A Party Fit for a King (Kong)

Dawson turned three on Friday! I'm so in love with each of my boys for different reasons. It's becoming increasingly clear why God has placed this little individual in our family. He sees the world so differently than his brother, Bennett, and I love his point-of-view.

taken with Instagram:

Bennett and I decorated Dawson's door that morning while he was still sleeping (this boy sleeps late!). Bennett went in first and said, "Look, Dawson! We decorated your door!" And I heard Dawson in such a sweet, excited voice say, "Sanks, Bennett!" Its the saddest thing ever when your kids grow out of all their little speech impediments. 

Starting the day off right with a donut (I didn't start the cereal tradition with Bennett until he was four so we'll do it next year with Dawson. I wanted to make sure they were old enough to understand its a privilege, not a given!):

We ended his actual birthday with a family trip to (where else?) McDonald's playplace. Its actually kind of relaxing there which is all you can really ask for when you're dining out with three kids (relaxing environment takes priority over food quality these days. Chick-fil-A offers the best of both worlds but it's so dang far away from our house.)

And on to the party!! (Sorry, this is going to be a super long post. Come back when your kids are sleeping.)
I debated back and forth on the theme for Dawson's party. I convinced him to just have a Cars party since it would be easy. I even started buying stuff for it. But frankly, I just couldn't get past the thought that he's not really obsessed with Cars. I want my kids parties to be whatever they're obsessed with at the moment and something that feels a little more homemade (but on a very small budget). Dawson's been obsessed with King Kong forever. Ok, yes, it was going to take way more creativity and effort to pull it off but I seriously felt bad doing something just because it was easier for me so I returned all the Cars stuff and told my mother-in-law/party-planning-associate that somehow we needed to make a King Kong party happen.** His love affair started one Sunday afternoon last winter sometime when the 1976 film version was on TV. Jon watched most of it with the boys that day and Dawson was devastated when we had to turn it off. So the next day Jon got out the new version that we happened to own and showed him a select few scenes. That was it. Dawson fell head over heels in love with the giant ape and has been ever since. For several months he asked to watch "the T-Reck part" every day. It was like his drug. He'd be in a horrible mood, screaming and crying all day and then sit perfectly quiet watching parts of that movie. (He's since mellowed out a little)
The invitations--we just used an image we found online and personalized it a bit, printed it in color on cardstock and pasted it on a notecard. (I already had a giant box of plain cards and envelopes in cool colors from Target). We designed them together and Judie printed them up for me:

 Hard to see but Jon drew "King Kong prints" up the sidewalk:

My sister, Claire, and her boyfriend, Michael, couldn't come to the party but they came that afternoon for a few hours and helped a ton. Claire made the entire skyline backdrop for me:

Judie bought these New York City blocks as part of Dawson's gift and we used them to decorate the cake:

The treat bags-- It was a little tricky to find stuff to fit with the theme but they turned out ok.Wish I could have found a little gorilla to stick in there. The airplane kit was such a lucky find after wandering through Target for an hour!:

 Oh boy...the party hasn't started and he's tired already:

"Jungle Juice" labels made by Judie, with a screen print of a scene from the movie:

The spread. I really wanted a full dinner but wanted to keep it really simple so I decided on an appetizer sort of meal. I stocked up on good stuff from Trader Joe's. Fresh fruit, veggies, bagel chips with TJ's Spinach & Kale Greek Yogurt dip (it was delicious), TJ's Mac & Cheese bites (I needed a party as an excuse to buy these. Worth every calorie laden bite), peanut butter and banana pita pockets for the kids, monkey tails made by Judie and meatballs with a mixture of TJ's General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce, barbecue sauce and a little honey. It was all so delicious and the best part, quick and easy, besides chopping up the fruits and veggies.

 On the monkey bars after dinner. Where's the birthday boy?

