Happy 7th Birthday Emmitt!

There is a first time for everything! And I'm not talking eating cereal out of a bowl without using a spoon. I'm talking about a little brother picking the exact same birthday party theme as his big brother. That has never happened. And I'm not so sure it'll happen again. But hey, I'm not complaining. It was very easy, I had all the decor ready to go and the ideas for the cupcakes already planned. Oooh, and I'll get to scrapbook both boys' pages with similar layouts and paper. Mom win!

The morning of Emmitt's birthday he was served Cocoa Puffs as his Kibble in a dog dish. He pounded it.

It's crazy every year how much he really changes, but this year there is a big difference. More and more boy looking and less baby face.

We celebrated with family at our house on President's Day. The boys had back to back hockey games over the weekend in two different countries. We just couldn't hold his birthday on the 13th...Friday the 13th nonetheless.

Guests were served "Toilet Water" to wash down their pupcakes.

Bone Appetit everyone! Enjoy a dog biscuit on your pupcake.

Don't forget to Fetch your utensil and wipe your paws! Oh and be sure to enjoy some puppy chow along the way!

Auntie Tammy loves the puppy chow and these goofballs. Pretty sure Uncle Scott taught Parker the "hide your finger up your nose" trick. 

Here we go...really turning seven when you blow out all the candles and the family has sung, "Emmitt has a birthday, Emmitt has a birthday, one year older than he was before." 

Happy seventh birthday Emmitt.  

Sledding birthday in Ranier, MN

Oh Emmitt I knew this year you were going to beg for a "kid party." You are turning seven and because your brother had a friend party when he was seven you were never going to let me forget that it was your turn.

Now I will remind everyone that I don't do kid parties well. I do family/adult parties pretty well if I do say so myself. Not kid parties. Parker cried through most of his Mario Kart party. Everyone was touching his stuff and not sharing and he sat on the stairs and cried. He just didn't know how to handle it. That was the one and only time we had a kid party in our house. So when Emmitt reminded me that he wanted a kid party I started to think outside the box. Mid February is full of freezing temps and lots of snow so we went for a sledding party. We had been dodging late starts and no school days this winter and it's been down right cold. We managed to sneak in a day full of sun and fun on the Ranier sledding hill.

Parker testing out his snowboarding skills.

Kane

Connor

Brooks

Madalyn

Chelsea

Taylor

Bre

Madalyn and Bre

Abbie

Connor, Andrew, Pablo and Emmitt--the Fearless Foursome

The Class of 2026

  The did manage to eat THIRTY hot dogs. And I figured out fairly quickly that almost all seven year olds really like marshmallows but not S'mores. I had a lot of left over graham crackers and chocolate. 

Super thankful that this guy right here can build an amazing fire (even if we did need to use the provided blow torch). He helped me stick massive amounts of hot dogs on roasting sticks, keep the fire stoked, wipe noses, help put mittens on, squirt ketchup and he even made me my own hot dog. 

Abbie

Taylor

Bre

Brooks

Connor

Kyan

Pablo

Andrew

Madalyn, Brennen, Chelsea

Pablo

Connor, Madalyn, Andrew, Emmitt

Morgan

Emmitt

Morgan & Emmitt

The big brothers came and had a blast riding dual over the huge jump. Lots of giggles while they tried to find out just how high they could fly.

Happy New Year from the Olson's! Cheers to 2015! May it be just as FUN!

Happy Birthday Puppy Boy!

Our sweet nine year old made good on his word. Last year he debated on a puppy party but chose hunting/camo instead. He just kept pushing the puppy theme out and I thought for sure it would never happen. Or that maybe he would pick dogs instead of puppies. I wasn't sure if puppies were too babyish or if his love of puppies (his puppy) would win out. It did. He is so sweet! He loves tiny things, baby puppies, small versions of big stuffed animals he already has. 

So I went for it! We were short on time when he finally decided on his theme. So the dollar store had to come through for me. I have never really minded buying table clothes, plates, napkins or silverware from the dollar store, but much other than that is pretty much crap in my eyes.

But low and behold their picture frames aren't too bad and they even have a pet aisle! I was floored!

I spent a total of $20 on decorations. The signs I designed and printed out myself. I even found a little All Star puppy sweatshirt for his new stuffed animal. 

Parker woke up to puppy paw prints all over the floor of the house leading him to his breakfast...his own bowl of Kibbles and Bits. Cocoa Puffs look amazingly like dog food when served in a dog dish!

I had the table all set up for the party. Including dog dishes of napkins--Wipe Your Paws, silverware--Fetch!, Bone Appetit (just may be my favorite), and a big ol' bowl of puppy chow!

When the time came he did what he typically does ONLY on his birthday when being sung to...he got shy. His face is so adorable and sweet when this is happening. Melts my heart!

 He did manage to blow out all nine of his candles but it took a good couple of breaths to get them out. He's getting old enough that the girlfriend comments truly embarrass him

 I usually go all out on the cupcakes. Or pupcakes this year. But I was able to just frost and use a Scooby Snack bone shaped graham cracker for decoration. I had quite a few people ask me if it was a real bone! It may say more about me than I want to know. I also used an oreo for the paw pad and three milk duds for the toe pads. It looked like a tiny puppy paw.

The puppy chow was a hit for the kids and the adults! I don't think I have ever made it but somehow had the recipe for it. It turned out great and was super easy!

 And one of the funniest stations of the night was the "toilet water." The kids got a huge kick out of this! The adults thought it was pretty funny too.  

 The party was a success, the theme was adored and the birthday boy totally approved. I wish I could freeze time at this age because it totally fun! It's crazy, busy, fun but I love it!

The boy and his puppy.