Life on Cass Lane: events

I can't believe my handsome little guy turned two this weekend. It makes me sad that he's getting big so fast. It feels like yesterday Brody was in my tummy karate chopping my bladder, I was rapping about baby constipation in hopes of him poo-ing (for those of you who've been blessed to hear my baby raps), and throwing up in Walmart parking lot from locking him in the car and having to call the fire department... ahhh the memories.

Seriously though, I miss the days when he would just sleep on my chest, coo and smile at the sound of my voice--moments I'll cherish forever.

OK, I'll snap out of it and get to the party (cough) ~~bitching~~, I mean planning...

So, I started thinking about his birthday bash long before the holidays. I tried to get some ideas for party themes to decide if I wanted to throw a big party like his first birthday (see Lumberjack birthday shindig here). There is so much planning that goes into these over-the-top parties we throw, and I have to make sure mom, who is our secret weapon, has plenty of time to draw, paint etc.

I wish I could say planning these parties is all rainbows and sunshine, but it's a pain in my rear.

Anyway, at the beginning of the year, Swayze, my youngest niece, turned one. Since it was on the heels of the holidays, my sister and I thought it would be a good idea to throw a joint party early February. Due to some arising issues and what seemed to be a Welch family sickness outbreak, we had to postpone to the 22nd.

This is where the fun--and frustration--began. After our initial talks and countless texts, we ultimately landed on a circus theme. Both of the kids love "Madagascar 3" and love watching Alex and the gang start the Afro Circus, so we thought it would be a fun to throw a crazy circus extravaganza. And, with my mom's artistic skills, I knew we could go to work.

Inspired by Pinterest, we decided on the things we wanted to do for the party.

Must haves, included:

Big Top letters and Curtains
Giant Popcorn Boxes with balloons
Chalkboard Signs for Food
Madagascar Art
Step Right Up Signage
Awesome games & circus food

When it came down to the nitty gritty the week of, it was pure chaos and a never-ending five day headache (for me); seriously I've never had sinus pain like this before in my life. I felt terrible all week.

One note to take away from this: If you start decorating two days before the party, you may have over done it. Well, we over did it. Go figure.

We started decorating Thursday and the party wasn't till Saturday. It just felt like this wasn't quite coming together the way it should. I think that all comes with throwing a joint party. We all have different visions of what we want it to look like. We bought different stuff at different places, and weren't sure how to bring it all together.

We were having the party in the garage and on the driveway due to nice weather. This was our first official shindig in the garage so we weren't quite sure on how it would pan out.

We felt it was necessary to cover every wall and we did. A lot of time was spent thinking about where to put what. We took things down several times and moved stuff around because we weren't happy with it.

By Friday, we were ready to get stuff up and leave it. With our "no one will notice it but us attitude" we were over this party. We knew we were tired and ready for the fat lady to sing so we could pack up our crap and ska-daddle.

By 6 o'clock, we remembered we had to map out where the games were going to go and what all games to use. Luckily my sister had borrowed an ample amount of games from work, which took some stress away and saved us money. We used sidewalk chalk as game signage. It was easy and pretty! We didn't leave until almost midnight though. And we needed to be back early the next day. I got lucky with my MIL who kept Brody for us Friday night.

Needless to say after all the stress and work put into the party, I was due a glass of wine. Hell, who am I kidding? I needed the whole bottle. It was exhausting.

So let's start with what party-goers saw when they arrived to the party:

We were lucky (and thankful) to be able to borrow the most of the games and strands of pennants. We had more than this, but only but up what we had room for. It really made the party more festive.

Afro Circus decor included solid wrapping paper from Dollar General and of course artwork by our mom. This was our favorite wall! We added the tickets to add a more 3-D effect!

The draping of material was done by my Mom. She tied together several layers of material we had from a previous party to get the "swooped look." The "Big Top" letters were nailed in to wood surrounding the garage.

The red and white stripes on the wall is actually wrapping paper found at Dollar Tree. The yellow on the table is also wrapping paper from Dollar General.

Table cloths turned into curtains.

Madagascar 3 Art by my mom

Prize table w/ bean bag toss games.

Feed the fish game!

"The Blazing Chicken" Game. Toss rubber chickens through the rings of fire.

"Plinko"

Plinko fun!

Even the adults had fun!

