ARRGH you ready to PARRTY?

We just celebrated Jack's 3rd birthday, and boy did we have fun!!!!
So, mateys, grab your maps & come set sail to read all about the fun we had!!!

Captain Jack is 3!!! 

The talented designer, Jamey from The Honey Bee Press custom designed Jack's party invitations and printables. This was my 3rd time working with her for party printables & she was more fantastic than ever! Please visit her Etsy shop for more of her custom designs! She made a banner, hats & cupcake toppers for me too! Can't wait to plan the next event with her! Please visit her Etsy shop today!

Captain Jack's Pirate Ship

Our little pirate had his very own ship! Made by Grandma with lots of love & amazing talent! (I made the little flags and the monogram mast, but the real star was this amazing ship!) This ship is now in our dining room until our playroom is finished in a few more months! :)


Our sweet family brought props, wore costumes and this cute mechanical parrot! The whole day was such a blast! Everyone was feeding Polly crackers!!


Captain Jack's Crew

We were so blessed to have so many of our friends and family join us for Jack's pirate birthday party, the love was overwhelming! Here are a few of the pirate cuties in attendance! 
Ahoy Finley & Jack's Auntie Jen! (Check out that cute Capt. Hook dress!)
Mike's Aunt Lisa dressed up & was making balloons for all the little pirates! 
A few of Jack's Bungalow Crew! Only missing Austin! These little guys have been friends since they were 3 months old!
My Goddaughter, Gabriella. 
Having fun with cousins and friends! 

Parrrty Details

Planning this party was so much fun! Because Mommy & Daddy enjoy celebrating Gasparilla each year, we were thrilled that Jack enjoyed Pirates too! In addition to the amazing pirate ship my mother-in-law made, the kids went on a nature treasure hunt, enjoyed pirate snacks, made pirate hats, and chased each other on the playground with balloon swords & treasure! 

Sea Water & Pirate Punch
We had a small buffet of pirate snacks for our pirate friends to snack on at the party... Fish & Chips, Golden Chicken Nuggets, Hook's Hummus, Pirate's Booty & pirate shaped chocolates that I made at the last hour! :) And these cute little labels, also made at the last hour, scrapbook paper & extra cupcake toppers, viola! 

Between my friend Erica and I, we made 65 cupcakes!! All homemade, no box mixes! Pirates could choose from chocolate, funfetti or red velvet! And how cute are those toppers? 

Our balloon artist for the day! My friend's daughter, Callie had become very talented at balloon animals & it was awesome to have her make stuff for the kids! They loved it! :) 
One of Jack's favorite buddies, Cal  making a hat at the PIRATE HAT STATION!

Making these pennants kept me busy on the sewing machine! But how cute is that fabric?? Now, we'll have them to decorate for Gasparilla each year!! 

Cupcake Time!!

It was soon time to sing, 'Happy Birthday' to my little pirate. :) I think he got a little overwhelmed looking out at a room full of people singing just to him, but nevertheless, enjoyed his cupcake!



After cupcakes, the kids went on Nature Treasure Hunt! I found this adorable treasure map on a sweet mom blog & had to use it for Jack's party! I wish I could say this idea was mine, but I must give credit to The Flourishing Abode blog! :) 

                           treasure map printable from TheFlourishingAbode


The kids had a blast looking for nature treasure! I also hid a few 'real' gold coins and candy treasure along the way!



Setting sail for home

It was a fantastic day. Jack is still talking about playing pirates with all his friends, lucky for him the pirate ship is docked in our dining room, so he can continue the pirate fun at home! We sent Jack's pirate buddies home with a treasure map goodie bag. The bags I made were filled with dabloons, play-dough, pirate stickers & candy! {I bought eye-patches that never made it in the bags, whoops!} 


I hope everyone had a great time! We are so thankful to our friends and family who made it out to celebrate our boy! We still can't believe he's 3!!! I'm sure I'll be saying that next year when he turns 4! Yikes! Please, Lord, let the years slow down a little! I'm desperate to keep him little forever, but I adore the little boy he has become. 


If you have photos from the day, I'd love to see them, so please email me! Again, my deepest gratitude to our family & friends who helped to put on a great party for Jack. We love you all!


Christmas Wrap-up!

Are you thinking what I'm thinking....how did Christmas come and go so quickly?

 Like most, I'm packing up Christmas decorations and putting away stockings until next year, trying to overcome my sadness that it came and went so fast. And now, just as the holidays are over, we Floridians are feeling the glimpses of winter weather that we longed for over the holidays. Either way, I'll take it!

