My nephew Luke's Reptile Party

   

 My sister asked me to help plan my nephews 5th birthday, and seeing how I love planning parties I of course jumped at the chance!

My sister had already booked a great reptile show to come to the house. So I was in charge of all the rest. The name of the company for the reptile show is Cool Critters Animal Presentation. http://natureguy.net/Cool_Critters.asp  He was so great and the kids had a blast! 

<------------ (Luke the Birthday Boy)

Here are some pictures from the party. 

Dessert Table: I designed some really cute table signs. I sell them in my etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout

I purchased these adorable cupcakes at cinnamon productions in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. They were so delicious! 

The Party Favors:  I had a blast making these. I sell the tags and instructions on how to make these in my etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout

 I tapped a note to the back of the favor boxes. They were similar to the note that was written inside the book. 

  Here is what we had inside: The alligator was a growing alligator. I purchased the books on Amazon and the alligators on Steve Spangler Science  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/growing-alligators

Food: The food was kept rather simple. I just covered various size boxes with wrapping paper. Then we just placed some of my nephews little reptile toys around to decorate.

What a great family photo of my sister, her family, and a giant snake!

 Luke with all the girls and then with the boys .... and lets not forget about that snake!

MORE SNAKES!

 

Here is a collage photo to pin! :)

Thanks for stopping by....

Soccer! Bows, snacks and ways to stay cool!

 

  GO PURPLE THUNDER!

 

 GO GRAY HAWKS!

 Soccer Season has begun in the Walker house, and boy has it been hot! I thought I would share a few things we do during soccer season....

HOW TO MAKE.. Soccer Bows:

• First you want to pick out at least three main colors from the uniform.
• Buy several spools of ribbon. In various Sizes, Textures, Patterns and Colors.
• Buy the thick/ No metal hair ties. 
• Cut each ribbon into about 6 to 8" in length
• Then start tying the ribbon around your hair tie. Be sure to tie them in a pattern. (example purple, white, black, purple white black, purple white black etc.)

 And that's it! It really is that easy, and Oh SO CUTE! 

Here is a photo of my spools of ribbon: Check out the various Sizes, Colors, Patterns and Textures!

Also you can get ideas for ribbon patterns by the name of the team, like purple zebras you can find a zebra print, or blue dolphins... you may find a dolphin print.... etc

SNACKS
When ever I do snack I like to bring a fruit, a carb, and some Gatorade.
Aren't these cute! I think the kids will really like them. 

  
Some other snack choices I do are:
Sliced Oranges, Bananas, Watermelon wedges, Sliced Apples, Grapes
Pirates Booty, Gold Fish, Sun chips 

Here is a e-Book with GREAT Healthy snack ideas!
http://www.volunteerspot.com/ebooks/snacks

WAYS TO STAY COOL!

• Take a few wash cloths get them wet, ring them out, place in a baggy and Freeze. This is a great way to cool off during half time and after the game. 

• Bring a water Bottle with a fan. Hey it will even keep you as the parent cool while watching on the sidelines. Look at this cute soccer water bottle. Ive gotta get me one of these. Super cute!

• Bring a Umbrella, it's nice to have some shade while watching!! 
• and Always keep the kids Hydrated!!

 

 What are some of the snacks, and cooling off tips you do during sports?

 

We are Back in Scool!

 

 Well it's official we are BACK IN SCHOOL!  In some ways I am excited, but still very sad to see my little ones grow up so fast! Here are a few things I did this year to remember this occasion.

A few weeks ago I posted my Night before school check list. Here it is again. You can enlarge by clicking on  it and then right click on the image to save it to your computer.

I got some cute pictures of them with their lunch boxes and backpacks. Just so I can remember what they were into that year. 

The Balloon Idea: I thought it would be cute to have the kids hold a balloon every year to symbolize the grade level that they are going into. So by grade 12. They will be holding 12 balloons. 

We got Jude a balloon so he didn't feel left out. :)

Memory Keepsake... I LOVE this idea just so you can remember what they were like at that exact moment!  I sell these in my etsy shop.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout?ref=seller_info

ENJOY THE SCHOOL YEAR!

Class Auction Project

 A few years ago my sister asked me to help come up with a painting idea that my nephews class could do for their annual school auction. They wanted something fun that all the kids could participate in. Since they live by the beach we came up with doing a sea life painting using each kids hands or fingers. We had to make two paintings to fit all the kiddos on them. I first painted the background, then it was sent to the school for hand and finger prints, next it was sent back to me where i embellished the sea life a bit to create the animal. The final artworks had each child's name next to the sea life they created. 

We made two-toned fish by painting two separate colors on their hands. We made adorable seahorses and sea snails by using finger prints. It turned out super cute and I was told they made quite a bit of money for the school.

My husband is so Handy! A two Level Parking Garage

I came home from my parents house yesterday to find a two level parking garage for our kids power wheel cars in our garage. My husband was so tired of them both taking up so much space, so  he took a pallet and a few pieces of wood and built us this very awesome, very space saving structure. 

I LOVE that he is such a handy guy!

The Night Before School Checklist. FREE Printable

If you have school age kids you know how crazy school mornings can be. So I like to be organized and prepared the night before so the morning will go smooth. I created a checklist, mostly for myself, but thought I would share in case it might come in handy for others.

 (Just click on the image above and then right click on the image and hit save)

Or click the link below for a PDF 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bx5ginekw6tgs5v/nightbeforeschool.pdf

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!