Miss Mayhem is 4! (Lots & Lots of Pictures!)

Ok, I know I am horrible at upkeep on this blog! But hey- at least you know it will be updated once a party happens... haha!

Mayhem turned the big 4 this past Saturday!!! How cool is that, her actual birthday was able to be the party date! I know I thought it was pretty neat... ;-)

So anyways, here comes her party! She is obsessed with My Little Pony- Pretty much all other little girls right now are having a Frozen Party... Oh not M, she can't be bothered with that (which I am totally happy with because I like something a little out of the main stream of kids parties! Those of you that know me, know this is  no surprise.. ha!)

I found these adorable MLP invites on Etsy

I let Mackenzie come up with what games she wanted to play- #1) Make your own Unicorn Horn, #2) Pin the Tail on Twilight Sparkle (I didn't get any pictures, darn it!), #3) Pinata... And I threw in a face painter just for good measure!

Star Fairy, Rainbow Dash, & a Panda! 

Make your Own Unicorn Horn Table! 

Mayhem with her pal from school showing off their face painting

Time to Whack the Pinata! 

He figured it out quick!! 

The three Rainbow Dash Girls! 

A group picture of a some of the kids that we could get to stand still for a picture! Ha! There were about 16 kids from 1 year old to 7 years old that came, Mayhem has quite a varying age group of friends! 

Face Painting isn't just for kids! We are pooped after our fun day! 

M wanted a photobooth area for pictures with her friends, so that is where the back drop came from! It was a fun idea that she helped me make, I love how creative her mind is & I am glad I could give her a party that was as magical in real life as she had imagined in her mind! 

Last but certainly not least-- Check out this amazing cake! Nanny made it for her special girl (not sure if that would be me or Mayhem-- hahahaha!) and it came out beautifully & was quite tasty too! =) We also had those ahhhhmaaaayyzzzing cookies we all know and love!! They were a hit (like always!!!), I love my Cookie Lady!!! 

How perfect did these come out?? She impresses me more and more with every order! 

Make a wish my Sweet Girl! 

"Mommy, this cake is a rainbow!!!!"

Yum!!!! 

I didn't get any pictures of her opening her gifts, but there were quite a few and it took quite awhile to open them! 

We continued our Birthday Celebration on Sunday with a trip to the LA Zoo, my cousin and his family came out for the party, so we all thought it would be fun to see some animals & keep the party going for another day! 

Cousin Day at the Zoo! 

Hanging out with the Meerkats

I hope you had fun looking at the pictures of our fun time celebrating Mayhem turning 4!!!

Invites: Irrelephant Designs
Cookies: MoMo's Cookies
Dress: BlossomBlueBoutique 
All other Decorations, etc were made by me or bought at Party City

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Wow! It's so.... GRAND!

Sorry, this was supposed to post the first week of February, and apparently I didn't press publish!! So here it is, the 1st week of April! Not too bad, right????!?! LOL!


Mr. Love of my Life took off a couple days this past week, so the way it fell he ended up with a full week off! I definitely didn't want to stay home for those 8 days- & all of you that know me, know I can't stand sitting still! (Apparently it is a trait I have so fortunately passed on to Miss Mayhem... Errr maybe not so fortunately, ha!)

As soon as I knew his days off were approved I had the wheels in motion for us to hit the road to somewhere! We ended up going to Williams, AZ. He has never been to the Grand Canyon before, and has been wanting to go see it. So off we went! 

We ended up staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel & then taking the train to the canyon and back. All three of us had a fun time and enjoyed ourselves. Mayhem got a bag of rocks and a stuffed mule from a couple different gift shops we went thru (another thing about me, I love gift shops! I will go wherever as long as there is a gift shop to browse in after!).

She had an awesome time and loved seeing the "big hole!" Her #1 disappointment: No one fell in... Uhh hello child! We didn't want anyone to fall in!

After our 2 nights at the GCRH, we headed onto Kingman, and then to Oatman, AZ. I had googled activities for us... Oatman looked like an adventure, so off we went! Well it is a tiny, old mining town, that has wild burros roaming around Main Street (Also known as Route 66!), I will just say they get a bit aggressive if they see anything in your hands! We let Daddy do the burro feeding, while Mayhem and I sat back to watch.

So here are some photos for you to enjoy of our trip!

25* was pretty chilly for us California girls! Brrr!! 

No Shortage of Interesting Souvenirs in Oatman, AZ

Look, it's Sleeping Indian!

December Twenty- WHAAAT?!

Can you believe it is already the end of 2013? I can't! This year has had so many ups and downs, I am ready for 2014, and can't wait to see what kind of magic it has in store for us!!

I can say I have completed my Christmas shopping! So it's safe to say, if there ain't anything under the tree for ya now, there ain't gonna be anything! Lol!! 

