Cade's 9th Cowboy Birthday Party

During the summer I saw this keg of root beer at the grocery store and I had this idea pop in my head that I wanted to have a cowboy party for Cade - - solely based off that keg..... well September finally rolls around and the keg is no longer in the stores.  Any store in my town or the neighboring towns!  But the wheels were already working in my head, so I still plunged forward with the cowboy theme, even without that darling keg!  I took Cade out back and snapped a quick picture of him and found an invite that I liked online.  I forwarded it all to my BFF in Phoenix and she whipped up yet another fabulous invitation in just a matter of minutes!  They turned out completely darling!  What would I EVER do without her?

I set out rice crispies-which were hay bales

Hershey's Nuggets-wrapped in gold foil.  They were our nuggets of gold

Gum balls

Licorice-which was our rope

And Tootsie rolls

My super talented next door neighbor made this adorable cake for Cade!

And these cupcakes.  They were sooo cute!  She did a fantastic job!

All the boys came and we started out the party with a spitting contest......

A sunflower seed spitting contest that is.  

There was a slight breeze and try as those boys might, those seeds just didn't go more than a couple feet.

The winners of each game got a "gold nugget" which was a chocolate coin in gold packaging. 

 Then we played horseshoes!

For our last game, we shot "varmints"! 

I stamped rabbits, crows and skunks on foam cups.  The boys had to shoot their varmint off the deck first.  I really wanted just simple squirt guns for this, but since summer is over, they are no longer in the stores.  We resorted to using super soakers.  Needless to say, the varmints got shot off quite quickly!

Then I had my darling neighbor Dallin come over and teach the boys how to lasso.  He brought his dummy heads and ropes.  Dallin is a PRCA cowboy and the boys thought it was awesome!

 He was so patient to make sure each boy was doing it right and each boy had to catch one animal head at least once.

Lastly we had dinner.  I fed the boys sloppy joes, chips and carmel corn cobs.  The food was in old pin tins.  And of course they had sasparilla to drink!

 Then it was present time!

He made a wish and blew out his candles.  

Each boy got to make himself a goodie bag to take home.  All the treats were in brown paper bags.  It was such a cute party.  

Happy Birthday Buddy!

The Tooth Fairy got creative!

Normally the Tooth Fairy leaves 50 cents - - Maybe $1.00, but poor Caden had to have a tooth pulled on his BIRTHDAY!  She must have felt bad for him because she left $5.00 that was GLITTERED and a little note with little tiny handwriting too!  Even the note was glittered!

Cade thought it was awesome!

Bacon wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

This is a recipe that I found on Mels Kitchen Cafe and it was so simple!  She had a recipe for your own teriyaki sauce but I took the shortcut route and just bought some Kikoman brand from the store.  There is a marinade and a baste.  I bought both.  I marinated the chicken in the marinade for a couple hours and then I brushed the baste on half way through the cooking time.  It turned out really good!

1 bag of frozen chicken breast strips thawed (or you can use fresh and cut your own) cut into bite size pieces
Teriyaki marinade and baste
2 cans pineapple chunks
1 pkg bacon - (not thick sliced) - cut bacon slices in half

*Marinade the chicken for a couple hours and soak your shish kabob sticks in water for an hour or so too.  Wrap one piece of chicken in the bacon and stick it on your stick.  Put a piece of pineapple on and repeat the process.  Grill on medium heat for about 6 minutes a side.  Half way through the grilling, baste the chicken with the teriyaki baste.  I served mine with lime cilantro rice.  I pulled the chicken off and put it in the rice and it is just like a teriyaki bowl.


Cilantro Lime Rice
15 ounce can of chicken broth
2 tbsp lime juice
2 - 3 minced garlic cloves
1 cup long grain white rice

*Bring all together to a boil in a sauce pot.  Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes until all juice in absorbed.  Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.  Just before serving, squeeze the juice from 1 or 2 limes, depending on how limey you like and add some fresh chopped cilantro.

Today she was Hannah Montana

Labor Day Muddin'

My kids so look forward to big rainfalls and they even love it better when farmers water their fields and the water floods over the road.  Huge puddles are left in the roads and they LOVE to take the machines through the mud.

 We had a couple days of good rain and the kids couldn't wait to get down there and fly through the mud.

Jens, Sidney, Kaylie and Nick went.

 Nick's family was up from St. George so we were glad he could come.

I love this picture of Nick.  The mud in his teeth is classic!

They all took turns driving.  It was hard to drive and actually SEE where your were driving at the same time.

Notice these pictures of Jens and Kaylie.  Look how clean their faces are...

 And two seconds later after they are through the puddle, their faces are completely covered with mud!

Kids + mud = happiness