My little guy doesn't seem to want to pack away Christmas either, he keeps requesting to hear, "Run,run Rudolph" and "Joy to the World" over and over in the car. I just smile & play it again {for the 10th time}:)

We had a wonderful holiday season, nonetheless, so it still should be shared & enjoyed! We are so grateful for the family and friends in our lives and we are truly blessed so a big thanks to you all for sharing so much love to my family during this Christmas Season.

Here's a little Christmas Wrap-up for you!
Writing a letter to Santa to give him when we saw him later in the week! 
Our Elf, Buddy, returned from the North Pole & brought lots of Christmas Books!
Being ever so careful, decorating the tree! 
Who can resist a cutie in a bow tie? 
Adding the final touch. Our tree decorating went on for days! :) 
Not one broken ornament this year! Yay! 
Christmas Eve dinner with friends! 
A little gift exchange between pals! Jack was so excited to receive his very own "little Legos" like Cal's. 
After a busy Christmas Eve night, we finally got ready for bed & left freshly baked cookies & milk for Santa!

Our little guy was very excited this year! :) So much fun! 
As Christmas morning had arrived, our sweet boy was so very excited! He wakes up around 6:30 each morning, so our Christmas wish was that he'd sleep a LITTLE longer, but no luck for us, so we snuggled in bed until a little after 7 am. Then... ran into the living room to find all kinds of surprises! His little face and excitement, is something I hope to never forget. The pure joy and excitement beaming off his face is gift enough for us. :) 

Jack had recently seen the Polar Express & asked if Santa could bring him one...{3 days before Christmas!} But Santa found a way to make it happen!! It arrived straight from the North Pole with cotton candy snow!!! 
After opening presents we had a visit from Grandpa & Grandma and ate a delicious Christmas morning breakfast and opened more presents!
We had such a beautiful Christmas morning! It was soon time to clean up and get ready for more visitors as my Mom and siblings would be coming over for dinner that afternoon!
I just had to share this cute photo of my sweet in-laws! Are they not the cutest? They'll be celebrating 40 years married this year! 
Nani brought Jack Planes on DVD, which we watched right away {twice} :)
Hugs all around for so many sweet gifts for my boy! Nani gave him a real guitar, which he now refers to as his "Cello" :)

We had such a blessed Christmas. I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends too!


Kid's Christmas Party!

Christmas time is the perfect time to throw a party for little ones!{Really, anytime, but it's extra special this time of year!!}This was my 2nd Annual Christmas Party for Jack's little buddies & mommy friends! I love planning parties for Jack and his buddies, down to the littlest details. I only hope that one day, he'll look back and cherishes these memories I tried to make for him with his buddies!

Here's a look at the fun day we had! Complete with cookies and milk, ornament making and a fun game! :)

First things first, CHRISTMAS SNACKS! 

Flash forward to a school lunch table? :) 
Before games & making ornaments, the kids ate a handful of somewhat healthy snacks to before diving into the SWEETS!! PB&J & fruit. Then...it was time for cookies & milk!
There's something about a fun straw that makes anything more fun to drink!
For these cute milk jars, I recycled Starbucks Frappachino bottles, wrapped with baking twine & added a fun straw! 

Game time! 

At the absolute last minute {morning of the party} I wanted to make a cute game for the kids to play. So, I cut a piece of cardboard and used brown construction paper to make antlers, drew eyes, & cut red noses out of more construction paper....Viola! Pin the nose on Rudolph! :)  


Cupcake Decorating! 

Next, it was time to let the kids go to town on the sweets! I baked special cupcakes for them to frost & sprinkle themselves. I think they really enjoyed this part! Each of them concentrating hard to decorate those yummy cupcakes! 


Buddy, our Elf, helped me decorate for the party the night before! He flew in from the North Pole & brought snowballs and snowflakes! Jack was super excited the morning of the party to find this in the kitchen! 


Some of the yummy treats we enjoyed from the party! Chocolate covered pretzels, fruit with a Heath Bar toffee dip,and delicious chicken salad croissants! 

A sweet ending! 

No party is complete with out a goodie bag! Our sweet kiddos went home with a bag of Christmas treats to hold them over until Christmas!

To decorate these treat bags, I used a cute printable I found, washi tape & baking twine!

It was a super fun day! I don't know of a better way to enjoy the holiday season! Cheers & Merry Christmas to you!