Kinsey's 6th Birthday- My Little Pony Party!

This party was waaaaay back in October 2014. 

But I'm still going to share it here, and lucky you- 

I have some FREE printables to go with it!

Seeing as Kinsey will be 7 in just under a week (!!!) I need to get all caught up on birthday recaps, and after this I plan to share a quick post about her 5th birthday- which was a Lalaloopsy theme.

Better late than never, right?

Invites available here

Rainbow streamers taped to the curtain rod + homemade cupcakes on cake stands = dessert table

For parties lately I've been trying to simplify. Maybe I've wised up to the fact that more time + more money doesn't always = more fun for the birthday kiddo? Maybe I've given up trying to throw perfect parties when all the girls want is fun with their friends? Maybe it just has everything to do with the fact that the last few parties have been planned with a little baby in the house?

Doesn't really matter, as long as I keep my sanity!

Star tip piping + MLP rings (found at walmart party aisle)

Toppers available in my Etsy shop

I made up signs and activites to go with each of the most popular ponies.

 I've attached 3 signs for FREE here!

"Pinkie Pie's Party Favors" 

Download here

Download here

Download here

 I failed to take any pictures of the book mark activity!

 But basically I cut some colored cardstock into bookmark sizes, set out stencils, markers, stickers and washi tape and let the kids make fun bookmarks.

"Pinkie Pie's Party favors" set up in a basket 
Treat Bag Topper available in my Etsy Shop!

"Rarity's Hoof Painting & Cutie Marks" Nail polish (peel off kind) nail tattoos
and MLP Temporary Tattoos for 'cutie marks'

This was the first activity the girls did- and the two boys got TMNT tattoos ;)

Simple rainbow decorations +MLP party supplies
The girls wore their MLP shirts, too.

 We played - pin the tail on the pony. 

I purchased the game, but used ribbons and tape to make it easier and so all the kids could play 
(the game only came with 8 tails)

Bonus- the girls were able to pin up this poster to decorate their room afterwards since it wasn't full of tail stickers!

Time to sing "Happy Birthday"

 It was a fun time celebrating Kinsey turning 6! I'm in the middle of planning her 7th birthday party right now- alhtough we are keeping it suuuuper simple this year ( at her request!) Any guesses on her theme of choice? Or how long it will take me to blog about it?

Friday Faves- Schools Out Edition!

They say childhood passes in the blink of an eye.....

If the rest of her schooling is anything like this year,  then I truly believe it!

I cannot believe it's summer break around here already

 and my first little baby girl is now going to be a first grader!

First Day

Last Day

Today's Favorite #1 is this big girl and all her Kindy accomplishments:

Kinsey did phenomenal during Kindergarten. No bad behavior days, no trouble being at school all day, she made lots and lots of friends, and she mostly ate her lunch :/

She's now reading at the 18-20 level (which Scholastic's website says is second grade!) and currently obsessed with the 'Magic Tree House' series of chapter books. She's come a long way- barely knowing but a handful of sight words at the beginning fo the school year!

Her penmanship is great- she even practices cursive at home because she 'wants to write pretty like mommy does'. I think the area she most needs to work on is spelling and sounding out words when writing. That's one area I plan to focus on withe her during summer homework.

We sent her off this morning fro her last half day of the year! She wanted to wear the same dress as her first day...which makes for good comparison pictures, too. (mama-razzi approves!)

Favorite #2 was part of her teacher gifts:

She took some necklaces for her teachers, along with a handwritten card including drawings of their favorite things by Kinsey.

I know plenty of kids still have a few weeks of school- so I'm attaching a link to this cute little notecard I designed for her teachers. It's FREE and prints two to a page.

click here for MediaFire Free Download

Favorite #3 is this FREE printable Summer Schedule from my last post!

Favorite #4 is one simple word: SUMMER

We will be making our summer bucket list soon- the girls and I are ready for days spent in swimsuits, barefoot and eating popsicles on the porch!

Linking up:

A Little Bit of Everything Blog

Grace and Love Blog

Momfessionals

As always- please leave a comment or pin my blog image if you download the FREE printables! Thanks!

Free Printable: Summer Schedule

Summer with kids out of school. You either love it or fear it. 

My plan is to love it this year, so I've got some tools up my sleeve to help summer be smooth sailing. 

Plan #1 is simple- a 'daily theme' to give each day something to center around

Don't worry- it's not anything crazy that requires loads of planning, effort or stress. Just a basic theme for each weekday, so that the kids can look forward to a certain activity daily. 

Here's the summer schedule I came up with for our family.

It's filled with pretty low key, cheap and flexible options for each day. 

The best part is- I have 4 different versions available as a FREE download today!

Anchors                                                                                   Arrows

Scalloped Teal                                                                           Scalloped Grey



Just click on the link under the version you like to be taken to the MediaFire download!

I'll keep ya posted on how this works out for my little tribe of gals.....only 3 more days of school!


