Monday, January 31, 2011

Samuel:: Three!

Today is Samuel's 3rd Birthday! And, for a number of reasons we had his party on Saturday - so get ready for lots of fire truck fun!

Samuel is like most little boys and loves all kinds of emergency vehicles! If it has a siren - he calls it a woo-woo! So, I knew it would be fun to have a fire truck theme birthday party for him!

And, since David is in law enforcement and knows lots of the firefighters - he was able to arrange for a fire truck to visit during the party! We didn't know until they came if it would work since their work obviously comes first! But, we are so glad it worked out and it was such a fun treat to have a fire truck to play in and explore!


Have you ever noticed how amazing fire trucks are?
I loved noticing all the details and even learned a few things like where the siren is and that they carry 1000 gallons of water on their truck. Plus the sheer number of things that truck can carry and perform are amazing! Not to mention all of the colors and textures. Fascinating!



After a great time on the truck, I had a little craft ready to go. I had found a package of these cardboard fire trucks at Michael's for less than $2/12. A great deal for a simple craft!


Now, everyone was hungry! We usually don't do a meal with our party - but this time we did partially because we wanted to provide food to our fire fighter friends! We got $5 pizzas and I had grapes, carrots and pretzels available as well.

Because of this, we did go a little over our $50 birthday budget - but to have the opportunity to have a fire truck here it was worth the few extra dollars!

Plus, in planning this I found that most little boys have not ever been invited to a birthday party! So, it was a pleasure to be able to provide a fun boy party for our own little guy and a few friends.

Next, was cupcake time! David found this amazing fire truck cake video and the day of the party I felt a little guilty for not attempting this for Samuel - but the cupcakes were fun too!

I made Pioneer Woman's Red Velvet cake into cupcakes and then made Chocolate Buttercream Frosting - yum! And, it fit my red/chocolate brown color theme!

A cute rubber stamp added to cardstock and a lollipop stick made these really fit our theme!

I had seen these on a birthday post somewhere and then had a very hard time finding them - what a fun addition to our party!

Thanks, Carrie - for providing the fun plates and napkins!

And, to decorate the party area - I resorted to my usual: something homemade, something made from paper and something hanging from the light fixture!

I scoured the house for a few toy fire trucks and used those to decorate the table.

And, to welcome guests:

If you're still with me here - I'll share what we did for favors. Each child had their fire hydrant cup and the truck they painted. I found one of these wooden fire trucks on the after-Christmas clearance at Target for only a quarter! My aunt helped me find two more and then found these cute books also for a quarter!

Carrie brought me these cute favor bags at Christmas - perfect!

And, I included one of these for fun too:


A couple of other random thoughts - we had fire truck books from the library, printed out fire truck coloring pages and this is what we gave Samuel.

And, here is the invitation made from tracing the cardboard fire trucks shown above that we used for the craft:


I scoured etsy for ideas for wording and ended up combining a couple of things - here is what mine said:

Sound the alarm and get fired up it's
Samuel's 3rd Birthday!
Join us at Firehouse #3 (our house)
on Saturday, January 29th at 11 am!

Happy Birthday, Samuel!!!!!!!

30 comments:

Leanne said...

happy birthday, Samuel!! I love the Fire Truck theme☺
we are planning a "train" party for Michael in March! but I'm NEVER as creative as you!! I just love those little cups!

Anonymous said...

That was really, really cute. I guess I have been reading your blog for quite a while - I remember when you were pregnant with him! Looks like a really fun day and the weather looks great.

Lisar said...

What a wonderful theme for a 3 year old...my 3 year old nephew would have loved this...his Daddy is a firefighter!!!

Julie said...

Oh my goodness! Samuel's three already? How did that happen?
I enjoy your themed parties for the girls, but I wondered how you would do something for a boy. I love the firetruck theme. And having the real firetruck there must have been a real treat.

Wendi said...

Three! Wow that is hard to believe. Looks like a fun party and I love that a real fire truck could come. Fun!

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday Samuel! Looks like a wonderful party. tammyp

Stephanie said...

What an adorable party and theme. My first boy is just 4 months, but I'm already looking forward to his birthdays down the road.

*carrie* said...

Everything turned out great, Monica! So glad the fire truck could come. I can't believe you're wearing short sleeves in January!!

