Monday, June 12, 2017

Nall Brothers Birthday Bash!

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!  We had one for the memory books because we finally got around to throwing a party for our birthday boys!  So I'll be sharing a LOT of pictures today.  Yep.  You've been warned!

On Friday, I had to get straight to work to get about 20 orders sent out that day.  At one point that morning, I walked into our office and saw these two giggling away.  They clearly can't stand each other.  ;)


After I got all the orders dropped at the post office by 5, I ran a few errands to get ready for the party the next day and tried not to stress.

That night, Craig and the boys had a "Dude Party" which just means they stay up late shrieking and horse-playing for way too long and all camp out in Matthew's room while I get the bedroom all to myself!  I love Dude Parties.  ;)

And since we're on the subject, the boys came up with some rules for these parties a few months ago.

#notooting #yeahright

I wanted to watch something girly that Craig would never watch with me so I decided on Beauty and the Beast.  It was my first time to see it and OH. MY. GOSH.  I LOVED it!!!  I was so not expecting to be gushing (to myself) about how incredible the movie was but that was exactly what I was doing even just halfway through!  It easily shot into my Top 3 movies of all time.  

Total #girlcrush on Emma Watson.  She was a perfect Belle!


Anyway, Saturday was the party so I spent all day cleaning and getting the backyard set up.  We decided on a pool/waterslide party with hot dogs, chips, cupcakes, cookies, and an ice cream bar.  We've done these many times over the years and they are just the easiest and most fun in my book!

My parents arrived around 3:30 with my old ping-pong table from when I was a kid.  We spent HOURS in the garage playing on that thing so the other day I called them to see if they even still had it.  They said they did and that it had been in storage and I knew it would be so fun for the boys to have as well.  

I got zero pictures of the ping pong table.  #fail

Anyway, when it comes to party planning, I tend to fall somewhere between a Pinterest-worthy party and a McDonald's playground party. (Those were all the rage in the 80s!)

I'm the one shoving the cupcake into my mouth.  No shame.  ;)

I would love to make everything super cute and fancy with too-cute-to-touch cookies or one of those super cool cakes that look too real to eat.

I wish I had time to make banners and a photo booth with props and plan out the perfect party favor for each guest.

I wish I started planning a month in advance and had all my kids' friends addresses on a neatly printed list so I could send their personalized Etsy-made invitation straight to their house.

But that's just not reality around here.

My reality was this.

I asked the boys to give me a list of all the friends they wanted to invite.  Matthew only gave me a handful of names (hardly any of which I actually knew their parents) and Mason gave me about 400.  So I tried to coax Matthew into giving me more names and talked Mason into cutting quite a few.  After we got the list sorted, I had to decide on the invitation.  Since it was already less than two weeks away when I was doing this, I knew it had to be quick.  And I also had no idea who some of these kids were and had to try to track down a way to get them an invitation.  

I decided to go the Facebook Event route.  I am usually an Evite kind of girl but this was really easy and was basically the same thing.  So there went my plan for personalized Etsy invites.

For party supplies, I went to partycity.com and ordered the tablecloths, cute plates, cups, forks, spoons etc.  So that was done and saved me a trip to Party City.  


And then to give it just a hint of  Pinterest worthiness, I created my own little printable to pop into a frame to sit on one of the tables.  I also whipped up little name cards for each of the ice cream bar toppings.  




This was completely unnecessary of course because what little boy needs a card in front of a bowl of M&Ms telling him what they are?  I'll tell you who.  

No one. No one needs that.

Oh and party favors??  What are those??  Ha!  I seriously never bother with party favors.  For one, we tend to invite whole families since it's in the backyard.  We subscribe to the whole "the more the merrier" concept.  So I had no clue how many kids would be there.  And instead of stressing about it and spending a ton of money on random things that would break in the car on the way home, I just said nope and didn't look back.

And no one seemed to care.  Yay!

Once the waterslide people came and set up the slide (about an hour before the party started), I knew that there was nothing to stress over.  That slide was AMAZING.  When they were setting it up, I couldn't believe how big it was.  Mama did good!!  Mason never even got around to changing into an actual swimsuit for the party.  He jumped on as soon as it was ready to go in the shorts he was wearing and never looked back!

Big thanks to my who mom had eyes on the pool the whole time from her chair in the shade!


When the party finally got started, it was nothing but FUN!  (Ok, there were a few tears.  Aren't there always?  But no broken bones!)

And now for all the party pics!




Love this one of Bowen!  Everything he does makes me laugh!




This was the only picture I got with the birthday boys together!




These cupcakes stained all those kids like crazy! The kids who got a red one looked like they'd just eaten someone!





Love all these sweet mamas!

Fidget spinners for the win!


My dad and Matthew.  My dad went down the slide about 100 times after the party.  #metoo



After the party, we had about an hour before the slide people were coming to take it down.  So I wasted no time and jumped on it fully dressed.  That thing was no joke!  It was fast and so fun!  After about 15 minutes of sliding, my new shorts were so heavy that there was about to be a wardrobe malfunction.  So I ran inside to change into my swimsuit and we all went down that slide steadily for the rest of the hour.  I had the best time!  I think we need an adults-only party with one of those slides!