I'm also working on a daily 'timeline' of events to help our days run smoothly. 
Hopefully I'll be back with a peek into that soon.

Do me a favor and Pin or comment if you download! Thanks!

Hands Full. Heart Full.

When you have three girls it's like there's a flashing sign above your head that reads:

***Make a comment about my family***

Because these phrases are said to me on the daily:

"You trying for a boy next?"

"You sure have your hands full"

"Oh, what a beautiful baby....oh, wow....and you have two more kids!"

"You know what causes those right?"

etc.etc.etc.

I'm 100% sure moms of four or more kids get these types of comments, and moms with three boys, and moms with both boys and girls. Heck, I got the "you trying for a boy next" comment all the time when I had two kids.

Basically, people like to point out the obvious.

 Apparently they think I don't know I have my hands full 

and the drama from 3 teenage girls will age me 10 years?

Trust me, I know my hands are full. I feel the fact that I have 2 hands and 3 kids every.single.day.

But I also know that all that makes me crazy also makes me happy beyond measure.

Those three little ladies make my heart burst on the daily.

So join me in celebrating the craziness that is having your hands full with children.

 Because it's also what makes my heart the happiest.

Click here to download this free, hand drawn "Hands Full, Heart Full" 8 x 10 print

Can be printed at any size desired

P.S. This is my 100th post! Only took me 6 years of blogging very irregularly to get there.

Linking Up To:

Strawberry Mommycakes

Valentines in the Mod Ink shop- Coupon Code!

Valentines is just around the corner....I'm counting down the days. Mostly because that means the two week stretch of my hubby being out of town will be over, but candy and cards and a love filled day is a very nice way to welcome him home!

Bee Mine

My oldest daughter wanted Frozen themed Valentines this year, and instead of going the store bought route I made up some treat bag toppers! They are available in my shop, Mod Ink Design, with free customization and a 24 hour or less turn around time.

Frozen Olaf

Frozen Heart

Warm Hugs

I've also got some favorites from years past in the shop again. 

Princesses, Penguins, Rainbows and Superheros will always be popular with the kiddos.

  At just $4.00 these are a great option for a custom valentine! Print, cut, fold and staple onto your ziploc bag of treats, toys, stickers, etc. You can even buy the pre-bagged goldfish, pretzels, etc and staple the toppers right onto them!

Use coupon code LOVETREATS for 10% off your order through 2/13!

Mod Ink Design on Etsy

Paw Patrol 3rd Birthday

This party happened just over 6 months ago, in late July,  but I still wanted to document it here since this is a bit of a virtual scrapbook for myself and our family (albeit a very, very, out of date one!)

Makayla has been obsessed with Paw Patrol (a Nickelodeon cartoon for those of you who may not know it) since it first started airing in the late summer of 2013. All she wanted for Christmas in 2013 was 'Paw Patrol toys', which, of course, were no where to be found because the show was too new. 

Mama to the rescue with a collection of stuffed animals 

similar to the pups in the show.

 It was a huge hit!

Grandma and Grandpa jumped in on the action and improvised their own Paw Patrol gift that Christmas- a hand drawn Zuma shirt! She was smitten.

So when we started talking birthday party themes in the late spring she had no trouble deciding

 it was going to be Paw Patrol all the way! 

I had big plans to get everything done before Savannah arrived...but that didn't happen at all. 

Let's face it, I barely got her nursery cleaned up and put together and her newborn clothes washed before she was born. 

So with a one week old baby I created her invitations-

 I 'girlied' them up a bit with the rainbow chevron.

Available customized invitations here in my Etsy Shop, Mod Ink Design.

We kept the party simple, 

because simple is the name of the game with a newborn and 2 other kiddos!

I made a quick 'Skye' t-shirt for Makayla

 with a little photoshop work and an iron on transfer + white t-shirt.

The treat table included 'scooby snacks'

 aka. dog bone shaped graham crackers and cheese ball treats

 in dollar store dog bowls.

The cupcake toppers were a mix of free printables from Nick Jr's website and my own rainbow chevron 'M' and '3' designs.

A super easy and budget friendly way to decorate cupcakes!

The rest of the house got very simple decorations, 

including a banner and some fun paper pinwheels on the mantel

 and a quick happy Birthday sign on our kitchen chalkboard!

Aunt Felisa helping hold newborn Savannah- she was 4 weeks old here!

Some of the party guests enjoying a coloring table with Paw Patrol coloring pages printed from various free online sources (just google!)

'Doggy Bag' treats for all the kiddos to take home- 

which included a simple mix of candy, rainbow bracelets and silly putty eggs.

You can purchase the treat bag toppers here, in my Etsy shop as an instant download!

My sweet girl being shy while we sang 'Happy Birthday'- love her!

Cupcakes and ice cream....yum!

Cousin Ellie, who celebrated her 3rd birthday the very next weekend!

Of course, there were plenty of awesome presents! 

Thanks (6 months late) to everyone who came to help us celebrate our curly haired sweetheart turning 3!