March Madness

March truly was madness with two birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, and being in nesting mode trying to get ready for this baby!  Easton turned 4 and wanted a CAMPING party.  One of our family traditions is planning birthday parties.  We don't do presents for birthdays, but the kids get to pick their theme and spend some quality time with me planning a fun party for under 30 dollars.  They learn to budget their fun a bit, and I love hearing what they come up with. 

 We did s'more invitations(SOME of these got out in time.  Like I said, it was a crazy month:))

They helped me decorate!

When the kids first got to our house, they decorated walking sticks with stickers and crayons.

What is camping without a bit of fishing?  They fished for all the items they would need to make a s'more kit that they got to take home at the end of the party.

This was the take home bag(s'more kit).  We used the walking sticks they decorated for the stick part.

One of the games we played was a bug bite game where we gave each kids some bug stickers and they went around and played tag, "biting" each other by sticking the bug stickers on each other's backs.  The kid with the least amount of "bug bites" won!

Another simple, game we played was "hide the flashlight".  Basically like hide and go seek with a flashlight.  Surprisingly, this was the favorite game!

We read funny camp fire stories:

We had campfire cake and drinks with bugs in them to make it a really authentic camping experience.:)

        Easton felt really important, and loved his special day!  This boy woke up on his birthday, and when I asked him it it felt any different to be 4, he said he felt like a "man".  When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "meat".  He truly is a little man and can wrestle all day long, but he also has the most tender heart and surprises me with how willing he is to share and keep the peace in our home.  He is also our comedic relief, with his one liners and natural exuberance.  Though you'd never know it in public, because he acts shy.  I love the element of fun he adds to our family!  Happy birthday Easton!!!

Landon lost his first tooth this month too! 

The tooth fairy paid a visit and gave Landon a tiny note with a dollar bill folded up really small to fit in the tooth fairy sized envelope.

One of my favorite things about marrying into the McGarry family is how seriously they take St. Patrick's Day.  It is fun to marry into an Irish heritage.  I never celebrated the holiday much before I married Dave, but it is pretty magical.  Aunt Anne sent them a fun St. Patrick's Day package(She is the best!), and we used it to make a cunning trap, complete with a get away car.  The leprechaun was supposed to climb up to get the gold, cut it loose, and let it fall into the get away car, which was lined with sticky duck tape to make sure that tricky leprechaun didn't ACTUALLY get away.

He some how escaped another year, set out some of the things from Aunt Anne's package for us to have an Irish breakfast.  He also added some things of his own with his magic.  The banner, the shamrocks, and the green cups were from the leprechaun. 

He arranged Aunt Anne's skittles in the shape of a rainbow.

This sweet girl turns two this month.  I ABSOLUTELY adore her and so do the boys.  She is such a joy to be around.  Having a girl has been a totally different experience for me.  She comes up with the craziest outfits, loves to sing, dance, and loves food like her mama.  Her first word was "cheese", and she pretty much likes anything you put in her mouth, so we thought an ice cream themed party was appropriate.

One of her favorite people right now is Jade(her cousin).  Every morning she asks me to show her a video of Jade so she can get her fix.  We knew that is who she would want to spend her birthday with.  So, my sister, her husband and Jade came out to visit for the weekend to celebrate an early birthday.  These girls are so fun and shadow each other all day long. 

I am so glad she has a few cousins that are close to her in age.  I know from experience that cousins are the best friends, because they are life long friends.  I can't wait to live a little closer to the other two as well. 

All this girl needed was some cake, and her day was made.  We did ice cream cone hats and an ice cream cake.

She loves her Aunt so much!

This video cracks me up because Jade had her 2nd birthday party a couple weeks before this, and when they sang the birthday song to her, she went to blow out the candle, and ate the flame instead.  Then, when they re-lit it and tried again, her hair caught on fire.  Don't worry, no one got hurt, she didn't even cry, but it must have left an emotional scar.  This is especially evident in this video, when we lit the candle and started to sing.  We think Jade may have had some flashbacks.  Maybe some PTPSD(Post traumatic party stress disorder).  Poor girl!

                                                                The cake:

                                                                     Opening presents:

                                                                            Cousins!

This girl just melts my heart, and is sweet to the core, yet can hold her own with 2, almost 3 brothers(sometimes I think they might even be a little scared of her:).  I waited for her for a long time!  Love my boys, but having a daughter is such a blessing too.  I love when she climbs up beside me each morning while I put on my make-up and asks for some "shiny"(which is what we call make up), and waits for me to brush her face with my blush brush.  I love how she seems to love what I love, to watch and copy all that I do from wearing high heels, right down to loving babies.  She loves to talk and loves people.  She shines from the inside out, and I love watching this little person grow.  She has such class and sass!:)  Happy birthday Oaklyn!