Yesterday was the day!
Months of planning. Months of crafting/shopping. Days of baking.
Every. Single. Second. was worth it.
The party turned out beautifully and everyone had a blast.
Now... On to the meat and potatoes! The pictures!
The food table. Notice it looks a little sparse.... Well, we definitely did not manage to LOSE a bag with some of the stuff in it only to get home and find out that my husband never took it out of his truck. Nice. It worked out though, so no worries. We had chicken nuggets and tater tots for the little ones and chili for the adults. (I know that I get so sick of the same old party food. Chili was a nice alternative for the adults that could be made in a large batch for a reasonable price)
Mini cupcakes in chocolate with peanut butter frosting and good old fashioned yellow cake with chocolate frosting. And s'mores on sticks of course.
The middles of the tables each had a mason jar with either s'mores on sticks or chocolate dipped pretzel rods (yum) and a wooden train weighting down balloons.
These little wooden trains came from the dollar section at Target. The red, yellow, and blue didn't really go with the color scheme so I painted them, added the M&E stamp used for the whistles, and then distressed them.
The cake table
I actually made the cakes myself and I am EXTREMELY proud of that. I am not a cake decorator by any means, but I can honestly say that my boys have NEVER had a store bought cake for their birthdays and I would like to keep it that way.
Mason's side of the cake table. That is my favorite picture of him from the day I took his birthday pictures.
Part of Ethan's side of the cake table.
The drink table.
The drink table, complete with my old window w/ banner that I put together last week. It was perfect!
The intro to the "Dining Car." This sat at the beginning of the food table. Thanks to my grandmother for allowing me to use one of her old suitcases and thanks to the Dollar Tree for some super cheap plates and napkins!
Paper doilies folded over a piece of twine with pictures of one of the birthday boys attached with a clothespin. Of course, I had another one with pictures of Mason on it, but I completely forgot to get a picture of it.
The entrance to the depot. The pennant banners were made with thrift store fabric, twine, and burlap. Cost me next to nothing and worked PERFECTLY! Loved how they turned out!
The birthday sign that Mason painted all by himself! It was so cute! He did such a fantastic job.
Daddy and one of the birthday boys! (Notice them making the same face.... My little Twinkies)
The gift table. (They got SO much stuff..... Some of it may make it into Santa's bag. It is crazy how much stuff they ended up with!)
My Brady Bean enjoying his brothers' party. He told everyone that this was his train party and we were worried that he may not handle the gift time very well, but he got himself a cupcake and he didn't care. (Plus since it was all coming home, he knew he would get to enjoy everything.)
Mason on his gift from his Pappy. A Green machine.
No, he is not holding up one finger as in a "I'm number 1." He is holding up a small rat pencil topper from Halloween that he likes to take with him everywhere for some reason.
Daddy and Ethan during the birthday song.
Cake time!
Yes, Mason got his own cake too.
After cake.
The aftermath.
Presents!
Mommy and Ethan
My husband and I.
Ethan, Paw Paw, Brady, and Brysen taking a spin on the train.
Brysen sporting some of his goody bag goodies. Silly glasses and mustaches have nothing to do with trains, but when I spotted them at the party store, I couldn't pass them up and the kids looked SO cute!
Daddy and Brady Choo Chooing the day away.
It was SUCH a gorgeous fall day. Perfect for a party!
The months spent planning, the money spent, the anxiety, the baking/crafting/running around like a mad man....
Seeing all of the little smile covered faces.... It was all worth it.
Thank you for taking a peak at our special day.
Time to start planning for the next one! Only 6 months until Brady turns 3!
Your post brought back 2 fond memories....1st off, I used to have a Green Machine when I was a kid!! I remember you could skid out really well on that thing! (I was kind of a Tom Boy) It sits so low to the ground that you didn't have to worry about flipping over which meant the daredevil in me was free to play!
ReplyDelete2nd, I used to throw themed birthday parties for my now 14 yr old son and he remembers them all with fondness! Some of his friends will still bring up those cool parties. You are making long lasting fond memories for your boys! Love the train theme! Keep up the good job!!
Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI had never even heard of a Green Machine! I had to google it when they told me that is what they were getting him. He loves it though.
And as for the parties... That is exactly why I do it. I have such fond memories of the parties that my mom threw for me growing up and I want my boys to look back and remember these moments. They grow up too quickly not to make these occassions special. I hope that my boys can look back fondly when they hit their teen years. Although, I hope that doesn't come for a long time. I want them to be little forever.
I love the sign that your son painted and that peanut butter frosting sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteWow - looks like a fab party! Your newest follower, Karima www.karimascrafts.com
ReplyDeleteSO pretty!! Would LOVE it if you would link this up at my turquoise lovin' party going on right now! (also doing red for the holidays) http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/11/turquoise-lovin-14.html#comment-form
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I had so much fun putting everything together!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great party! That cake was amazing and your table was lovely. Well done! (I like to entertain too)
ReplyDeleteThat is seriously an adorable party. I love vintage and the train things are great! You did great.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am SO proud of the cakes! Like I mentioned, I make their cakes every birthday and before now I had always been kind of disappointed with the outcome, but they turned out WONDERFULLY! Of course, I didn't get a picture of the tops of them. The smoke coming from the train went onto the top of the cakes and formed their first initials.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am a nut for entertaining. It drives my husband crazy!
Hi Samantha, what a beautiful family you have. I also am the mother of three sons (all grown now) but I can remember all the birthday parties and the work that went into them. You did a great job. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
ReplyDeleteSamantha,
ReplyDeleteWhat a precious train party. Thanks for your sweet comments today. You made my day. I love reading your blog too. I am not sure how you do it all with three boys! They are precious.
Thank you! And it takes a lot of balancing! I only blog, usually, when I am at work and have the time. When I am at home I definitely don't have the time! Our house is insane!
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