You and your exclamation points--check out your first two paragraphs. What a hoot!

Happy birthday, Samuel!

flyonthewall said...

You. are. AMAZING! I can't get over the amount of detail that went into the decorations, favors, everything! What a day to remember! Happy Birthday to Samuel! I wish all of your family many, many more blessed years together as you and your husband endeavor to raise your family in a way that honors our Lord! God bless you all!

~katie~ said...

Yay for Samuel!! Happy 3rd Birthday to your little fireman! *woo woo*

Phyllis said...

Happy Birthday, Samuel {Love that name.:)} Nice birthday party!

angie said...

I'm always in awe of how your family helps you gather the supplies for a bday party. Paper products from Carrie, fire truck favors from your aunt. What a wonderfully supportive family you have!
Samuel looks like he is on cloud nine sitting in the fire truck.
Your bday party ideas are always wonderful. Perhaps you should consider putting together an ebook on how to host a fabulous bday party on $50 or less.
I love the way your frosting looks on the cupcakes. Do you have a technique for getting those results? I am making cupcakes for a baby shower this weekend and would love to improve mine.

LynnMarie said...

What a fun party you created. Happy Birthday Samuel.

It's a Mom Thing said...

Monica, I LOVE it! Bookmarked it for E's third birthday! We (meaning I) decided to do a firetruck party for his 3rd bday, too! We're going to try to do it at the firestation. I love your favors and decorations. I bet Samuel was one happy boy!

Carrie said...

More awesome ideas and inspiration for the rest of us! Thanks for sharing.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Samuel!

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our little man!

What a FUN birthday party. You always outdo yourself, Monica.
Everything looked so neat. How special to have the firetruck come to your house!

Give our little Samuel a big hug from Nana. Hope you'll have a fun day today, too.

Love you ALL, Grandma/Nana

Mrs. K said...

Love the e-book idea one of the commenters posted. Another idea, one that I am going to try this year, is to donate a party pack to a mission. Our church hosts a benefit auction for Haiti and I'm going to try to put together a girl's party pack and a boy's.

Love the theme, those 25 cent favors were amazing!

I also noticed that you put "no gifts please" on the invite. I wonder how your children feel about this. I did this for their first several parties but as they went to friends' parties they realized gifts are traditionally a part of the party. How do you talk to them about this? It's something I'd like to continue (we haven't done a party with friends in several years).

Heather at Hearthside said...

Great job making memories for Samuel, Monica!!! I am completely in awe of this party. If there were some kind of Olympic event for incredible, creative, homespun-and-heartfelt mommy-made birthday parties you'd be a gold medalist! And actually, the judges would be so wowed they'd throw in an extra medal just because you deserve two!

Sheila said...

So cute! Both the party and the boy! :) (And the girls too!)

Grammie said...

Happy, happy birthday, dear little Samuel!! We were very glad to see these photos of your fun birthday party. :)

We love you and miss you,
Grammie and Pepaw

Pamela said...

Awesome party. You always have the sweetest parties for your children. I think it makes the children feel celebrated and loved. The little touches make a difference.

Ellie said...

I can't believe he is 3 already! I bet he just loved his big day, and your ideas are really great!
Happy Birthday, Samuel!

rachel@thecupcakesprinklesinlife said...

Happy #3 Samuel!!!

Monica, what a great job you did with his party!

LOVE IT!

Lecia said...

What a great party! Looks like everyone had a great time.

Lecia said...

What a great party! Looks like everyone had a great time.

Anonymous said...

Wow! How fun is that to have a Fire Truck come to your birthday!!! They're going to have great memories and you're such good parents; ) Love ~Christy S.

Anonymous said...

Wow! How fun is that to have a Fire Truck come to your birthday!!! They're going to have great memories and you're such good parents; ) Love ~Christy S.

Grace said...

I meant to comment yesterday and got called away. Imagine that ;)
Happy Belated Birthday to sweet Samuel. I hopefully will see you all in a couple weeks. Love all the firetrucks.

Katy said...

What a fun birthday! I can't believe he is three already! I remember when you had just had him...it seems as though it wasn't that long ago! My, how time flies!
All your birthday party ideas are so fun and creative! What special memories you create! :)

Melissa said...

Happy Birthday, Samuel! The party pictures are adorable - looks like all had a marvelous time. Monica, you always inspire me to be more creative.