It’s been a really picture heavy week on the blog. Let’s keep going.

I take a lot of crooked pictures.

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I asked Evan want kind of party he wanted for his 3rd birthday and he said “Dinosaurs”. I told him he could have anything he wanted – trucks, trains, pirates, diggers, ANYTHING – and he said “Dinosaurs”. So we went with a dinosaur birthday. It ended up being an excellent and fun birthday theme.

It seems that no matter how much I try to stick to a color scheme I always end up with ALL THE COLORS. But since according to Dino Dan the dinosaurs WERE all the colors I figured I was safe as long as I toned it down with some natural accents. I got lots of moss, fake leaves, and branches from places like the craft store and the dollar store. All the tablecloths are cut from one big roll of burlap I bought in the garden department at Lowes. I made a zillion dinosaur “terrariums” (an idea I got from Mandy) with a bag of garden rocks (also from Lowes – $5 and I barely used 1/10th of them!) moss and tiny dinos left over from the favor boxes. The backdrop to the food table is two rolls of cork I bought at JoAnn’s. I cut every triangle pennant by hand with pinking sheers and printed the banners on my little printer.

For food, I had three sections: carnivores, herbivores and dessertivores. I thought I was pretty cute and clever, until I started looking at dino party supplies on Etsy and saw I was DEFINITELY not the first person to come up with “dessertivores”. It was still cute.

Menu:

Dinosaur shaped sandwiches (PB&J and cucumber)
Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets
Mini hot dogs
Mozzarella sticks
Fruit
Individual hummus and veggie cups

Ice Age punch (blue punch with tiny dinos frozen into ice cubes floating in it)
Juice for the kiddos

Dessert Menu:

Brownies
Fossil cookies (I made mine with almonds)
Cereal bar “bones”
No-bake nest cookies (I did peanut butter & chocolate)
Dirt pudding cups (chocolate pudding & crushes Oreos)
Dinosaur shortbread cookies with royal icing
White wedding cupcakes with cream cheese cake batter frosting
Dino fruit snacks and candy eggs

And an AMAZING cake made by my friend Heather (I HIGHLY recommend her if you’re in the Eastern CT area and would be happy to put you in touch with her)

Since Evan and his friends are all old enough now for games and activities but the thought of trying to wrangle 25 kids into organized activities makes me break out in hives I planned lots of free-play fun.

We filled our old kiddie pool with sand for a fossil dig and hid tons of green eggs filled with stickers and candy for a dinosaur egg hunt. I also ordered a couple of inexpensive dinosaur coloring books from Amazon and dinosaur shaped crayons for a quiet, inside activity.

A few more details:

I saw dino party hats on Pinterest but didn’t really have enough ambition to make them from scratch. Just a few days before the party Evan said he NEEDED party hats so I dragged last year’s 2nd birthday party hats from Target out of my paper goods storage box and turned them into dino hats. It was really easy – they’re folded together with a tab, not glue or tape, so I just opened them flat, cut a piece of colored paper into a “spine”, cut a slot in the spine for the tab and reassembled with a little tape to reinforce it. I did a terrible job of explaining that, but trust me – if you take a look at a store-bought party hat you will definitely see how easy this is.

Between the hats and the masks we had quite a few tiny dinosaurs terrorizing the party.

My friend Amanda mailed me these leggings 2 seconds after I said we were doing a dinosaur party. So perfect!

Brilliant idea I stole from my friend Cheri – Take’n’toss cups for all the kids. No worries about juice or punch spills on my floors and they’re cheap enough to toss out if they get ruined.

Adorable invitations designed by the very talented Denae at New Mom Survival Adventure and printed (as rounded-corner post cards) by Overnight Prints – an idea I got from Tam.

I think that’s everything! Scroll to the bottom of this post for links to where I got stuff and as always let me know if you have any questions. I’m more than happy to share and info!

OK, just a few more pictures (the not awesome ones were taken by me)…

Resources and Sources:

Pinterest party board for inspiration
Template for straw flags
Custom stamp from Tickled Pink Paper + Ink
Paper straws & favor supplies from In The Clear
Evan’s dino shirt – Gymboree
Photography by Open Shutter (Website)

Dinosaur stickers – Amazon
Dinosaur cookie cutters – Amazon
Dinosaur sandwich cutter – Amazon
Dinosaur coloring books – Amazon
Melissa & Doug dinosaur stamps – Amazon
Dinosaur cupcake wrappers & toppers – Amazon
Dinosaur banner (I disassembled half to put on my cork backdrop) – Amazon
Dinosaur skeletons for fossil dig – Amazon and Oriental Trading (cheaper from Amazon)
Dinosaur masks – Oriental Trading Company
Dinosaur crayons – Oriental Trading Company
Dinosaur candies – Oriental Trading Company
Inflatable dinosaurs – Oriental Trading Company
Giant inflatable T-Rex – Amazon
Brown paper bags – Oriental Trading Company

Let me know if you see anything I missed or forgot to link!

(Oh and in case you are confused compared to previous party set-ups, we rearranged the house a few weeks ago and flipped the dining/family rooms. I was worried it wouldn’t be a good for the party but it was great! With the new set-up – and the patio – I have tons of space to invite even more people next time.)

