Flying Solo [Summer Ketchup Post 2 of 5}

This Mama (yes, me) lost her marbles this summer. I'd like to say I've found them, but I think a few of them went down the vent and are never coming back. But I did find a few of them in the couch cushions and under the bed.

Part of my quarter life crisis was that I felt that I needed to spend some time on my own. I needed some space to be me, and to just sit and think; to have a cup of coffee with a friend without trying to talk over crying babies; and some time to let loose and feel 24, and not 45.

It is  a wee bit sad that is has been over 2 years that I have gone out with friends without the Hubs or babies. I vow to find more balance on a regular basis.

It's a strange thought that one might be heard without shouting over toddler gibberish, or even in fact, finish a meal entirely without thinking how much this waiter is going to hate us when he sees the mess my children are making on the floor. The only downside to being with friends is that when you are with your children, you are constantly thinking of how much you miss your friends, but when you are with your friends you are missing your family and wondering how they are doing and if they miss you. Oh life, you are so confusing!

Summer Ketchup! {Post 1 of 5}

So I know I vanished, and if you don't stalk my photos on facebook....well then, you have no idea what I've been up to this summer.

A whole lot of CRAZY and a whole lot of FUN.

Keep checking back, I'll promise you'll be filled in...

Join me for a photo tour of my summer...

Ever wonder what those weird mormons do for fun? Well, we ride dirt bikes in our Sunday best through the neighborhoods, of course!

 

^^ Tristan's first time sitting on a real dirt bike. 

I've successfully brainwashed my child.

All he talks about is, "bike, bike, bike, bike"

I LOVE IT! 

CAKE SMASH!

I'm proud to say that my boys sure know how to eat a cake.

Anyone remember this? :)

Following suit...

Followed by the epic wash down. There was some debate about how to clean said Birthday Boy. I voted for the hose. If he's going to be a boy and live in my house, he's gonna get the hose when he gets this dirty. He might as well learn early on that this kind of mess is not allowed in the house...Eric didn't agree. He didn't want anything to do with the hose and crying baby. I think Ryan handled it well. A couple of tears, but they were brief :) 

Daddy was kind enough to give him a real, warm bath directly after. What a nice Daddy, my boys are lucky! ;)

Little Man Mustache Party!

This post is going to be VERY LONG, so bear with me! Lots of fun pictures to share :)

Our little man's birthday party was yesterday. It was so much fun, and SO EASY. Far less stressful than any of Tristan's parties. We had one of the women in our ward volunteer to help with the invites, so we sent out digital invites instead of mailed invites. We may go this route every year, for several reasons. So much cheaper (FREE), convenient, and you typically get RSVP's a lot faster and easier. The only downside to this was that Eric & I missed out on our date night of making the invites. I do enjoy making them together.

We used this digital invite--
(this is a sample-- didn't want to blast our address all over the internet)
I LOVED the wording and couldn't resist.

The best part about this was when I was doing some last minute shopping the night before and stumbled on these shirts...on sale, nonetheless...HOW COULD I RESIST?!

These were both Men's tees, so I just cut mine to make it a little bit more feminine :)

and then I found this bad boy for my mom...she loved it. She wore a mustache the whole party. I think the mustache made her feel very suave because as soon as the mustache went on, she had insta-swag.

Some of the party decor and fun: 

We set up a photobooth for people to get silly with the mustaches...

 Popcorn-- we got these bags for a couple bucks with the cotton candy machine rental and just popped regular popcorn from Costco (total cost: under $15)

 Old fashioned coca cola from Costco as well. We HEART COSTCO!

 Party supplies from First Wishes

 Homemade cupcake toppers, Cupcakes made by my BFF/MadeOfHonor aka the beautiful redhead Kristen Raab :)

 Cake also made by the lovely Kristen Raab

Our friend Felicia helping Eric make Cotton Candy; the machine rental was our "big splurge" for the party-- sooo worth it! Fun and easy, and an ENDLESS amount of Cotton Candy-- we will be giving away Cotton Candy for a few months if anyone would like some....lol

And then some finger stache fun... :) 

My personal favorite part of the party.

And then of course, some candid shots of our guests enjoying themselves... 

I'll have to do an entirely 2nd post of the cake smash & the photobooth pics...so keep your eyes out for more! :)