UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This year Matthew wanted a dump truck theme for his birthday party. So I began to shop all things diggers and dump trucks for the months leading up to the big day.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and Etsy. How did we ever live without them? So sit back and get ready to look at a bunch of pictures. There is not much story to tell.

I started out with the invitation. I found it on Etsy. It knew it was the one when I first saw it. You can find the invitations and decorations at Diane's Paper Party.

and of course Matthew loved them too!

I also ordered the birthday banner and cupcake toppers.

 It is hard to tell but the banner is 3D on layered paper. The Etsy shop I bought this from did an amazing job.

...of course, mine said Matthew.

After I found the invites and decorations, I started designing the cake. There were so many ideas out there. I searched Pinterest for days trying to decide what to do. It wasn't until I was actually working on it that I came up with a clear direction.  

This is what I came up with...

I knew that I wanted rocks and dirt...a construction scene. I looked for chocolate rocks but the only ones I could find were in a small sprinkles container and I knew that I would need way more than that. So I found some candy that worked out well...whoppers, buncha crunch, bite sized milky way bars and rolos. It was perfect. And the "dirt" is crunched up Oreos.

 I found the letter candles at our local party store.

I also made these cool road signs. They were really easy and only required a few supplies.

Our good friend Woody was driving the front end loader.

I also made some vanilla cupcakes for those that are not chocolate lovers.

Here are the cupcake toppers that say Matthew.

After I had the cake under control, I focused on decorating the table.  I went all out with the construction theme. I covered the table with a green paper table cloth. Then I made a felt road to go all the way around the table. With the party being at 2:00, I knew that we didn't need too much food but I did want to put out a couple of Matthew's favorite snacks. I settled on cheese puffs and pop corn. 

 One of my favorite parts of the table was all of the mini construction sites.

I found this truck at HEB.  They had several different kinds and they were all two dollars. 

lego tires

 Here are some more of the trucks I got from HEB.  Target and Toy's 'R' Us also sell a 5 pack of CAT mini trucks that I used. 

graham cracker sand and Oreo dirt

We started the party with a digger craft.  I found a great printable digger for the kids to put together.

I packaged all of the pieces (paper, brads and wheels) in a plastic bag and tied it with a yellow ribbon. I also included some fun truck stickers to decorate the construction hats. 

 I love to see little hands working.

 Matthew's friend Stella.

 Matthew's friend Elliot.

The printable is meant to be colored and cut out by the kids but I knew that a bunch of 4 year olds would not be able to cut these by themselves. So I printed the digger on yellow card stock, pre-cut everything and pre-punched the holes for the brads so that they would only have to assemble.  They did need some help pushing the brads through the holes but they all got the hang of it. If you haven't done a craft at your kids birthday party, I highly recommend it.  They had more fun than I imagined. 

This is my sister Tracy. She was so helpful at the party. She always seems to know what needs to be done. 

After we were done with the craft, we went outside to dig in the sand.  I hid all kinds of treasures in the sand for the kids to find...dinosaurs, dinosaur bones, balls, bugs, more bugs...  We had lots of sand toys and trucks too.

"A treasure!"

I am pretty sure the kids would have stayed out in the sand all day long. 

This is Samuel and my nephew Maverick hanging out. I wonder what they were trying to say to each other.

We were able to get the kids out of the sandbox by telling them we had a pinata.

 I found this pinata at our local party store. I was shopping for a dump truck but could not find one. I was glad to find the #4.

 The birthday boy got to go first.

 He took a couple of good swings but I don't think he even made a dent.

Then came sweet Lily.

 I had no idea she had so much force. She is always so quiet and gentle.

Then came Elliot.  And he knew what he was doing from the start. He meant business!

After all of the kids had a couple of rounds we decided this thing wasn't going to break open and took matters into our own hands.

I am sure all of the parents were so happy with all of the candy the kids got sent home with. 

After we finished scavenging the candy we went inside for cake.

I was so happy with how the cake turned out that I didn't want to light the candles and eat it. 

 But how cute is he blowing them out?!

I think he only ate the icing of the cupcake and thew the rest away.

This one is cute enough to eat too!

Then there  were presents and no shortage of them...

And then just as soon as it began, the party was over. Everyone got a nice treat on their way out.

I made these bags of "chocolate rocks" with the same candy that was on his cake and topped each with a different working truck.

When everyone was gone this was all that was left.

But a mess to clean up was worth all of the fun we had.

The frame reads "who knew how much you'd change my heart".

And how true it is.

My dear Matthew,

Happy 4th Birthday!

You have changed my heart more than you will ever know. Our lives have forever changed because of you. We have gotten to know our Lord in a new way through parenthood. As you grow more interested, we look forward to teaching you more about Jesus and how much he loves you. 

For now, we fill our days with playing in the sandbox, rolling dump trucks around the house, legos, reading books, riding bikes, digging in the dirt, watching movies and last but certainly not least putting together puzzles...which is your favorite thing to do right now. 

Thank you for being such a sweet boy!

Love,

Mommy