"Now that I'm 40..."

WHAT?!?!?! My husband is 40?!!?! Hard to believe, but yes, Ben is FORTY!!!


He now starts his sentences with, "Now that I'm 40..." It's hilarious!! I asked him for months if he wanted a party, but he really just wanted to hang out with the boys and I at Disneyland. We had a blast there for two days and I did arrange a little surprise... Mandy came over and decorated the house and baked Ben his favorite cake.


He has asked for a Raspberry Poke Cake for his birthday every year since I've known him, so of course, that was what Mandy made. Thank you Mandy!!! (Sam added the Bullseye the Horse decoration!)


Ben is a great husband- he works so hard for our family. He loves us so much and he loves being a daddy. We love you Ben!

Soccer Sam!!

Sam just completed his first season of Indoor Soccer!!


Ben and I are so, so proud of him and his efforts! Here's a breakdown of the 10 game season:


Game 1- Sam was soooo excited, until we got there. He was overwhelmed with the noise, excitement and he wouldn't go back out to play the 2nd half of the game. We briefly considered letting him quit... but thought better.
Game 2- He didn't want to go and cried when it was time to play. I carried him out to play.
Game 3- He didn't want to play and cried, but walked out on to the indoor field on his own.
Game 4- He said he didn't want to play, but didn't cry!
Game 5- He kicked the ball a lot and started to enjoy himself.
Game 6- Sam got a GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the first goal for his team so far!
Game 7, 8, and 9- Sam loved soccer and played so well!
Game 10- Sam's team played a great game and ended the season with some of his teammates getting their first goals too!

We loved having Aunt Mandy and cousin Zach (and Uncle Jake too!) come cheer on Sam for so many of his games!


We were bummed when we found out that the team's soccer party was the night we were going to Disneyland for Ben's birthday, but we made sure Sam was there for the party still too... "Sam on a Stick" that is!!! Here he is driving in his good friend, Brandon's minivan on the way to the party!

Dino Mountain!!

This was just about the coolest thing ever for our boys... Dino Mountain at the Wild Animal Park!!! At first I thought Jake would freak out, but he loved it. And Sam of course was thrilled to see the moving, growling, drooling dinosaurs in action. Really, it was like I was there with THREE little boys (Ben loved it too!) We will definitely be heading back to Dino Mountain before it leaves the WAP in September.

They were so realistic looking!


Daddy and Jake


And I thought I was having a bad hair day?!?!


The Stegasaurus model was open so the kids could work the controls and see how the "dinosaurs" move... very cool hands-on activity!


Sam was so proud that he filled his "Dino Mountain Passport" with stamps of all of the dinosaurs we saw. Next stop= The new Elephant Odyssey at the Zoo!!!

Fun on the Farm!

After all the fun we had with Farmer Jake's party, we decided it was time to head to the farm for real! We took a trip to DeJong's Dairy in Lake Elsinore last week with our MOMS group. It was perfect!

{Except for that silly mama who wore flip flops and stepped in cow poop! Bummer for her, huh?! Ummm, yes... it was ME!! But let's just move on, k?!} I can't get that picture any bigger, but I'm really okay with that :)


Sam loved feeding the cows hay.


And Jake loved freaking out his over-protective mama by walking right up to the cows faces and having a little chat with them.


At the end of our fun tour, all the kids had a chocolate chip cookie with chocolate milk. It was so good so we bought a gallon of chocolate milk to bring home... mmmm, good stuff!

1st Birthday Fun!

A sweet little friend of our celebrated his 1st birthday over the weekend. Here are some of the party items I made for the special day!


Adult cookie favors


Water bottle labels


Front door sign


Kid favor tags


And a small wall banner

I am really loving being able to help people add special memorable details to their special celebrations!!! It is all happening so quickly and I hope to get a little etsy shop up and running soon :)

{looking back} Farmer Jake's cake!

I realized that after hastily throwing all of Jake's birthday pictures into one big slideshow, that you can't really see the pictures too well. {Or is that just me and my bad eyes?!} Anyway, here's his cake... it seriously took forever!! Mandy and I worked on the cake- first in buttercream, then switched to fondant for a smoother look. Hours and hours {and HOURS} of work and it was just the centerpiece... we didn't even eat it! I had Ben cut some cardboard for the base, then I hot glued craft sticks and spray painted it all white. I grabbed some hay out of the bales in the back for the party. And I used the new Cricut {LOVE that thing!} to cut all the little circles for the farm animals. The chick cupcakes were vanilla almond, the pigs were strawberry, and the cows were chocolate. So much fun to make, so fun to listen to everyone enjoy checking it out too!! Now, off to plan Samuel's Buzz Lightyear party. He started making some decorations for his party last night... and his birthday is in November!!

Oink! Moo! Cock-a-Doodle Doo...

Farmer Jake just turned TWO!!! We threw a backyard barnyard party for him and all of his little two-year old buddies. I had soooo much fun with Jake's party. The weather was gorgeous, everyone had a great time... and most importantly, Jake himself had a blast! I can't possibly choose my favorite pictures, so sit back and enjoy a little slideshow :)