Games, included:

Bean Bag Toss
Feed the Fish Bean Bag Toss
The Blazing Chicken
Crazy Clown Chalk Art
Butt Scooter Races
Make your own Balloon Animals
Ring Toss
Photo Booth

Cake TIME

Presley and Emma having some fun. These two are trouble together!

Polka Dot Wrapping Paper from the Dollar Tree.

Me and my longtime BFF, Stephanie, who's an awesome fashion blogger. Check her out!

Our Circus Family!

My men!

"Step Right Up" signs - made by Mom
Pennants - Borrowed
Games - Borrowed
Rings of Fire (The Blazing Chicken) - made by me
Giant Popcorn Boxes - borrowed (art on front by mom)
Striped Fabric - JoAnn's
All other painted signs - made by Mom
Popcorn Boxes - Terrell Trinity Concession Restaurant Supply
Balloons - Dollar General
Brody's The Greatest Show On Earth Shirt - Little Tree Tops Baby
Printed Graphics for candy table - Made by Tricia

All in all it was a pretty day for a party, and it turned out great. I need a massage, some liquor and a lot of sleep.

I foresee a party at Chuck-E-Cheeses next year or somewhere with less responsibility for the parents. Maybe I'll have Klay throw the party on his own...

Anything else you want to know about the party? Leave me a comment and ask!

Since it's Flashback Friday and Brody-man is about to turn the big 0-2 this February, I decided to reminisce on Brody's first birthday and share some photos.

Holy shizz yall, I can't believe he's about to be 2! Next thing I know, it will be his first day of kindergarten and then college. HA! I feel like he'll be hollering that he hates me while slamming his bedroom door next week. And, I'll get that "Mom-you're-embarrassing-me" look and I'll be like "do you remember how amaze balls your first birthday was!? Um, yeah. I DID THAT. OK, me and some help from your grandparents, but you should re-think your attitude bud."

So before he's 14 and rolling his eyes at me, let me enjoy remembering his first birthday for my sweet baby boy...

I'd been looking for some great ideas for party themes six months prior to Brody's birthday. If you don't know me or my family (meaning my mom and sister), then we are the type of gals who see something we like and then we figure out a way to imitate and make it our own. We are pretty creative (or at least they are!), and when we don't just 'throw' something together. I mean we have, but we work our butts off the nights, days and weeks prior.

Parties, weddings, kids costumes, (ok with the exception of this year for B's halloween costume--he was John Wayne and it was last minute; like literally day of...), baby and wedding showers--you name it, we've done it!

I had a few runner-ups when it came to themes, but I decided to go with something I'd never seen or
known anyone to do--LUMBERJACK!

I got my inspiration from The Cake Blog, who featured a lumberjack party. Brody loves being outside, so I figured it suited him well!

Once my decision for the party was in full force, my M-I-L and F-I-L had some left over tree trunks they cut up and lacquered for me to use as cake stands and table decor. We bought some little chalkboard signs at First Monday, plaid fabric and we were off prepping for a Lumberjack party our little man would have a blast at.

Luckily, my mom and dad's house is lodge-like and woodsy, so she had plenty of decor lying around the house that we could use.

CAKE Catastrophe

The night before the party, I went to pick up the cake and came back crying. I ordered it from Brookshire's and had shown them a photo of this gorgeous cake with a sky blue top with clouds and the bottom was green with spray-painted mountains. I told them not to worry about the decor on the cake image (which was camping-themed), we'd handle that, but I just needed the backdrop.

I SPECIFICALLY SAID, if they couldn't do that then just get it a solid color.

Well, I went to pick it up and it was a mess. It looked absolutely awful. Brody could have made it prettier. No offense, Bro! It was NOTHING like I wanted. The people at Brookshire's could tell I was upset and gave me a discount, but I needed a cake.

I took it home and my mom started working on it and blended it all so it was solid green. I was literally a basket case the whole time.

She added some decor we had and it turned out great! Thanks, Mom!

The party was as off-the-chain as a one year old's party can be. People sported their flannel, he kids had a blast in the bounce house and surprisingly everyone made their own ax at the ax-making station. All in all, it was a pretty epic first birthday party complete without a birthday boy meltdown! Not sure how that happened, but hey I was thankful.

At the end of the night, Brody hadn't had a nap all day and started to fall asleep sitting up in Da da's lap. Yup, he had fun.