A Polar Express Party

I'm sitting here, Christmas lights glowing,  chatting Cody's ear off about everything I have pondered today. Thank goodness for the way my mind can flow from one random thing to a complete other, because I remembered I never posted about our polar express party! I sat down to edit photos only to find myself saying a big' ol NOPE, because I am trying my hardest not to pile on too many things that just aren't really necessary. Sure, edited photos would look nicer, but I'm reminding myself that I am a priority (especially when pregnant.), and that magical moments shine through even the grainiest of cell phone pictures. 

****

This year, we hosted our very first polar express party. I remember seeing my very first north pole party, and getting that giddy christmas excitement to share that experience with my own kids. The polar express is probably my favorite christmas movie, and we watch it every christmas eve, so I decided to make that  our theme since it felt so much like christmas to us.

Mackynzie was officially old enough this year,  to understand, appreciate and be super excited for a party like this. I set a rule for myself to "keep it simple", with things being busy with christmas and the fact that I'm pretty darn pregnant, I didn't want to over-do myself. (This pregnancy has required me to really pick and choose where my efforts go, or I get put up on the couch for an entire afternoon drinking loads of water and nursing sore hips and braxton hicks contractions.) 

It wound up being perfect. Simple, yet plenty of magic. I don't think my little girl has ever had so much fun at an event, so that right there made me feel like a million bucks. 

Pajamas where required of course. 

The break down of the afternoon was: A play session while we waited for all of our guests, gluten free cookie decorating, and a hot chocolate bar with popcorn to enjoy while we watched the polar express.

We collected all the throw pillows, giant teddy bears, and throw blankets and flopped them on the floor to create a giant, cozy, movie watching lounge for littles.

 The cookie decorating was a big hit. I loved watching what each little one chose to put on theirs, and even the specific placements on some. Kids are really hilarious in the way they like things.

Once their bellies were full of cookies, they all watched popcorn pop, filled little bowls, grabbed their hot cocoa's and piled into the living room to watch the movie. 

We had 8 kids and 3 new babies. This is most of the gang from our natural parenting group. I feel so fortunate to have these sweet friends in our life! 

At the end of the party, Mackynzie handed out little bells that said 'believe' that we made together. If you have watched the movie, you will know why I love this little detail so.

 It was a big success for our first go at it. Mackynzie cried when it was time to say good-bye (which took me by surprise, because she has never done that before!). She hugged and kissed her friends, and thanked them for coming. I can't even tell you how precious it is to see your child form friendships they are so passionate about. It fills my heart right to the top to see her share so much love with her friends. 

Reports started coming in shortly after from all the mamas, that every kid was either snoring for the night before they got home, or that they crashed shortly after. Sign of a good Christmas party? I think so!

A Cookie Party

We had a cookie decorating play date yesterday. It was super fun! It was short notice, so only a couple of her friends could make it, but it was just perfect. Mackynzie was excitedly chatting with me about how her friends were coming to decorate cookies with her, and all the fun things she wanted to do. She helped set up, picked up her toy area, and eagerly waited at the window.

They had a blast with decorating, and had fun playing together afterwards. Success :) And of course, they enjoyed eating their master pieces!

Mackynzie's 2nd Birthday party

 Oh my goodness, it's been a while! We started having internet problems at the beginning of last week and so I have been internet-less for the past few days. I have so much catching up to do! We have had thanksgiving,  birthday parties, treats, family outings, and Cody has been on holidays this week.  I guess the easiest way to do this will be in order of events, so we will start  with Mackynzie's second birthday party.

 Mackynzie and Cody's birthdays were on Tuesday, but we had her birthday party on Saturday to make things a little easier. As I had mentioned before, in this post, we were not doing a big shindig this year. Unlike her first birthday, we decided to keep things very low key and stress free. We let her invite a few of her friends, and kept the party between meal times so we didn't have to worry about feeding everyone.

 I didn't get many pictures; partly because I forgot, and partly because I was too busy (we didn't have a photographer there this year haha. well, technically we did, but she was a guest!)

 We had fun making her invitation this year. It was one of the easiest things we could have done!

We spent the evening before the party prepping. Mackynzie loved making her cake replacement.

Since she only had a few friends coming, we kept things simple with a play tent, tunnel, foam pit, and a bird house decorating and coloring station.

She awaited her guests like this:

We replaced a cake with rice crispy treats to keep things gluten free.

We had put them into pretty liners, and I had checked to make sure they came out of them. They did. Then 20 minutes before the party I decided to double check them. They did not come off... So we hurriedly tried to get them off a few different ways before everyone got there. I decided to pop them in the oven real quick and thankfully they came off. What's a birthday party without a little last minute near disaster, right?

 Like I said, I completely forgot about photos, I really didn't grab any of the decorations, so I snapped these afterwards. Still not much, but you can kind of see them!

These are the little bird houses the kids got to color. They were different shapes and sizes, and they were a huge hit! Everyone got to take their bird house home and they were all so proud.

Mackynzie's friends were extremely generous and they all had a blast checking out her birthday gifts.

The rice crispy treat cupcakes were a hit with the kids, and with the paper crisis averted, it all went smoothly. We had so much fun celebrating her, and the relaxed feel of the whole thing was heaven to my hectic mind. We sent Cody out to dinner with his friends afterwards, Mackynzie crashed really early, and I got to enjoy pizza and a rom-com. It was a super fun day, and I think we did our job of making some great memories for Mackynzie.