block of craft foam that fit inside.... covered with a red napkin from the party..... and stuck skull lollipops in a stair-stepped set of rows. Then I taped on a leftover from my favor tags. Done!

Remember those Watch Me Grow (pirate edition) pictures? They hung on the fireplace, over the gifts!

We also had misc pirate banners...

After dinner, we opened up G-Man's Tattoo Parlor! I love the bottom left picture of my brother (aka Uncle Frank).... he looks like he's in pain, doesn't he? ;)

The pic on the bottom left is me and my 3 siblings... playing silly! Then it's the Semi-Homemade gang on the bottom right!

After tattoos, we moved on to gifts. It was so nice outside (in Texas! in August! I still can't believe it!) that we decided to do them outside, since we were all out there anyway!

I just love that little OSU jersey in the middle pic (Go, Pokes!) Much thanks to Aunt Ellen. :)

And then we moved on to THE entertainment of the night.

Because, really, with a newly-1-year-old, it's all about the cake. The destruction. The sugar. The mess.

I have dozens (or more!) of pictures of this child eating cake. And most of them make me laugh. But I tried (really hard!) to narrow them down... to maybe my favorite dozen or so. ;)

And now, a glimpse into the thoughts of G-man....

Alright, everyone is watching me, but I'm gonna keep on concentratin'.....

This seems a little wrong.... but everyone is laughing, so what the heck?

Oh, how I love cake......

....especially all over my face, inside my ear, and in my hair....

Did I mention that I love cake?!

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone will notice if I cut out the middle man, and just put my face directly into the cake itself.....

Woooo hooooo! Yea for me!

Mommma! Come and get me - I've gotta hug with your name on it!

I hope y'all enjoyed a peak into his birthday weekend. I know these are some memories I'll never forget! For those of you who don't know us, his pirate birthday bash was inspired by his (my?) love (obsession?) of all things pirate and by his Semi-Homemade Pirate Nursery. Thanks for stoppin' by, mateys!

Sneak peek: Etsy treasures from G's Pirate Birthday Bash!

Okay, I promised I'd be back to give you a sneak peek into some of the special touches that made G-man's 1st birthday party so... well, special. I'm planning a big recap of the entire weekend - complete with the beach party during the day and the big family dinner at night (including the pirate tattoo parlor and homemade ice cream!)

Work has me swamped (what else is new?) and we got a rough start to the week (picture Big Sis covered in her own vomit at 1:30am on Sun... and again at 2:30am... and 4am....) But I promise I'll get it organized, edited, and recapped as soon as humanly possible!
Until then....


I'd done a cute, custom outfit for Big Sis's first birthday (they only turn ONE once, ya know!) Ignore the awful editing - I'm away from my photoshop, obviously...But G-man is more of a manly man.... not one for the custom outfits... LOL.... so, the bib. But isn't it adorable?


It's from My Personalized Tshirt. I picked the colors and got to personalize it with his name. They have all sorts of cutie birthday shirts and bibs, monograms, big sis/brother items, you name it! I just love it!!


This next item is what G is going to wear this weekend in his 1 year pics.

We're going with Kristie to the downtown square in Our Town. It's the site of the maternity pictures I did when I was pg with G, so it's only fitting! Plus, we can get an 'urban' look down there, which will be perfect for this outfit..... We're going for the rocker baby look, lol. This shirt, believe it or not, was only $7.99! I had looked at others at expensive places like nordstrom and they were much more! It's from PunkeyMonkeyKids and I can't wait to see G sportin' it. I've just got to figure out what size jeans to get him and we're set!

I got the bulk of our custom touches from Cathie at Custom Parties To Go. She has TONS of themes to pick from for birthday parties, showers, etc. And she's easy to work with! I switched the fonts, color combos, etc around 100 times and she didn't bat an eye!

We hung this sign from the pavillion at the beach club... then later at my house, over the table in the breakfast nook (where the kids ate dinner!)

This was just a quick snapshot I took on Friday.... it's the cupcake toppers on the left, favor tags on the right, and hidden is a set of stickers! They say things like:
Happy Birthday, G-man (cupcake toppers)
Thanks for coming to my party! Love G-man (favors)
Yo ho ho! G-man is ONE! (stickers)

You'll be able to see all these creative custom items at work when I get my recap pulled together of G-man's 1st Birthday Weekend! More to come!

Happy Birthday, G-man!

I promise to be back later with pictures of all the fun Etsy stuff I scored... but I've got an entire birthday party to plan TODAY! Yikes!

Happy birthday, little man! You had a rough start with several months of RSV and that helmet (I think we made the best of it!) But you've turned into the sweetest little boy. I love that you're laid back, that you let me kiss you a million times a day, and that you are so adorable that even your teachers can't help but kiss you and tell you they love you! Happy day, sweet boy....

And now.... watch me grow.... :) (I'll spare you the weekly pics and just skip around a bit! I will tell you... that for a mom like me, this kind of commitment is HUGE! Unparallelled. I'm proud of myself.)

Watch out... I'm growing fast!
Really, really fast!




Helmet time!

He was still in the helmet at 8 months, but... it came off for this pic!
And still in the helmet! But again, mommy took it off - we were close to done!

Grown up boy, pretty head...
Much thanks to Catherine at Polkadots & Paisleys - she did his bday invite and sent me the pirate I used in all these pics!