3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY

All dressed up in baseball gear for the party!

I enjoy party planning. And people have made comments like, "How do you have time for that?" or "I wish I had time for that!" and sadly even, "Why do you spend the time on that?" Well, it's just this simple: You make time for what you like to do. And I enjoy doing party themes for my children's birthdays. So I make the time. 

And this year I decided on a baseball theme!

Go MINNESOTA TWINS!

But, please don't judge me. I've heard it all before. People making fun of the "pinterest" moms who theme parties or make such elaborate decorations. Why make fun of them just because it's something you don't do? It's a hobby for them. It's a hobby for me. For example, I don't watch a lot of tv. So instead of watching tv, I spend some time in August planning their birthday party. Is that so wrong? Not at all. It's something I like to do. It's therapeutic. It's crafty. I like it!

Oh, and I'm actually not a "pinterest" mom. I've only been on there a handful of times. Are you surprised? :) It's true!

Okay, enough of my ranting. Just had to throw that out there to defend myself and all the other party planners out there!

We had Eli and Will's 3rd Birthday Party at my parent's farm in Pipestone, MN this year. We were home for a wild weekend, so we decided to throw one extra event in since many people would already be there! We had FOUR parties in TWO days. On Saturday morning, we threw my sister, Corrie, a baby shower in South Dakota. Then E & W's 3rd birthday party was back at the farm in the afternoon. Then we went back to South Dakota early Sunday morning for my niece, Eleanor's baptism. And then our another niece, Ryder, had her 2nd Birthday Party at the farm later that afternoon. Whew! Makes me tired just typing all that. :)

We had a fun and wild weekend. Lots of planning, prep, and preparing for both the baby shower and E & W's birthday party, but was totally TOTALLY worth it!

Here are the invitations I made to look like ticket stubs. 

So fun to make!

*Notice the special note at the bottom. I'd thought it'd be fun for everyone to wear baseball apparel. It was so fun to have everyone dressed alike for the party. Thanks to everyone for humoring us!

The menu was of course CONCESSION food. Hot dogs, nacho chips with cheese and jalapenos, and baked beans. (Well, baked beans aren't really a concession food, but just pretend!)

I even found the fun hot dog holders to go along with the baseball plates and napkins.

Yummy!

And how could you have a baseball party without good ol' cracker jack, peanuts, popcorn, and "dubble bubble" bubble gum? You can't! So those were the goodies placed on the tables for munching!

Here are the boys enjoying punch in their new baseball cups with twisty straws. They were in heaven!

We had the party outside because that was the only place that could fit us all. But mother nature played a cruel trick on us, and it ended up being over 90 degrees out, so we all got a tad bit warm. I had planned on everyone playing a game of baseball together out in the field, but none of us really wanted to move in that heat, so we skipped that and just ate. Works for me!

Loved everyone dressed in baseball gear!

Wish we would have taken a group photo of the entire group together, but we just ran out of time!

You can see their "birthday banner" of photos hanging from the canopy.

Every year for their birthday, I make a banner of one photo of the boys together from each month. Here's a close-up of the year 2 to year 3 banner!

For decorations on the tables, we had old baseball bats, mitts and baseballs of Nick's for the centerpieces. 

After getting back to the farm from the baby shower, I barely had time to get birthday party stuff ready, yet alone take the "pretty pre-party" photos I had wanted to. So I didn't get photos of everything. But these were the labels I had attached to the brown peanut bags:

And these popcorn bags, I filled with some treats, balls, bracelets, toys, etc. as party favors for all the kids to bring home.

See the white house in the background of this next photo? 

That's the house I grew up in! Love that place!

Remember when I said it was over 90 degrees out? Well, this is what happens to your cake and cupcakes when it's that hot. Things start to melt....a lot. And when you use red frosting, it looks like a blood bath. It was a bloody baseball bloodbath. Oh well, it still tasted good!

The cake was chocolate for Will, our little chocolate lover. (Which Will pronouces "fock-et." Oh my...our little potty mouth!)

And the cupcakes were vanilla, for Eli, our little vanilla lover. (Which Eli pronouces "'nilla.")

Those on the cupcakes are supposed to be 3's, E's, and W's. But yes, a blood bath did occur. I had planned on making these look like baseballs, but the frosting tip I was using was too thick, so it wasn't working. My cake/cupcakes were a disaster. But like I said, at least they still tasted good. :)

Opening gifts:

Will blowing out his 3 candles!

Elijah blowing out his 3 candles!

An attempt at getting a cousin's photo. (Cousins of Eli and Will!) 

But Max did not want to make an appearance. :)

A few kids ran away but these stayed. :)

Golf Cart rides!

4-Wheeler Rides! Farm life is the BEST!

Even though we were SO hot, it was a fabulous party. 

We made great memories and are thankful for our dear family for helping us celebrate. 

Now to figure out next year's theme! :)

Hum...anyone have any ideas?