Zack's 3rd birthday party

The time is upon us again to celebrate another milestone in the Thornton family -Zack's 3rd birthday! I simply can not believe that our baby boy is already 3!!! Wow! It was fun planning Zack's party this year because he was involved with the planning from the very beginning. He told me that he wanted a construction party, so that is what he got! It was actually the easiest party that I have planned so far. Here is a little taste of the party.

I found a couple pictures of construction cakes from the internet, and this is the one that Zack picked out. Good thing he picked this one - it was so easy and a big hit with the party guests!! Notice the large bulldozer has taken out a chunk of the cake! So much fun!

We chose to have the party at a park this year. It was nice to have it somewhere other than at home, although the preperation was a little different, and we had to deal with the outside elements (there was a lake wind advisory that day!)




A few minutes after taking this picture, all of the decorations from this table were on the ground! And, the decorations themselves ended up being very different than I had planned. It was a battle - and the wind won. Oh well, good thing parties are made up of much more than the decorations!

Just a few of the decorations that we used - this was at the end of the party and I had forgotten to get a picture of these decorations, so it was just everything thrown together on this table.

The party favors!

The handsome 3 year old! I never got a good picture of his shirt, but there is an excevator on it!

A few of the party guests patiently watching Zack open his gifts!

Grandma and PaPa where not able to make the party, but they did send a gift and card. This is Zack "roaring" like a T-Rex at the card from them! Such a perfect card!!!

After gifts, all of Zack's friends went to play on the playground. Not Zack - he had been waiting a long time to be able to "dig" in his birthday cake! I am pretty sure he snuck a few extra bites too!

Noah had a great time at his big brother's party too!

Enough cake - time to play!

Uncle Eric got to play on the playground too! I think he had just as much fun as the kids, lol!!!

Another fun and memorable party! We had a great time celebrating Zack's third birthday and hope he had a great day as well! We love you Zack and count our blessings every day for such a special gift from God. We can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The week of LOVE at our house was busy as usual, and of course full of fun (and educational) activities! First and foremost we talked everyday about God's love for us and Zack memorized the verse, "We love because God first loved us" 1 John 4:3. It is really amazing to me how easily he memorizes those verses (he also knows John 3:16) and Kris and I can only pray that these words will be hidden deep in his heart for life!

We also practiced sorting by color and counting, as you will see in the next few pictures. Nothing says fun like conversation heart candies!!

And on that special day... A special lunch for my boys!

And these were the valentines that the boys handed out to their friends at Small Group that night. I made the hershey kisses out of rice krispie treats. Very easy and turned out super cute!

Happy Valentines Day - and aren't we glad that we don't only love on one day of the year, but we can love every single day because God first loved us!

Noah's 1st Birthday party - Cookie Monster

For our sweet Noah's 1st birthday party we went all out "cookie style"!!!! I saw some cute cookie monster cupcakes and ran with the cookie monster theme. I really had so much fun planning this party - and thank goodness for my friend the Cricut - it made my life so much easier! Here are a few of the decorations (made with the Cricut of course!)

What would a Cookie Monster party be without cookies and milk?!?!? There were a bunch of cookies and other yummy treats to eat.

And then the cupcakes! I was so excited with the way they turned out, as well as Noah's smash cake.

Noah's birthday sign - also made entirely with the Cricut!

And the birthday boy himself!!!

We played a game where we hid cookies with letters on them and the kids searched all over the house for them, and then returned them to the cookie jar. Here is Zack - notice that he has found a cookie with "W" on it, but is sneaking a little candy before returning his cookie to the jar!

Grandma was there to help them put the letter cookies in alphabetical order and then gave them a stamp for each cookie they found. This was such a "teacher" game, but the kids really enjoyed playing, and it kept them busy for a long time :)

Noah got some great gifts..

...and of course loved playing with the giftwrap!

YIPPEEEE!!!! I got so many toys - and they are ALL MINE!!!

Cake time...

Not quite sure about the cake!

Getting a little more comfortable with this cake thing...

Ok, I really like it!!!

Such a sweet boy, sharing with his Daddy!

MeMe, Pappy, cousins Skylar and Paris

Grandma

It was such a fun party - a great success!

Our precious boy is now one. What a blessing that is! You make us proud daily. You are so handsome, sweet, and silly and have a smile that can light up a room. You are wonderfully made... We love you Noah-bug.