Halloween rewind

Yes, Samuel is milking his dad.

Yes, this is Samuel's "I got to pee" move.

Yes, this is the cutest duck I have ever seen.

Mountain retreat

A few weeks ago Ryan and I took Corrie to the mountains for a few days. My favorite season is fall and for the past few years I have wanted to take a trip up to the mountains. But with young kids a four hour drive in the car is not appealing to me.

This year we decided to do it. Thanks to some great friends who have a beautiful house in Bat Cave and were so generous to let us stay there and thanks to my parents for keeping Samuel for a few days. Ryan and I really enjoyed being able to spend one on one time with Corrie and be able to reconnect with each other without a 3 year old interrupting every 2 seconds.

The cottage was adorable and the view was incredible! We loved sitting outside on the porch, playing scrabble, reading books, taking naps, drinking coffee, snuggling with Corrie and my favorite, apple picking! I guess I will just have to get over the long drive (you might be thinking 4 hours is not that far, but with 2 young kids, 20 minutes is far) and make this a yearly tradition.

Step 3

Decorate for the party

Simple menu- sandwiches, chips, veggies and fruit kabobs.

Ice Age dinosaur. I took one of Samuel's toys and froze it in a 9x13 pan, then popped it out right before the party. Great way to help keep the drinks cold. Samuel was only slightly concerned about the state of his dinosaur.

The dig site was ALL Ryan, his own little birthday project. I think he nailed it.

I had a lot of fun making this pennant banner. All you need is twine, scrapbook paper and double sided tape.

Have I mentioned that I love birthday parties???

Step 2

Plan party

I knew I wanted to do a dinosaur theme this year since Samuel has a slight addiction. One project was to create dinosaur bones using sand molds and Plaster of Paris.

Another project was to make dinosaur eggs with a dinosaur in the middle. Samuel and I had fun one morning making these eggs out of sand, dirt, flour and salt. A little thanks to all his friends for helping him celebrate his big day!

Organize and plan the scavenger hunt. Ryan tackled this project and for that I am grateful. My rhyming skills end with roses are red....

I should have prefaced the birthday posts by explaining my love for birthdays. I tend to go overboard but I just can't help it.... birthday love is in me and it's in there deep!

Step 1

Invitations

I picked up these dinosaur cutouts for a whopping .99 cents! I painted them, made a leaf cutout for the wording and popped a magnet on the back.

So easy. So simple. So cheap!

Happy Birthday Samuel!

This will be the first of many birthday posts. Be prepared.......

First birthday craft... making this balloon wreath.

Oh how I love Pinterest.