Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
After 2014's "Emerson Alice in ONEderland" Birthday party..."We are never doing this again."
After 2015's "Emerson's Clubhouse" extravaganza ..."Can we take a vacation next year instead?"
But then came 2016...and nothing could stop the rodeo.
Three years. 1,095 days. 26,280 hours (many of which were spent not sleeping). This Birthday would have to go down in history books, as well. For months I have listened to the Sheriff Callie theme song incessantly. It's Emerson's only DVR request. It was everywhere, and to her, it is everything.
And so it was settled; I needed to create our own wild west in two different cities.
"Oops, I did it again..."
Sheriff Callie is a newer cartoon compared to Mickey Mouse or Dora, etc. so the challenge was all mine. I was going to have to make the majority of the decorations from scratch.
#FromScratch
#HeadScratch
#Hmmmmm
Every chance I got I was searching through websites and craft stores in search of supplies.
Prancing in Hobby Lobby like...Whatcha' got for me this week???
For Emerson's first and second Birthdays I used our entire church fellowship hall, which is over 3,000 square feet of space, so I thought it would be 'easier' to have a wild west bash in my parents' backyard. In my mind they had the perfect location and space for it!
It's amazing what you can do with just a little thinking outside the box. I used my beloved Cricut machine and a little imagination to make this banner. Little details like outlining the letters so they would show up made this take an extra long time, but I was thrilled with the end result. My mother also informed me that if I bring glitter in her home again, I'm being taken out of their will.
I bought canvases from Hobby Lobby and drew and painted each of the cartoon figures for the photo area. I've had them ready for a couple of months now, and Emerson had to carry them wherever we were in the house. Eating dinner? They had to be staring at us. Sleeping soundly? Ryan wasn't too thrilled about seeing Toby the Cactus smiling at him wide-eyed at 4 am...especially after all the creepy clown sightings lately.
Cow print is so much fun! The tables we ordered ended up being two feet longer than I thought, but it worked out okay. Thank goodness for extra tablecloths!
I was also super happy with how the centerpieces and cake table turned out...although, they did present some challenges. I'm used to inside parties, so this whole outside thing reminded me why the unexpected has always made me nervous. For starters, I couldn't set up any of the outside decorations until the morning of. I woke up at 6:00 am and put the table cloths on all the tables, but I hadn't considered the early dew, which soaked the decorations...
Since when does a little moisture hurt anyone? Just ask any woman who's trying to fix her hair. No thanks, Mother Nature, I'd prefer not to "Do the Dew."
I LOVED the cake! Karen Lane did an awesome job.
Every party has a gift table. How could I make this area a focal point? By using the frame of a beach tent and decorating it! I was thrilled with this. It was another morning-of project, and all I could think of was one of my best friends, Jamie, who decorated for her own wedding ceremony- veil and all- just hours before it started...hahaha!
#2008flashback
Ahh- the party favor table! A) EVERYONE loves candy, so there was plenty of it, and B) I found these absolutely adorable cowboy hat sip cups. They were such a hit!
This led to another conversation with my mother...
"KATHARINE, you hauled bales of hay in my new van?!? There are pieces of it everywhere!"
I like to commemorate each Birthday with pictures, and this year I had a photographer lined up...then came Hurricane Matthew and no time to reschedule. I was bummed, but I called up a local portrait studio, and they fit us right in. I was so happy with these!!!
#Cowgirl'sWorld
For activities I had a craft section with a color-your-own cowboy scarf and kits to make western animals/picture frames.
Then came the ball pit, several inflatable and kiddie toys, and a 30 foot caterpillar! Because Emerson's Birthday is on fall festival weekend each year it was hard to find a company that was available, but the people we used were awesome and actually delivered it a whole day early due to their schedule. Translation: we played in it until 11:00 the night before the party!
We also sent out some precious invitations. Shout out to my friends at UPS of Lexington for creating these!
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It was a perfectly beautiful day, but as we all know, not eveerrryything turns out exactly as planned. Case in point: my cowboy cookies. I had a wonderful vision for these.
I thought I would skip the step of making the dough from scratch and buy pre-made rolls from the grocery store.
"WRONG!"
I cut dozens of cookies into cowboy shapes and placed them in the oven, only to be horrified when the timer dinged.
What I didn't realize is that the type of dough I used will spread out. No joke. These poor cowboys looked like they'd been mugged at the saloon, kicked by the bull, and dragged by their boot straps by a train. Maybe next time...
My Dad is an awesome sport at dressing up for celebrations. However, when I first Googled "adult western wear" let's just say that Poppy would have been arrested for each of those outfits. But when I found this bull riding costume for $20 bucks I couldn't pass it up. And thus, Rodeo Randy was the guest of honor.
After feasting on the delicious cake it was time for this sweet little girl to open her gifts, and she is just like me when it comes to expressing her surprise and thanks!
It almost makes me cry each year to see so many sweet and beautiful things. I hope Emerson will always know how many blessings she has and how loved she is.
And I have therefore spent a long time this week writing heartfelt thank you notes.
I wouldn't trade a moment spent at that party. We had so much fun and were surrounded by family and friends!
THE HUTH and ERWIN kids (and Grandmother Sue)! I can't say enough about them. They came early and stayed late and helped us tremendously with decorating and undecorating. You will be pleasantly surprised in life about who is willing to lend a helping hand, and God definitely gave them a gift! Plus, an extra hour or so in the caterpillar never hurt anyone! And the Shuttleworth family is incredible, too. Emerson loves her time over at their house!
During one phase of decorating my Dad and I compared the preparation of these parties to hurricane categories. Number of trips to the store, difficulty, and cost were all factors in assigning a number to each party.
ONEderland was definitely a category 4...
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was only slightly less treacherous as a category 3...
And while Emerson's Wild West was only a category 2, it still packed a tough punch.
The following weekend it was time to bring the Wild West to mine and Ryan's house. We can't leave out our daycare friends! I justified this by telling Ryan that everything I bought was 50% off. "How so?" he asked.
"Because I got to use everything - except the cake- twice."
In case you're wondering, there are 1000 of those balls, and I've picked them up one by one on many occasions.
The cake!!! The Pastry Place did a phenomenal job with this "horsey cake" as Emerson called it. It was absolutely delicious!
I turned our dining room into a craft and snack station.
And the hobby horse was also quite the hit. Had I gone overboard, that horse would have been real. But seeing as how Ryan freaks out about glitter on the floor, I'm fairly certain that I'd find all my belongings on the front porch if he found horse poop inside. Fortunately this horse doesn't have bowel movements.
Emerson gasped and squealed each child's name as they came in the door. It was the sweetest thing! Earlier that week I also brought pizza and cupcakes for her class.
The Mommy picture!
What happens in real life when you try to round up all the kids for a picture...
One thing's for sure: they'll sit still for cake!
She got some lovely gifts that were so extremely appreciated!
I kept my tradition of recording a special song just for her...something she can always treasure and never outgrow. This year it was "Better Place." You can see the song and video here.
It's so clear how much these kids love each other, and I wouldn't have traded a moment of frustration for all of these smiles. When I'm rocking away in my old age in either a chair or psych ward I will look back and know that I did everything I could to make Emerson's days on this earth full of life. Does it mean that parents who don't go all out love their kids a little less? My gracious, no. It's just that party planning and fun runs through my veins, fortunately or unfortunately for my family members.
Will Emerson remember every single detail of these parties? Probably not, but this. This smile says it all. Her third Birthday was pure joy!
You'll find me here until next year!
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