Sharks + Unicorns

The kids half birthdays are this month, so I thought it was perfect timing to finally sit down and write about their party from last July. Haha! I can't believe my babies are SIX and FOUR. Literally, how?!?! (Insert sobbing face)

Life has been busy but my gosh it has been fun to go back through these pictures are relive that day. We had a blast celebrating the kids' joint birthday party in our backyard with a slip 'n slide this year. Er, I mean, last year.

I have worked with Mandy from One Fine Party for almost all of my kids birthday parties (since I found her, I've never stopped using her!) and my gosh she is talented! So creative and lets me be as involved in picking out themes, shapes, colors, etc as I want to be. This year was extra fun because when Mandy would send me options, I would show the kids and let them pick out their favorites. They loved that! But don't let that overwhelm you. If you want to get online and order something personalized that you don't have to put any thought into, she's still your girl! Mandy's Etsy shop One Fine Party has a ton of themes already available to shop. (See 2018 kids joint birthday party created with Mandy HERE)

I made a small balloon arch for the backdrop of these face frames. The kids LOVED these. Ryder's is especially fun since it looks like a shark is eating him. Haha. And that shark smile of his... I can't! :)

These balloon arches are so simple to make. Search for them on Amazon. So many colors and sizes and options. I was so worried they were going to be a big pain in the booty, but they are honestly so simple. And festive!

See more birthday pictures of these cute kiddies HERE.

Ryder has been into sharks for quite some time now. We talk often about swimming with the sharks when he's older. He's got big plans to go deep in the ocean in one of those cages to see the sharks in real life! I may need a few years (like 13!) to build up the courage for that. Haha. And Blake is convinced we'll also see mermaids, so she's in! ;)

I took pictures of cakes I liked into Target bakery this year. The pics I used as inspiration for Ryders cake were maybe a little bit advanced and didn't turn out *exactly* like I had planned. But he didn't seem to mind at all. ;) He loved it! I bought the sharks on top on Amazon and he got to keep those. That's always an added bonus!

I get a lot of questions about the cakes we have made at parties... The past two years we have used Target bakery. I have been very impressed with everything single cake and cupcake we've had made (this shark one being the least impressive) so I will likely stick with them. They are also very reasonably priced. We have also used King Soopers before. If the cake idea isn't too elaborate, it should be fine! Just give them 5+ days notice to get it made.

We have used Gigi's Cupcakes for previous birthday parties. VERY impressive. But a lot pricier. It may have been way pricier because I was doing cakes that were WAY larger and more elaborate though.

I had Mandy make smaller posters this year. I was trying to keep it simple. I did my best. Ha! I actually did get less things made and the set up was a lot quicker and easier for this party (in comparison to their party in 2018)

Blakely's cake was also made at Target bakery. They did all the special frosting, but I took in the unicorn cake topper (ears, lashes and horn) which I purchased on Amazon. I also got smaller cakes this year. We are always left with tons and tons of leftover cake. This year we had just the right amount!

Mandy made the unicorn banner on Blakes table. I purchased Ryders shark banner on Amazon. One of the things the kids were most excited about were the custom Gatorade labels from One Fine Party!! Haha. I wouldn't have ever guessed. Almost everything on their individual tables are custom and personalized. But they reallllly liked those Gatorade labels. Haha. So easy!

Blakes dress and Ryders shark costume are both from Amazon! Blakes headband came with her dress. So darling.

This slip 'n slide was a last minute Target purchase for the party. The kids kept asking about a bouncy castle (they had one at their 2018 joint birthday party) but I didn't want to spend the money on that again. This slip 'n slide was fairly inexpensive and the kids had so much fun! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet babies!!!!!!!

Photography by Jenna Sparks

See birthday balloon garland photo shoot HERE

Huge SHOUT OUT to Mandy from One Fine Party for helping me create such fun birthday party themes each year! You're amazing and a pleasure to work with. Cheers to many more birthdays to come! (She also does teacher gift, holiday themed parties/gifts, etc.)