 Its my party and I'll pout if I want to:

 There he is, back in action:

I just love this picture:

Judie printed pictures of jungle animals and the kids played charades. It was a nice and quick game that the two year olds and seven year olds had fun with:

Dawson's turn. Or not...

And of course, my go-to party activity--storytime. This book was appropriately called, Gorilla, and was about a little girl who wanted a gorilla for her birthday. It was perfect:

 Judie made these fun masks for the kids:

 Not too much of a stretch for these monkeys:

When I handed Dawson his first present to open he looked at me and said with disbelief, "is it mine?" It was so sweet. And after presents (and promptly putting on his new "Super Dawson" costume), it was time for cake:

It was such a fun party for this wild man. So sad my parents couldn't be there for it. I think three is the best birthday party age. They finally understand it all but are still so little and adorable!

 

**Let me just clarify that I absolutely do not AT ALL think you're less of a mom if you choose to do commercial character parties for your kids. I believe we all need some sort of outlet for our creativity and talents as mothers. Being a stay at home mom is a draining job with very little instant gratification or praise. Planning parties for me is a huge creative outlet and something that I find fun (that and blogging!). Plus my mother-in-law loves it too so its something fun for us to do together. My husband thinks they're kinda pointless and not at all worth the hard work but he loves me enough to accept the fact that its important to me and so he helps me a ton with the setup. And I love him all the more for that. 

Dawson's Big Day

I know you were thinking to yourself, "Man, I just haven't seen enough first day of school pictures lately". Don't worry. I've got you covered.

Dawson had his first day of preschool on Tuesday! Because of his late birthday, (September 14th. Tomorrow!!!) we had to make the decision weather to send him to school for the correct year (our cutoff date here is the 15th) or hold him back. It might seem like a "duh" to most moms of boys to hold him back since people hold their kids back even with late spring and early summer birthdays. But my birthday was Sept. 23rd and I was young for my grade (I started college at 17) and I always kind of liked the fact that I had a head-start on life. Jon also argued that it'll push him to be a better athlete because he'll be competing with older kids. But the closer it got to the preschool year and the more I talked to people and saw Dawson's personality and strengths and weaknesses coming out, I realized it'll be the perfect decision for him to hold him back. And really, if he'd been born one day later, I wouldn't have even had to decide. 

So we ended up sending him to Meredith Drive's 2 1/2 year program. I know, I know, 2 1/2 yr preschool seems a little completely unnecessary. I used to wonder why anyone would send their kid that young. Do you really just want your kid out of the house?? Well, like so many things we judge as parents, I'm eating my words (or thoughts). There are two reasons I'm sending Dawson this year. The first is because of his age. He's just a couple months younger than Bennett was when he started so he's definitely ready to participate in a preschool setting. Secondly, since Channing takes two long naps a day, we're really stuck at home a lot and don't have the flexibility to do fun stuff outside the house. Winter is a very long season in Iowa so the more we can do to break up the monotony inside, the better!

I wasn't as emotional as I have been when Bennett makes these big transitions but it still felt like a huge step for this little guy! I guess he still seems like my little baby in so many ways (maybe because he still uses a pacifier and wears diapers??! Yeah...we're working on that...) 

He clung to me tightly and buried his head when we first stepped into the classroom (which I secretly love) but within a minute he had warmed up and was doing his own thing. He had a great first day and I'm thankful for such a warm and loving environment for him to learn and grow in. We just love this school.  

I also signed Dawson up for his first session of Storytime at our library and he had his first one that day too! They were offering one at 1 o'clock which we can fit in between Channing's two naps. Its really really strange going to the library without Bennett because its one of his favorite places to go but it also feels good to have the focus and attention on Dawson.  