This year, I wanted to take different approach to an advent calendar with Miss Mayhem. I have always made a point with her every year since her 1st birthday to take her to get a toy and give it to the Marines for Toys for Tots, and she loves "helping" a child that wouldn't get much. So when I heard about this Random Acts of Kindness advent calendar/Christmas countdown from a mommy friend, I knew it was right up our alley & she would love it!

Some of the RAK have been bringing cookies to a neighbor, dog treats to animal shelter, helping decorate, etc. 

There has also been a LOT of hot chocolate sipping around here! 

My kid can't stand the taste of peppermint, yet wants to twirl a candy cane around in her mug?! 

Miss Mayhem had her school Christmas performance, and I can't think of much else that is cuter that a bunch of preschoolers singing songs off key! 

Christmas Parties have been had, gifts have been wrapped, neighborhood lights have been toured, parades have been watched and the house has been decorated! I think we may be ready for Christmas? Here are a few pictures I'll leave you with! 

Have a merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!!! 

Xo!

Jess

Mayhem is 3!! *Photo heavy!*

Welcome to My Party Post!

For the last probably 6 months, Miss Mayhem has been obsessed with horses. We took her to the rodeo a while back, and she was in heaven! She was upset when it was over, and did so well watching the entire thing on a hot Sunday afternoon! That outing definitely sealed the deal on the idea we had for her birthday party. I really didn't want to do a Princess party yet, she's really into them, we go to Disney all the time, she knows her princess stuff, but I wanted to do something different and just cute that would represent her and what she is into at this time in her life! This meant it would be a Cowgirl Birthday!! I worked on this party for awhile, it was a blast, & I enjoyed every aspect of it (which isn't that crazy for me because I love doing parties, especially a good theme like this)!! Here are some pictures and details from her big day.

Invites: 

Party Decorations: 

Cowgirl Wreath

I always do a wreath, I guess it's just "my thing", I love wreaths! Hehe!

She is 3!! 

This sign hung on the gate next to the sweet table. Again, just to keep the theme cohesive throughout the party.

Name banner on the food table. 

All of my center pieces for the tables. I simply wrapped ribbon and/or burlap, around a few jars and cans I had used over the past few weeks & put baby's breath (super cost effective & looks "country"!!) in each container.

So Many Treats to Choose From!

I love the mini hat! 

Here is our "Sweet Saloon". We had gum balls, suckers, cupcakes, chocolate 3's, root beer barrel candies, chocolate covered pretzels, and to die for sugar cookies that were made to match the invites.

Thirsty?! 

This was the "Watering Hole". I did custom cups for each child using some vinyl & my Cricut (again, more horses!) and more of my flower pieces. I love the simplicity of them! There were also two old whiskey barrels we used to hold the cold drinks, one with water, IBC root beer in glass bottles, & another with beer for the grown ups.

Lunch is Served!! 

And the food table in all of its glory! We did "On the Ranch Veggies & Dip", "Mustang Mac & Chz", "Buckaroo Beans",  "Wild West Sliders", & "Crooked Corn". My mom and I stumbled across the most amazing BBQ joint in Downtown Covina, and everyone raved about the meat & sauces.

Games:

1st game up was pin the badge on the cowgirl! My very talented sister whipped this painting up for me at the last minute (thanks!!!), this game was adorable!

Cowgirls! 

Pinning the badge on the cowgirl! 

Next up was the Pony Races! 

My corral of ponies! 

I made all of the stick ponies. I love how cute they turned out & it was great to see how excited the kids all were to get to take one home! Here are a couple tutorials I used to make them, and I did a couple of my own twists to them..

And they are off!! 

The race was pretty fun too!

The last activity was the piñata! A perk to a November baby is having a great use for all that Halloween candy!! 

Swing Birthday Girl!! 

Cake: 

Simple, but beautiful & girly!!

Blowing out the candle! 

Miscellaneous decorations/ etc I had for the party: 

I got these little muslin bags and did the stamps on them, love! 

I made this little rag garland for the back of the Watering Hole. All random supplies I had on hand, & they happened to match the theme. 

Hats for any Cowboys or girls that didn't bring one! 

Here are a few random fun pictures from a great day! 

My sweet girl & I posing for a picture on the saddle! 

Love my amazing family! 

My cousin and his family came out from Vegas to celebrate with us, too! How cute are these two?! 

My mom having some bonding time with her great nephew

Mama giving her sweet girl some kisses! 

All in all, It was a great day, and fun had by everyone! I hope you enjoyed looking through the pictures as much as I enjoyed putting the party together! I couldn't have done it with out all of the great help I got from my family and friends that were willing to put in a couple hours work in the morning to get all of the fun set up for my vision to come to life!

& now, to give credit where credit is due! 

Cookies: Momo's Cookies 

Birthday shirt: Ari's Angels

Cake: Albertsons Bakery 

Cupcakes: Sam's Club

Chocolate Pretzels: My nanny! 

BBQ meat: Ribs to Spare, in Downtown Covina 

Invites & Toppers:Pretty Party Creations

Banner & signage: Mayhem Creations