choo-choo

This week, we traveled home for a party to celebrate the big "1!"  Sometimes it's easier to bring the party to the family than the family to the party!  Since I've now shared of my love for party planning, you can assume that I put way too much time into that aspect of it, though getting the news of Amanda and Ben's baby girl this week put life back into a better perspective and I can say that I spent more time kissing on my little guy's chubby cheeks than making charts of everything I wanted in the room.  I decided to do a train theme because we bought Ben a train table and tracks for his birthday (which Drew might be even more thrilled about for now).  I don't really like using the big name products (like "Thomas") for invites and such.- I like doing the invites and decorations myself, but I couldn't find any free train clip art that I liked so it was either pay for clip art or pay for someone else to make them.  I found this cute collection on etsy for $15 which I thought was pretty good because I could just print what I wanted and it had about every option possible.  63 pages of options to be exact.

It was just a small party- just family and a few friends so I probably shouldn't have done anything.  I should have used the free white dixie cups and plates offered by the place where we had it (Brandon will read that and say, "Say what?  There was a free option??"), but I couldn't help myself.  I fully acknowledge that this part is far more for me than Ben, but I wanted to make a big deal of this exciting milestone in his life and this is how I know to express it.

Anyways, it was a fun day.  As always, I was running behind and still decorating (was only given 30 min in room before party if that helps my excuse!) as everyone arrived and using my mom and sis as slave labor.  Thank goodness for them and thank goodness for the attached room with a playland all for us. 

So here was our party- I will apologize ahead of time for a million pictures.  Now you've been warned.  (and if you've read this blog before, you already knew what was coming.)

birthday boy!

train world

not a great picture, but there were lots of yummies- pepperoni rolls, fruit bowl, pasta salad, chicken bacon wraps, spinach dips and dippers, deviled eggs, and some goodies for the kids in the train- animal crackers, pretzel rods and gum balls :)

chugga chugga. chew chew.  

I put little gold coin chocolates on the tables with a tag labeled "train fare."

The theme really started with these name trains that my mom gets for the boys when they're born.  He loves his and plays with it all the time.

I made a train on butcher paper with a cart for each kid to color

the important part of any birthday party

and yes, there were actually people at this party.  Here's our wonderful family!

some fabulous friends!

Time to sing to the birthday boy!

the finished product, minus the caboose I also made bc it didn't fit on the pan.  We were going to use that as the smash cake, but that day he was having nothing to do with it (unlike his first taste of chocolate a few days prior at home when he literally sucked it down!!)  -Just can't get them to perform when you want them to!

and here we are!  What the heck is my 4-year old doing??  No idea.  One day we'll get a nice family photo.  :)

Oh my.  This is not how I envisioned the bandanas.  haha- A little less engineer, a little more train robbers- much funnier though!

like I said, train robbers.

hehe- and we ended with my adorable nephew both cleaning the floor with a giant broom as well as by hand (and by that I mean eating any fallen candy he could find).  I LOVE this kid!!

Ok, a final "happy ONE, ben!!"  xoxo