If you have been following along – you probably know that the men in my life are Chip (husband), Joe (oldest son) & Mac (youngest son).  It’s hard to remember names.  Here’s how people remember our kids’ names:  we are the Joe Momma & the Mac Daddy!  We honestly didn’t plan this, but I wish we would have…

Joe is named after my brother & Mac we named after a character in our favorite tv show, The Unit.  Total disappointment that it was pulled from the airways, by the way!  Chip and I had a weekly date for 3 straight years that centered around The Unit.  We loved the character Mack & we decided to drop the “k” and spell our 2nd son’s name Mac because the awesome priest who married us in 2005 was Father Mac.  Plus what’s easier than teaching your kid how to spell a 4-letter name?  A 3-letter name, of course!

Now – let’s discuss the fact that Mac turned 2 in March.  And now let it be known that I just had to consult my calendar to verify his actual birthday.  Yep.  Mac’s birthday is March 7th.  And here we are, nearly through April & I’m finally getting around to blogging about my son’s 2nd birthday.  Let’s be fair though; Mac is not the 1st born.  He’s lucky he even had a birthday party.  And the fact that there is a blog dedicated to this event… wow.  Maybe a scrapbook will be next?

We had Mac’s birthday at Gymboree Play & Music.  It was a great time & we invited all our friends & his daycare buddies.   The kids were adorable & Gymboree was great because the chaos was contained to their establishment – not my house!  Later that evening, though, we did host family back at our house for dinner.  I served all of Mac’s favorite foods: cheeseburgers, pretzels, strawberries & cookies.  I also made Chef Concetta‘s French Onion Soup.  Everything was easy & delicious – “easy & extraordinary.”

A few things people have grown to expect at my parties:

Interactive theme & event.

Buddy Fruits as the snack for children. 

Cookies, not messy cupcakes. 

No gifts.   Yes.  No gifts.  Instead the kids bring a wrapped book for an exchange.  I literally grabbed 2 forgotten books off our bookcase in the living room & wrapped them up  for Mac’s bday book swap… I hope our guests did the same thing.  My attitude of “keep it easy & extraordinary” applies to pretty much every aspect of my life, birthday parties included.  And I always want it to be easy on our guests to attend.  I remember being a kid at birthday parties & agonizing about how my gift for the spoiled birthday boy/girl would stack up against the other gifts.  What’s the point?  No gifts.  Kids still have a blast & parents and guests can worry about stuff that really matters – like how they are going to pay for the gas to drive to the birthday party.

Chip & I don’t really get the boys gifts for their birthday, either.  The party & celebration is their gift.  We spend money on making it memorable by doing something fun like hosting their friends at Gymboree or having Elmo join us & the family for their birthday dinner at home.  Please enjoy some of these pictures, taken by my friend Kendra Pierson & my cousin Jan VanVelse-McHugh.  They’re like you… they know me too well – I’m not the scrapbooking/picture-taking type

xoxo Produce Mom

Easy Elmo Themed Fruit Tray

C is for Cookie

Celebrating 2 years of life with Mac!

Big Brother Joe having a blast

Joe & Mac – fun in a box!

Mac the Daredevil

The kids loved meeting Elmo

Elmo gives Mac a birthday present

Snack time!

Slide!

Mac’s Favorite Snack and a Festive Pretzel Shape for the 2nd Bday Bash

“Thanks for the great party, Mom & Dad. The cookies were my favorite”