Birthday Party!!!

As I have mentioned, Saturday was Carter's 3rd birthday party! His birthday is not until the 17th, but living in the South means you have to plan your parties carefully during football season ;) The theme this year was all about cowboys! Carter loves pretending to be a cowboy, so this was perfect!

The menu included things like trail mix, peanuts in shell (eaten outside), cowboy caviar, cornbread salad, barbeque sandwiches, beans, candy corn, apples with dip, etc. We ate from tin pie pans and drank from Mason jars! The utensils were wrapped in bandanas (for napkins) and tied with twine, and served out of a galvanized tub. Some of the beverages were also served out of a different galvanized tub on the porch. Many people dressed up with bandanas, hats, boots, etc., and we also had a CD of cowboy music playing in the background. Yee-haw!

The cake and some of the decorations:

The goody bags:

Here is Carter all dressed up like a cowboy, complete with Wrangler jeans, a big belt buckle, western shirt, boots, and hat! Too bad he didn't keep his outfit in tact very long - not many people got to see the belt buckle :(

The party started at high noon, and the first activity was riding ponies! Carter LOVED his pony, Chester, and wouldn't get off the entire hour! Some of the other kids enjoyed riding the other pony, but many of the kids were a little scared (understandable at this age). The kids who didn't ride ponies played on the playset and with some of Carter's other outside toys. We had appetizers downstairs and outside, since lunch wasn't going to be served until after 1:00. The weather was absolutely perfect for outside play - sunny and clear, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Absolutely gorgeous! The ponies were gorgeous too!

Andrew and his pony:
Sweet baby Anna!

Carter and Andrew:

We were very sad that the Joneses had to leave early to go to another party. Holly was sad too!

After pony rides, we all went upstairs to eat lunch, open gifts, and eat cake and ice cream. We had such a great time, and all our family and friends were so generous!!! Thank you to all our friends and family who made this day so special!

I can't believe my "baby" is turning 3! Time passes so quickly - I realized recently that Charlie is almost a half a year old also! I wish my babies would stay little, but at the same time I enjoy each new milestone or activity they do. Ah, the paradox of parenting!

One last picture - not birthday related... We went to Wal-Mart the day after Halloween and bought a lot of costumes half price for Carter to use for dress-up. Here he is being a Transformer (sans mask) :)