BIG steps for my little boy! So proud of the caring, passionate, observant, funny and smart little boy he's growing into!

homemade granola bars

I'm not usually a recipe sharer on here because I generally keep it pretty simple but I had to share these! My friend, Emily, gave me this recipe earlier this summer and they've become a staple in our house. We've dubbed them "fridge bars". I was spending a whole lotta money on granola bars for the boys (since I generally looked for ones with more fiber and less sugar) and was tired of it. Now we make these almost every week. They're awesome because you can adapt them to exactly the way your family likes them! (I love dried cranberries but Bennett doesn't so we leave them out.)

If any of that is unclear, let me know. Everything is 1 cup except 2 cups Grain and 3/4 c of Sweetener.

 My ingredients:

 

Raw honey from Amish country that I get from Jon's Aunt and Uncle in PA :) Its expensive at Trader Joe's so this lasts us a long time.

And voila! A perfect afternoon snack (or breakfast on the run!). Keep them in the fridge for up to a week.

A few notes: It says use an 8 or 9 inch square pan. I like to use a 9x13. As you can see, they come out to be a nice size that way. If I have vanilla whey protein powder at home, I use about 1 1/2 scoops. Don't use a full cup. They turn out way too dry. And if you don't have protein powder, no big deal. I usually make them without. But then I use less honey (closer to 1/2 cup) since they stick together just fine. Also, I use two different seeds and do half & half (unsalted sunflower seeds and ground flax seeds, for example). Mix it up however you want! You can't really mess these up.

PS. I took a picture of that recipe with my phone. I'll text it to you if you'd like so you have the list when you go to the store. Or just copy and paste and email it to yourself :)
PPS. If you ever see mini dark chocolate chips or even regular size ones, please tell me where! I've only ever found those jumbo Nestle chips from Target and they're just too big. I chopped them up once but that takes forever.

Source: this recipe was in HyVee's magazine.

Labor Day in Memphis

Per my Aunt Alicia's request (my Dad's sister who lives in Atlanta), we held a mini family reunion of sorts at my parents house this past weekend. It was for whoever could make it. Unfortunately my little sis, Claire, had to work, and my brother and his wife are just too darn far away. (We all hope that someday that won't be the case ;)
It was the first time we were at their house with Seth and Bethany and the girls so of course, that was a lot of fun for the kids to have their cousins there. We had a fun weekend, albeit not at all relaxing :)Hopefully in a few more years these road trips will be more fun and less work! Channing still doesn't sleep well at all in the car. He took four naps on the way down with a cumulative total of 35 minutes. So not fun. What are the chances he'll change his ways in a month when we drive down to Florida?? Crossing my fingers.

Jon and I and the boys stayed at a friend's cottage. There wasn't enough room for everybody at my parents so we volunteered to stay here instead. My parents lived here for 6 weeks before they found a house and we visited them here last year. Its the cutest little place in the woods and its the most peaceful thing ever to sit out on the screened-in porch in the morning. (Ok, so I lied. About half an hour of each day was relaxing ;) 

The big kids with Grandad! I just love this shot because everyone has such big natural smiles. A rare thing from a couple cute but stubborn kids :)

Every time they've been in a pool this summer, they've gotten better and better. This weekend, Jon taught Bennett to get a dive stick off the bottom of the deep end!! Holy cow, this kid is amazing in the water:

Dawson has done a little bit of swimming without floaties this summer but he definitely got more confident this weekend and went further. His eyes were always red and burning the whole weekend because he spent so much time swimming with his face in the water and wouldn't keep goggles on! So proud of my little fishies:

 

  Example A of stubborn kids ;) 

With Aunt Alicia. She worked hard to make friends with all our kids (who were too little to remember her last visit) and she won each and every one of them over by the end of the weekend! It was so much fun to have her there with us.

We even fit in a little kid-free shopping trip on Sunday afternoon (!!!!). I love shopping with my mom since we have such similar taste. I got a new light fixture for our dining room which I will blog about soon. And a trip to my favorite store ever, Anthropologie, made me one very happy girl. Our family came home late Monday night utterly exhausted but overall it was a wonderful visit, and so fun to get a few more pool days in!