It was well worth the money and for you local girls, we used Clown Around Party Rental.  This is the second time we've used them and they are all so nice and reliable and make it SO easy.  I highly recommend!  (And no, this is not sponsored by them in any way although I'd be completely ok with that!  #callme)


Not everything went perfectly though.

I had a pretty major #momfail.  Of course.

When I went to pick up the cupcakes from Tom Thumb (see how fancy I get?), I picked up candles for the boys to blow out.  I grabbed a 9 for Matthew and a 6 for Mason.  And didn't think twice.

So when it was time to sing Happy Birthday, I stuck the numbers in the cupcakes, we lit them and just as we were about to start singing Mason yells out "Mom!  I'm 7!!".

Heart drop.  I instantly realized what I did.

At the store, I grabbed a 6 candle instead of a 7.  Because duh, my son turned 7 (in APRIL!).  I just haven't gotten used to saying he's 7 yet I guess. I felt the all too familiar shame of the momfail.  There was nothing I could do so I just told him to pretend it was a 7 and that I'd get him a 7 candle this week to blow out.  Ugh.  Thankfully, he got over it within seconds and hopefully he will think it's funny someday.

I could write a book on my momfails.  And my kids are only 9 and 6 7.  I'm sure there are so many more to come!

Here they are singing happy birthday right after we realized my mistake.


I am a true believer that my brain can only hold SO much information at one time.  Between all my Etsy stuff, special orders, certain people needing things by this date and remember to email this person back about this, plus sports schedules, camp schedules, cleaning, cooking, groceries, laundry, blogging...it's just so much.  I know y'all get me!  Sometimes my brain just has a blackout.

So that was our the Nall Brothers Birthday Bash 2017!  I think it's fair to say that fun was had by all!

You can check out the birthday posts for both kiddos here:



Linking up with Heather and Johannah for Hello Monday!



Have a great day!
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15 comments

  1. I absolutely love the rules for the "Dude Party"! Ha! So cute and funny!
    Wasn't Beauty and the Beast amazing! Emma Watson couldn't have been a more perfect fit for the role of Belle. The movie is definitely a favorite around here.

    The Birthday party looks like it was SO much fun! The slide, my oldest would love it!! It stinks because my girls birthdays are in September and November, so by then it's freezing cold around here so no pool bday parties for them.

    Have a great Monday!!

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    1. Aren't they funny!?! I love when they want a dude party and I get my bed all to myself! haha

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  2. I must say that I love your way of throwing a birthday party! I am so thankful that my girls were born in an era of NO PINTEREST and NO BLOGGERS! LOL......because there is WAY TOO MUCH COMPETITION out there for all you young mama's. Your party looked wonderful and the only one who seems to care about all the other fluff is yourself! Good job Mama!

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    1. You are definitely right that I'm the only one who cared about the fluff! All they cared about were the gummy worms and M&Ms for the ice cream! Thank you, Kim!!

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  3. My husband didn't care to see Beauty and the Beast either so I went and saw it in the theater with a group of girlfriends the day it came out. Loved it! And yes, Emma Watson was the perfect Belle! ❤️

    My daughters have birthdays 3 weeks apart so we always combine their parties like you did. I'm hoping that they will be okay with that even as they get older!

    You did a great job planning your boys' party last minute! That water slide looks like a lot of fun! I would have slid down it too! Haha!

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    1. Thank you, Michelle! I hope they let me get away with this joint birthday thing a little longer! It's so much easier!!

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  4. Perfect birthday and I thought it all looked super cute! You have an amazing backyard for parties!!!

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    1. Thanks girl! There is a whole other side of the yard I didn't even take pictures of that had the ping pong table set up. Whoops! Kicking myself for not snapping any pics of the kids over there!

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  5. The birthday party looks so fun, and you are absolutely right...boys definitely don't need lots of cute printables. In fact, my teenage daughter also prefers no printables at her party now that she has an opinion. That water slide is the bomb! Have a wonderful week!

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  6. What a blast! I've been a Pinteresty mom, but this summer, my son wants a no-frills hang out with friends birthday party, and I can't wait! Happy belated birthday to your boys!

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  7. so the frosting all over??!?!!....
    i was a room parent for a few years. i had a mom who made beautiful cakes/cupcakes so she always offered to bake those. she used SO MUCH dye once in the jewel colored cupcakes that {prepare for too much info} that a few of my family members who ate them had jewel colored streaked poo. i kid you not...

    and {ps} you are a fantastic mom. that water slide was perfection as was the entire party!

    also, my husband's birthday was monday. i put the match into the cake instead of the candle...

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    1. Yes! Lots of blue, green, red and yellow mouths and teeth! It stained everything! And I did actually get a text from one the moms a couple of days later saying that her son had called her in to the bathroom to show her something "cool"....hahhaa. Apparently, he had eaten a blue one. ;) And putting the match in the cake instead of the candle is something I'd do too! Haha. Happy Birthday to him!

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  8. Nice birthday party

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