Colten Turns One!

(still working on 2011 catch-up posts...)

Hard to believe that our baby is already one!
Colten turned one on August 30,
and we threw a Dr Seuss party for him on Sept 3.

I have been just a little obsessed with the turquoise
and red color combination lately,
so I had a lot of fun with this party!



(The Dr Seuss printables came from the Etsy shop Photo Designz)

I made some cat-in-the-hat cupcakes and
tried my hand at fondant for Colten's smash cake.
(I found a recipe for marshmallow fondant on Pinterest and
used that for the smash cake. It was a little messy to make,
but much cheaper than buying it and
I could make it any color I wanted.)

I made a photo banner with Colten's monthly pictures.
I used photoshop to convert the pictures to black and white and
just colored in the number on his onesies.
In fact, I loved it so much that it is now on display in his room!

I also made him a special hat and shirt.
I wasn't sure how Chris would react to the foo-foo hat but he obliged me!!

Big brother had to wear the hat too!

After some lunch and presents, it was time for cake!

Happy Birthday to our precious baby boy! We Love You!!

Tanner's 7th Birthday

{Bear with me as I continue to play catch up on 2011 - this is from July 2011}

Every year we do a themed party for Tanner's birthday. This year he wanted an "army" party. So we pulled out the camo gear and GI Joe's and what a party it was!

Tanner dressed the part and eagerly awaited the arrival of his guests:


I borrowed some old army gear from my parents and used it on the food table, along with some vintage GI Joe's with their jeep.








When the boys arrived, we had them check-in and get their gear (an army hat, dog tags, and face paint). We then had a table set up for them to make cards for the troops. Tanner's uncle is currently serving in Afghanistan, so we sent him all the cards that the boys made.




Once the card making was finished, Boot Camp began. Chris and Darren had the boys running various drills and it was pretty entertaining to watch!!












After the drills, we had the land mine walk. We had water balloons on the path and they had to walk through them blind-folded. This was a big hit!


They then had a water balloon and water gun fight and it was total chaos...just the way boys love it!





We then ate lunch and had cake and ice cream. I made an army tank cake and Tanner loved it. When I was working on the camo effect the night before, I was a little concerned since it was looking more like smashed green bugs than camo. But in the end it was a recognizable army tank...success!!

The whole crew of army boys (and Lena Jane!):

Happy 7th Birthday Tanner! We love you!!

Spring/Summer 2011 Highlights

This first highlight was actually winter, but it was too big of a deal for me to not include it! On February 4, 2011 (drum roll please) we had snow!! It actually barely covered the ground but it was exciting for us since we rarely see any snow. Everything shut down for the day and we enjoyed our little taste of the white stuff!

LOVE this picture of my boys!! (March 2011)

Easter - April 24, 2011:

Tanner & his cousin Keller (May 2011):




Memorial Day (May 2011) at the lake park across the street:





July 4th parade in Startzville:




Tanner lost his first tooth!! (July 18, 2011)