Bretten Turns 5!!!

I can't believe Bretten is now 5!!! I wish time would just slow down. I love to see my kids learn and grow, but seriously...it is going too fast! Bretten is the sweetest boy ever and we love him sooo much!
He wanted a cowboy party this year, and I didn't really want to do another party for him since we did a pirate party for him last year, but since he was turning the big FIVE, I decided to go ahead and do it. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too, and now I can take a break from parties (at least for Bretten) for a few years. Bretten helped me make cupcakes for his pre-school class. He was so excited to take them. At school that day, they saw a mouse and his teacher was so shaken up about it that she dropped the cupcakes when they were trying to pass them out. haha! Quite the story. I've never seen somebody so scared of mice, but I can understand because that's how I am with spiders.
We had Bretten's party that afternoon and then that evening, we let Bretten choose where he wanted the family to eat and of course he chose Golden Corral, so that is where we all went. We then came home and opened presents and ate cake. It was an exciting and fun day and I hope Bretten felt very special and loved, because he most certainly is!


Bretten ready to blow out his candles and dig into his cake!



Bretten opening some presents!



Bretten still wanting to wear his cowboy stuff even after his pajamas were put on.



Daizy and Bretten enjoying their food!



Cole all decked out in his cowboy gear!



Zoe...what a cute lil cowgirl!



Lily...so cute!



Owen ready to ride!



Corbin...didn't want to look at the camera...too interested in the toys.



Barrell racing on stick horses!



Kaysen enjoying his rootin' tootin' root beer!



Partying Hard!!!



Brooke and Braxton riding the horse.



We made cowboy vests out of brown paper bags.



Daizy taking a swing at the pinata!



Bretten trying to reach the pinata!



Braxton up to bat! Nice swing!



Kaden deciding what to do!


***The Party: I had a lot of fun putting this party together! I love doing this kind of stuff! I have a new found appreciation for all the parties my mom threw for me when I was growing up though, because they are sooo much work and boy do things add up quick! I try to be thrifty, so I cut costs where I could, and I was pleased with what I was able to come up with. The party itself was a little disapointing because it was just more chaotic than I would have liked and didn't go as smooth as I had imagined it going, but that shouldn't surprise me! Most things don't work out how I imagine they will in my head! haha! It was mainly lack of adult help that I was planning on having, but at the last minute didn't have. Talk about last minute stress! I just had to wing it and we didn't get to do some of the stuff I planned, but it was okay. I tend to over-plan, so it would have been too much going on if we had actually been able to do everything. Luckily I had a few Moms that stayed with their little ones and they stepped in and helped when I really needed it. I don't think I would have survived without them! I was relieved when it was all over! I think the stress of it all finally got to me and I felt like crying by the time it was done. haha....I cry when I stress! I don't know why I thought I could do a party without Jason home to help me, so it's kind of my own fault. It's kind of like when you plan/prepare for something and then it just totally doesn't go how you thought and you feel like you did all of that work and preparation only to fail miserably! lol. I am too much of a perfectionist when it comes to certain things I guess. I know it wasn't for nothing and I bet the kids didn't even notice how rough things went, but it was definitely not something I want to relive any time soon. Bretten felt very special though and loved every minute of it and had no idea how stresed out I really was, which is all that matters!

I took these pictures just so we can remember what we did and how much fun we did have planning it.



I bought some cowboy material at Wal-Mart and made these little bags for all the kids to store their 'gear' in. They came in handy for their pinata goodies and other games and prizes that we did.



The treat/prize bags and cowboy dress-up gear.



The bean bag toss that I made the night before the party! I've never claimed to be an artist- I'm just glad the kids new what the pictures were! haha



We had a balloon for everyone to take home! Jason and I used all the extra balloons to provide an entertaining helium voiced concert for the kids later that night. lol!



Ring toss...I wrapped rope around wire to make the rings and then we just tossed them around 2 liter pop bottles. I was hoping to decorate the pop bottles like horses or something else, but there just wasn't time.



The yummy dessert...cowboy cupcakes!



Yummy snack food!