See joint birthday party created with Mandy in 2018 HERE

I haven't been adding specific links to items on blog or even on Instagram because I felt like the links were expiring and then you guys weren't able to find the items you wanted anyway. So I thought it would be easier to say where things were purchased and then you can search for yourself instead of clicking on links that lead you to nothing.

If there is ever a specific link or item you are looking for, just email, text or DM me and I'll send you my links! :) Thanks so much for your support, xo

Ryder Paul is SIX - Blakely Gray is FOUR

HOORAY!!! It's July which means lots of birthday celebrations for us! :)

July is always jam-packed for us with lots of cake! Haha.

I want to keep this kids birthday parties a bit simpler and smaller this year. I hope that day is nothing but FUN for the kids, so I decided to get some photos out of the way ahead of time so I don't feel the pressure the take the time away from family and friends who are here for their joint birthday party to make sure we get a great shot of the kids in their birthday getup!

I bought these balloon arches on Amazon and OMG, they're cute!!! The kids loved them and it was loads of fun setting these up! Jenna came over and we spent time setting up the balloons while having a pizza party for the kids. And then when we were set up, we'd break for pics. And then we'd set up the next balloon arch! Really fun and no pressure because we aren't on a time crunch before a big birthday party with cake, food, etc, etc.

Blakely's unicorn dress (which is seriously SO cute) is from Amazon and came with the headband. I was searching for something similar on Etsy and couldn't pull the trigger because of the prices. Yikes! So I thought I may as well look on Amazon and what do ya know?! Almost an identical dress for a fraction of the cost! She loves this thing. It might never come off. Ha!

Ryder's shark shirt is from Amazon as well. I let him see a few and this is the one he wanted for his birthday pics. :) His big shark stuffed animal is from Ikea. We have several stuffed animals from Ikea and I must say that they hold up well!

Ummm... ok. Why does she look 16?! (Ugly cry)

I got the kids special cookies from Eileens. If you haven't had Eileens cookies, you are truly missing out in life! These things are the best (and maybe worst) thing to happen to me. HAHA. So, so delish. Blake got little unicorn cookies and Ryder got shark cookies. They really are so dang cute.

These two love to laugh. And it warms my mama heart!!

Annnnd, they look like they're at Prom. lol

Photography by Jenna Sparks

(Thanks to Jenna for making these shoots so fun for me and the kids! We love you!)

Lemonade Stand Fun!

Both Ryder and Blakely have birthdays in July, so this month is always really busy for us! I've always been really into throwing huge custom birthday parties for the kids on their birthdays - both of their first birthday parties were huge! But I decided not too take on such a huge project this year since our house is on the market and life seems to be busier than ever. So I chose to take the easy route and throw them a joint birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this year. And guess what, they loved every second of it!!! 

Since I wasn't going to throw a massive party that I could throw my creative heart into, I wanted to do a fun mini shoot with the kids. I got this adorable lemonade stand from Target (here + here) and the kids were so excited for it! I love these pictures soooo much and seriously just stare at them on my phone at night when the kids are in bed. :) 

I can't believe I have a four and two year old!! What?! I seriously feel like we just brought Ryder home from the hospital yesterday. I just can't believe how fast it all goes. Insert ugly cry here. My sweet little girl was just a newborn. And now she's two, full of spunk and making us laugh everyday. These kids are the light of my life and bring our family so much joy! 

So here are 3,628 pictures of my kiddies and their adorable lemonade stand. Because I couldn't stop myself and just posted them all. ;) 

Ryder was really upset about these cupcakes because they 1. weren't chocolate and 2. were lemon flavored. Blakely didn't seem to mind though. ;) lol

We were trying to get the kids to smile, so we started throwing lemons at them! Ha! They thought that was hilarious.

Photography by Jenna Sparks

PS here is a picture from us at the kids birthday party yesterday. They were so excited and had a ball. (Sidenote: TJ isn't here because his flight home from visiting family was cancelled, which resulted in him missing the party. I shed so many tears over that!!! We will just have to celebrate again once he's home! We missed him so much at the party.)