Thank you to everyone who came and made our day so special!

My friend Nicci just launched her brand new Etsy shop where she sells handmade fabric coasters and throw pillow covers and she asked me if I’d help her spread the word. OF COURSE I said yes – I love having so many talented, crafty friends and I greatly admire someone with enough ambition and talent to throw their hat into the handmade biz ring!

Nicci sent me a set of Zen Garden coasters to try out and they’re even cuter in person than online.

I love that they’re fabric and lined with fleece to absorb drips and protect my coffee table, but also something I don’t have to keep putting out of reach from the kids. In fact, they’re perfect for teaching small people the importance of coasters!

One coaster is good!

So two coasters is better!

Everything is ready-to-ship and made in limited quantities, so if you see a pattern you like buy it quick! I think coasters would make a cute hostess gift for a neighbor or a housewarming gift for a friend – everyone uses cups! And tables! And everyone hates water stains! It’s universal! Nicci’s hoping to add new patterns and fabrics to the shop every couple of weeks. You can follow her blog, her Facebook page and her Twitter for shop updates and new deigns.

AND you can enter to win a set of your choice! Just check out the Changing the Universe shop and leave a comment telling me which item you like the best. Or you can go ahead and order yourself a set and use the code BEBEHBLOG at checkout for a 10% discount.

I’m keeping this one short since I’ll be gone next week, so I’ll draw a winner on Friday. Good luck!

Attention! I have a very important, possibly life-changing announcement: You can let someone else watch your kids for a few hours and THEY WILL BE OK. Even during dinner time! Even during bed time! I have done some very scientific research in this area* and not only were they FINE, they both slept a full 12 hours and Evan woke up asking for her to come back and play. I am suddenly drunk with the power of babysitters – we could go see a movie in a theater! We could eat dinner at a restaurant without high chairs! We could get fancy dressed up and go to a ball! (No, really, the Navy loves to throw balls)(Insert balls joke here). But mostly I feel one bazillion percent better about leaving the kids with my parents next week.

*Scientific research = one evening out for a charity auction where E and his co-workers attempted to kill their livers.

Sunday:

Rearranging

My new view from the couch

Now I think we need a bigger couch

Monday:

Ok, we moved all the furniture. When does the organization fairy show up to clean up this mess?

Still hates shirts

Hanging a new family gallery

Tuesday:

Wheeeeeere's Evan?

The Bubble Guppies are stalking me

Sunshine

Wednesday:

Excited to be at gymnastics

Sitting like a big girl

Awwwwwwww

Thursday:

Eating her breakfast off the floor like a dog. Typical morning.

Somebody get those kids away from the escalator!

That looks...not comfortable

Friday:

Watching the birds

I love baking, really, but biscuits from a can are the BEST BISCUITS

The family that brushes together, avoids ridiculous dental costs together

Saturday:

Please Mom, I want some more

Checking out couches. E was not impressed.

The intended theme of the silent auction was a luau. The ACTUAL theme was alcoholism.

Today I had a much-needed spa appointment, although not the kind of relaxing appointment you’re probably thinking of. Much-needed because I’m going to be in a bathing suit all next week. So yeah, now that I’ve shared way TMI, I’m going to go watch a movie with my boys and eat hummus.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

I swear to God this week went by so fast I barely remember the beginning half, but I have NO IDEA what we did. Thank goodness I take so many pictures.

Sunday:

We filled the bathtub with water in case our power went out. E laughed at me (and our power was only out for 3 hours) but the people who only got power back TODAY wish they had remembered to do it too!

Back yard during the hurricane

LET ME OUT!

Monday:

Storm damage at the park

Oh my heart attack. STOP CLIMBING NOW.

Strawberry

Tuesday:

"Food Mama! Foood!!! More!!" says the toddler holding the giant bag of Splenda.

Mind. Blown.

One armed toddler and the modesty duck. Worst children's book ever.

Wednesday:

Baby yoga: cobra pose and child's post

I have no idea what this pose is, but I'm impressed.

Step one, you put a toddler in the box

Thursday:

This garden was calling my name. Except instead of sitting there relaxing I dragged a screaming 2-year old through the parking lot. Good times.

"Evan SAD", says Evan. "No shit", says Mama. It was that kind of day.

Friday:

THIS IS HAPPENING.

Impromptu family outing to feed the ducks

I see you, kid. Get your finger out of your nose.

Started Caroline's winter coat. BECAUSE IT IS FALL. IT IS, NO REALLY, IT IS. Well, ok, SOON.

Saturday:

Fancy hair! But I have no idea how I did it. also, it's held in place with a knitting needle.

THIS IS STILL HAPPENING.

Letting Caroline chew on my keys is super gross, but the screaming if you take them away is worse.

Who has two thumbs and is super excited about this three day weekend PLUS a vacation we have coming up? THIS GUY. There is a beach involved. And girlfriends. And before that we’re going to make the most of this summer weekend – I hope you’re prepared for a whole week of picture essays about ice cream and cows and babies frolicking in sun dresses.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!