Will's Happy Birthday Party

Will turned 2 yesterday and we had some close friends over to celebrate. We invited just playdate buddies which made for a cheap and easy party which we as the parents actually got to enjoy also!

I have to admit, October snuck up on me quickly. I was and had actually attempted to send out e-vites, but at the last second decided to whip up something creative instead. Mind you, I'm not dogging e-vites, I love them and use them (although now I use pingg.com; much user friendly for me) but c'mon people what kind of mom can't make 3 stinking invitations? So, I hopped over to my friend Sarah's blog, Create Studio for a refresher of a construction party she threw for her little guy. Using her simple and FREE idea of using cardboard and duct tape to construct them together, I was very happy with the result. I even used painter's tape and tool stickers I had from scrapbooking years ago.

The invitation read:

CAUTION:

Will is Turning 2!

A birthday party is under construction and will be held Friday, October 15th at 6:00 p.m. Please join us for dirt cake and spontaneous bouts of singing the Bob the Builder theme song. We hope you can make it!

RSVP: General Contractor (Natalie)

Here was the front. I wrote the name in white paint pen since all I had was black duct tape.

Adam and the kids had fun by decorating with caution tape all over the front of the house and trees in the front yard. Made me a little nervous of what the neighbors might think about us...or what they think might have happened to us...;)

My mom gave me some money for Will's gift to with strict instructions to get him anything construction since he seems to be into that now. The dump truck was the perfect thing to get and put part of the dirt cake in. I layered it with saran wrap for a quick clean up so Will could get to driving his new "dig dig" once it was gone.

The kids loved the cake and had fun finding the worms I put in it.

These are the Hasty boys, Seth and Jake (with their mom and sister, Meghann and Aubrey, in the back :). Meghann is my good friend and neighbor who lives a mile down the road so we get together with these guys a lot!

I think every picture I have of Audrey, she is pushing a stroller around my house. She is quite the girly girl with all her baby dolls and hair accessories!

Baby Aubrey, the youngest at the party.

While talking out the party ahead of time with Bridge, she suggested making cars out of cardboard boxes. I took it one step further and made "diggers" that the kids could race with. Here is Will modeling the backhoe. It even had a front end loader that swiveled using brads, but every thing else was used with boxes, hot glue, paper plates for wheels, black fabric for the straps and lots and lots of spray paint.

Will and Cohen who is modeling the dump truck.

The races were really the highlight for me of the party. It was so cute seeing the kids waddle their way as fast as they could to the "finish line" which was caution tape held up by two of the dads.

Greta and Eli, Cohen's big brother, our other great buddies.

FYI: If you ever happen to try to make these trucks, a word of warning that yellow does not do a good job to cover up hot pink diaper boxes. SO, I used black as a base coat and then yellow on top which resulted in kind of a neon green. All you do in this case is play with them as the sun is setting and then no one notices! :)


On your mark, get set, GO!

When it was present time and everyone went inside, the birthday boy decided to take a cruise on his bike. I think he wanted the whole "fashionably late" title and not look to eager.

My sweet, handsome boy.

Present time!


We got him a couple interactive construction books and he loved one so much he actually left the party to go read it by himself.

Sitting in the entry way for some peace and quiet. :)

The menfolk hanging out in the kitchen. Notice anything new?! We got our beautiful concrete counter top in the day before! It was perfect timing for this weekend!

Playing with his new farm toy from Eli and Cohen with their mommy, Holly, in the background.

He loves the CARS placemat and utensils! Thanks Aunt Bridge and Gretch!

Here's a picture of some roads I made, one for the table and one for the island. I just used black fabric as a table runner and dotted it with paper backed with double-sided tape. And of course, my Cabarrus county non-prize winning happy birthday banner in the background that you will see for many birthdays to come. :)

My buddy tuckered out at the end of the night. So, I guess you could say the party was a success!