Callin all cowboys

Oh, my little Max. I don't know if anyone could have predicted how sweet this boy would turn out knowing what a horrible baby he was. Yes, I know that sounds bad, but it really only sounds bad if you didn't know him as an infant. That is another story though. My point is that he is so sweet now. Often he randomly comes and hugs me and tells me I'm the best mommy ever. He is mostly pretty mellow and is really good at sharing and making others happy. Oh, he has his moments.... but overall I am so impressed with my little buddy and what an amazing boy he is. I love you Little Monkey! Anyway...

Max has never had a friend b-day party so I decided it was his turn this year. He wanted a cowboy party. As much as I would like to believe it was for the horses and cowboy getup, I know he really just has a fascination with guns. So we started out with the invitation...

I cut them out and burned the edges, rolled them up with the tag around them and stuffed them in the barrel. When you pulled the "bang" tag- out came the invite. I thought it up all on my lonesome so I was pretty proud of myself.

Decorated all in red and blue. I had a bunch of leftover bandanna material from a long time ago that was fun to put around.

When the kiddos got here we dressed them up in felt vests, hats, bandannas, and they each got their own stick horse. I made these out of socks, random buttons I had, ribbon, and a little flannel. It cost me $25 to make 10 of them. I think that is pretty good. They were a little time consuming because I had to sew much of it by hand, but I used my time in the car wisely when we went to St. George and got a ton of it done. AND Gramsy helped put on the manes. They were so cute I'm glad I did them. The kids really had fun riding them around and they are still a big hit around here. I found a wood burner in my old stuff and burned their names into the sticks. What?? I know EVERYONE has a wood burner hidden in their basement somewhere!

Kami really wanted to join in, but this WAS the hat we were trying to use for a game.

We played a few games: lasso the horse (with a hula hoop), throw the badges into a hat, drop the snakes into a boot, and shoot the animals- snake, bear and rabbit(pics taped onto cereal boxes) with a rifle dart gun. I spray painted a bunch of rocks gold and they got gold nuggets when they won their games. I had everything on hand except a hula hoop and gold spray paint. Score!

Then we went out to the sandbox to find more hidden gold nuggets- they loved this part.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows (there is a least one plus to having an unfinished yard). Next time I need to get the longer roasting sticks- sorry kids, maybe a few singed knuckle hairs.

Now this I was really proud of!! It was my first time using fondant-not my favorite, somehow it just seems like cheating. But a belt out of frosting was just not happening. I also used it for the brim on the hat. Kyrk said it looked like daisy duke shorts, but my glare shut him up pretty fast. He has since repented in sack cloth and ashes.

At the end they went to the "Trading Post" and traded some gold nuggets for some prizes. I think a fun time was had by all! Yee ha!

I wish I had a pic of the trading post. Kyrk looked at me half way through one of my projects and said, "This isn't even for the boys, this is for you! You are so giddy!" It's true. I love coordinating themes and thinking of every possible thing that could go along with it. From invitations to games to decorating the goodie bags. Sigh, what I could do with an endless supply of time. Oh, and money. And space. And...well you get the picture.
Happy Birthday my sweet Max!