Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me!

Here are the pictures of Jaxon's 3rd Birthday party. It was a Swashbuckling Good Time!!
I got a lot of fantastic ideas from here

This was the invitation hand delivered to most of the Crew of the Adventurer.

X Marks the spot...

When the kids arrived they were Pirate-ed at the Bucaneer Outifitters. My sister Heidi dressed the pirates in the finest gear on the highseas. Including tattoos, eyepatches, bandanas, earings and hooks.

Some adults surprised me and came in their best Pirate Gear, ready to sail!!

Two sweet little Pirate Maidens...

The crew of the Adventurer feasted on fish sticks, goldfish and toasted with Scurvey Punch (Pineapple juice, orange juice and 7up) with a little Rum for the adults.

After the feast, the little pirates each picked out their treasure chests (old cigar boxes we had picked up at a cigar store for $1 each) and their names were put on them.

The Pirate Dad (Jason) did an amazing job constructing The Pirate Ship Adventure out of Cardboard. This was truely the hit of the party. The kids LOVED it. It had a cabin in the back with a seat and a window to spy out of, a folding plank for the crew to enter/exit on, cannons out the side that fired cannon balls (black ping pong balls), a mast with 2 sails, and of course it flew the Jolly Roger proudly from the top.

The Treasure chest was "buried" in the front yard and the kids found it (3 is still a little too young for an offical treasure hunt with a map) and the hangman strung it up for the pirates to take whacks at. I made the treasure chest out of a styrafoam cooler and paper mache. (on the cheap- Take that Party City!!)

When the tresure chest was finally opened gold coins, jewels candy and spiders were inside, they placed their treasure in their indivdual chests to take home!!

Next there was mutiny on the 7 Seas, and the Pirates were forced to walk the plank!!

And of course every birthday party has to have cake. I made mine nice and simple, out of the box, and stuck pirate flags on top. (He is 3!!! And since none of them are gourmet critics, they have no way of knowing that I made nothing from scratch)

Before you start thinking that we as a parents went WAY overboard and spoiled our kid. Remember, I work 40+ hours a week, I don't home school my kids, I don't make my own baby food, I don't even sew on buttons (I pay the dry cleaner to do it) so I felt justified in indulging in a little Birthday party glory. Besides I know for a fact, having your birthday in December, usually you end up getting a little ripped off. Who's to say this won't be his only fantastic Birthday part for til his *Sweet Sixteen* (where we buy him a convertible BMW, and he throws a tantrum because its the wrong color...;-)

*A special thanks to "Uncle" Matt for taking all these pictures, because there is no way I would have been able to in all the pirate chaos!!!!

River of lights

A Mime by any other name...

Bridget received mixed reactions from our choice of Halloween costume. I'm pretty sure I was the most amused by it. People were either equally amused, or horrified.

She doesn't say much (except for the occassional growl) so she was an excellent Mime. Yes I am a professional Makeup Artist. But even after I strapped her into her carseat, it was a tough job. Its possible some of the people giving me confused/concerned looks thought I dressed my baby girl up as Heath Ledger's most recent Joker from Batman, as the face painting ended up a bit on the messy side.




^Not Bridget

Things Jaxon says

Mom I should sleep in your bed to protect you. From lions, and bears, and bats and coyotes and monsters.

Bridget on the move

I have failed to document Bridget's progress. She crawls. She stands. She claps. She growls. She adores her big brother. She has all sorts of tricks. She is a sweet little girl with a spunky personality. She is going to be plenty tough courtesy of her big brother. As she enters into her 10th month, we are in no hurry for her to walk, but it will more than likely begin very soon.

Bon Appitite!

Jason: Hey Jaxon, you want to help me stir this soup?
Jaxon: Okay! I'll go get my chef hat!!

Disclaimer: the burner was not on yet. No need to call child protective services.

Things Jaxon Says

"Hey mom, probably we should stop by the candy store and get some candy. Think that'd be great?"

Boomer, Sooner!!!

It is quickly becoming a "Manly-Man" Tradition that the boys head back to OU in the fall for a Sooner's game. This year was a quick trip, Jason and Jaxon had blast watching Oklahoma trample Floridia, hanging out on the field, mingling with the cheerleaders and the ponies. When they returned, I was talking to Jax about the game and asked him about the cheerleaders. He told me he talked to them and I asked him if they were funny, he said "No mom, they are beautiful!"

East Mountain Adventure

We took a day trip up through the East Mounatains, had lunch at a little pizza joint, checked out Tinkertown Museum and then went for hike on the top of Sandia Peak.