More July Fun

Here is a super fast post with no editing done on the pictures about how our last few weeks have been.

We've been taking some funny pictures this week. Here was Andy on the night he kept wanting to kiss me. I am keeping him away from me with my legs.

You can't have one do anything without the other.

 Then there was the open mouth (double chin:)

 I guess this one is a little more photogenic:)

The boys got new PJ's from a garage sale with capes:

And it was hilarious when the chased a bunny (I only caught the last half of the chase).


Jay learned to ride his bike with no training wheels!

 We have been going on bike rides/runs about every other night.

The boys got into the marigold flowers in the back yard and kept giving me presents. (John told them they could pick from a certain section)

This guy is potty training (here is a naked supper picture). It's going OK...I mean...we're trying.

He is so funny now. He will repeat entire stories that Jay tells, and observes so much.
"Hey mommy, that me mowing outside on the picture"
"Hey my monster truck is under the seat, I get it...I GET IT..."
Jay "That's mine", Andy "NO, That MINES"

He loves the fairy tales that grandma tells, and talks to the pictures on the fridge often.
"That Zayne n Deker an Erca n Cody"

We attempted to go swimming at the outdoor pool in town after naptime. We got there and 10 min. later it was "Adult swim", then we got to swim again...for 5 min. until it started lightning and thundering...so we left. By the time we got home it was pouring...so Andy decided to have fun anyway.


No one showed up in the nursery at church one Sunday and John wasn't playing drums, so after we concluded it was a BAD idea to keep him in church (read: he talked loudly during the quiet times)  he and Andy built a duplo castle in the nursery!

Uncle Chad came to visit one night.

We've gone to school to START to decorate my classroom (can't wait to post the finished picture.)

Even before Jay could ride bike without training wheels we were racing at the park. Make sure you have your volume loud so you can hear Andy as the starter:)

Jay's Superhero Birthday Party

We've been planning Jay's superhero birthday party for about 5 months, and it turned out great. I found so many great deals and found friends and family to help so it didn't cost much at all!
I love you Jay!


































The Invite:
I did a short photo shoot (I totally bribed him with candy) with my OK camera and edited in Photoshop.

The Stations:
I had a lot of time in a super boring class I had to take, so I colored the signs on regular paper, backed them with cardstock and stapled them to yard sticks that I had my husband paint and cut.

Pick your Costume
I had a clothing rack in my basement, and collected costumes from garage sales and thrift stores for a few months before the party. I also got a bunch of cloth in bags from Goodwill, and my mom sewed 8 capes with either elastic or ribbon to tie them.
We got a new dryer a few months before the party so I cut it, painted it and made it a telephone booth (then I had to store it for a few months!) The letters didn't work as great as I had hoped, but it still looks ok.

 I also put a full length mirror outside against a tree, so they could check out their costumes. This cape is one of my favorite Goodwill cloth finds. The girls thought it looked like Elsa.

How Strong are You?
I got the longer weight from Toys R Us and both ends are spongy...it wasn't exactly what I wanted...but there is only so much time. The smaller ones are swimming exercise foam weights. I got them at Goodwill for .75 each, and covered them in duct tape. I tried to make it more photo booth-ish with a black plastic tablecloth, but it just looked strange.

We also used this area for fun photos:

Practice your skills:
I wanted a punching bag that just said "pow" and "bam" on it, but it was expensive and impossible to find, and this one matched the colors and the theme, so it worked:)

 I got a bunch of 21 ft. bungee cords for .49 each at Michaels when the were on clearance, so we build a maze  in between the fence and the playset. I had the idea, but got more excited about it when I saw THIS pin.

I found a large rope from my husband's boy scout days in the basement, so we did tug-of-war good guys vs. bad guys (Indiana Jones was the ref).

 I love this picture because Andy (Batman) is just hanging on the rope:)

Inside we had  Create a Superhero Shield. Yep, I spelled shield wrong. oops.

I got those big foam floor puzzle pieces (like 12 of them) for $1 at a garage sale, and cut them out into circles. Then I used an exacto knife to cut two slits and put felt strips in them. I played around with sticky-back velcro, but decided sewing would be involved...so I just ended up tying the felt once and it stayed on their arm. You could also use paper plates.

My favorite...was Fight the Bad Guy

I convinced my husband and his friend to dress up like bad guys so...
Cody was the Riddler from Batman, and John was Doc Ock from Spiderman.
I put out our old crib mattress with a sheet on it, so the bad guys could fall down on it.

The kids beat them up, and tied them up with crepe paper.

Oh man did the kids have fun!
Back inside...
FOOD:
I got this idea from THIS pin. They were way easier to make then I thought. Thanks to my mom for making the veggie tray look so awesome.

 This was the first time I attempted an awesome cake with buttercream frosting smoothed with viva paper towels and fondant cutouts. It was really fun to do the cut outs, but the baking of the cake and frosting it (and not really knowing what I was doing with the layers) was a bit much. Still, it turned out great for the little money I spent on fondant and food coloring. I got the batman pattern from HERE, and the rest I printed a picture from google images.

The rest of the food was hot dogs, sloppy joes, lots of fruit and goodies. Then there was the candy table, but I'll get to that later.

Decorations:
The picture above this of the backdrop and the bunting is one of my favorites. For the bunting, I got 12x12 scrapbook paper and cut it using the dimensions I mention on THIS pin. The Spiderman paper is from Michaels, and the 4's were on clearance for .25 each at Lowe's (They are address numbers).
The city backdrop I got from Google images and printed it on a normal piece of paper. Then my artist friend who happened to be staying overnight helped me draw it out on black paper. I used an exacto knife to cut it out. Thanks Becca!

These are picture from a spiderman calendar I got for $1 in the middle of the summer. The red star wire is from the Christmas decorations. The words (Splat, Zap, Bam...) are a free printable from HERE.

 I also had a bunch of super heroes lined up on the top of the desk (I had been collecting them at thrift stores and garage sales).

 Of course there were some lookout guys by the window (hanging balls lights from Ikea).

I decided to decorate the door this year because I had this .25 blue door foil (75% christmas clearance at the dollar store). I found the paper superman at goodwill for .50, and can re-use the yellow cutout shape for next year's door decoration.

GIFT BAGS:
The to-go bags were fun.
For adults, they got to pick a bag and have candy from the candy table. (Red, White, Blue, Black, and Yellow candy)
Some of the kids got in on the fun too.

 I made my favorite caramel popcorn mix for the "Pop" boxes. I found some other decent colors for candy because it was between memorial day and 4th of July.

The kids goodie bags had girl and boy labels on the top. On the front is a free printable logo that I found, but I can't find back. The dry erase boards I found at Goodwill for .49 each. I wrapped a box with 75% clearance Avenger wrapping paper from Christmas that had nothing christmasy on it.

Inside the boy goodie bags were:
Candy from the Dollar Tree (they have tons of superhero candy including superhero ring pops), Superman pencils leftover from a Valentine box that was on clearance. Tattoos from Old Navy clearance, and a Batman figurine. I found an entire bag of 9 Batman guys for $2 at a garage sale, and decided that would be more fun in the bag than the plasticy things that break. The Girls got the other stuff without a Batman and then a Minnie Mouse light up pen that I got for .30 each on Easter clearance.

Everybody had a blast, especially the birthday boy.

Thanks so much to Erica who blessed us by taking pictures with her awesome camera and then giving them to me:)

And...since the pictures turned out so great and a bunch of the kids go to our church, I printed them each one and put them on a blue matte (found a bag of 24 of them already cut for 1.99 at Goodwill). On the back I pasted the message: "Because Jesus is Strong, so are You."