larkie lou turned two

Last Monday we celebrated Lark's second birthday. It was a simple low-key affair since we threw it all together after preschool that afternoon, and it was just perfect that way. I unearthed the bunting I made for LM's first birthday and put that up around the house for decor. I remember how long it took me to cut out all those shapes and sew it together so I am glad it got more mileage. Then LM helped me wrap the presents. I didn't have any birthday-appropriate wrapping paper so I just pulled out brown kraft paper. LM, however, insisted birthday presents needed to be bright and colorful, so we decided to merge craft time with party prep by wrapping yarn around the packages and gluing on some triangles for a fun festive bunting.

Lark was occupied this whole time by the giant pink balloon she chose at the party store we stopped by on our way home, and the golden birthday crown I quickly made in hopes it would make her feel special on her big day.

When daddy got home from work we ate dinner - noodles and broccoli per Lark's request - and then it was time to make dessert! As is tradition daddy makes the birthday cake, or cookie dough in this case, so the girls helped him mix up the ingredients and place the dough in some baking cups. We added a scoop of ice cream on top and each had our own little individual pizookie. It was so easy and good I think I will see if we can make it a special birthday tradition for Lark. We'll see what she says next year ;)

Then Lark opened her presents from us and some from family who had been so thoughtful to mail them in time. She loved it all - thank you family!!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! You are so loved.

See how bald she was at her 1st birthday party! :)

art birthday party

For the Little Miss' fourth birthday we had an art party at our favorite park. It was her first friend party and she was so excited. I was a little worried it would be too hot, but we had the kids drink plenty of water and in the end I am glad I chose to have the party outside. It was so much less stressful for me since I didn't have to clean my house or worry about having enough room for a bunch of energetic kids. They also had tons of fun playing together and using their imaginations - more fun than with any games I could have come up with for them to play. The bonus was us moms had lots of time to chat since the kids were so content playing!

I kept the decor and food really simple to cut back on cost, and also used the leftover cups, straws, and  napkins from Lark's party. Now this is where you are going to have to humor me, but the cupcakes are supposed to be like artist's palettes. I carried over the blue/green ombre theme from the invitations with the M&M 'paint' and then made 'paintbrushes' out of pretzels dipped in melted white chocolate with a little bit of blue food coloring (not mixed all the way in so as to look more painterly). The chocolate chip represents the thumb hole - but you could totally tell that, right? ;)

They tasted good. Just ask Lark...

Instead of a traditional hanging birthday banner LM helped me make a birthday table runner. It also doubled as an example of the art project we were going to do. Each child was given a piece of watercolor paper, and using painters tape we helped them tape their first initial (or let them go wild and tape whatever their little heart desired). They painted all around the tape with watercolors, and then we sent them off to the playground while the paint dried. Once it was dry we carefully pulled the tape off to reveal their works of art! 

As a thank you for coming, I gave each family a print from Bear Cave Studios (a local art studio that teaches classes for kids) with a quote by Picasso saying, "All Children are Artists" - because they really, truly are and I think they should know it.  

LM was spoiled with lots of gifts, mostly art themed, which have kept her busy in the happiest way. Thank you so much to our generous friends and family!

and then she was four

Yesterday was the Little Miss' fourth birthday. Overall, I think I am pretty okay with her growing up, but then I open an email from the preschool she will be attending this Fall and start tearing up just looking at the starting date. She keeps reminding me that she needs a backpack soon, and I have this nagging thought in the back of my mind that it is about time for her first real haircut (that she didn't administer herself) to chop off the mullet ringlets. The ones that curl so perfectly after a bath.

But, well, she is four now and tells me she is just going to keep having birthdays, so I suppose I will have to get used to these coming-of-age type things.

She requested an art party with friends and I was happy to oblige such a fun theme. I must give credit my to good friend Crystal for setting up a play date with all of our friends that just so happened to be on LM's birthday, and then she allowed me to take over and turn it into a party - it helps when other people do the initial 'save the date' for you ;)

Since we did the whole rainbow thing for Lark's first birthday party, I decided to go with a less expected color scheme and do an ombre blue/green theme throughout. For the invitations I used these two fonts and simply emailed it out with directions. I just don't know if I'll ever be prepared in time to mail invitations out, but with an art/paint/ombre theme you could really run with it and do something pretty... 

Pictures of the party and the art project the kids did to come! 

lark's 1st birthday!

We threw Lark's first birthday party on St. Patrick's Day (even though her actual birthday was last week) with a 'Gold At the End of the Rainbow' theme. It was so nice and we really appreciate all of our family coming out to celebrate this little cutie's life with us. She really is a lucky girl to be loved by so many wonderful people!

For the decor, I cut out 'Lucky Birthday Girl!' from gold sparkle paper using this font and simply taped it to the wall, then made a rainbow with balloons. The utensils and straws were held in gold glitter dipped mason jars I made that morning, and chocolate gold coins were strewn about the cake. 

We kept the menu light with pasta salad, french country bread, and green grapes. I took a chance on the pasta trying out a recipe I had never made before and it was a hit! I would definitely make it again for a large crowd since it was so easy (although I would love to tweak the dressing a bit and use fresh herbs instead of a ranch dressing packet).

When it came time to blow out the candle, we had to hold Lark back because she kept trying to grab the flame, completely opposite of her older sister who shied away from the candle when she turned one. It is so fun to start noticing these little differences in personality between them - lately, Lark is really starting to show us that she is her own little person!

As has become tradition, Husband made her birthday cake from scratch and it was definitely the highlight of the party! He used this recipe using all natural dyes and the colors turned out so vibrant and beautiful. LM was so excited for the cake to be cut saying it was magical - I think she was right. 

Lark, on the other hand looked at the cake admiringly for a moment, then signed 'All done!' and attempted to shove it off the edge of her highchair. That makes two for two kids in this family not interested in eating any birthday cake at their first party. Oh well, at least I caught the plate before it fell.

At the end, we gave all of her cousins party favors consisting of watercolors and chocolate gold coins. My sister gave me this idea and I thought it was so clever - some gold at the end of the rainbow to take home! 

(These pictures are a mish-mash from my camera, my iphone, and my SIL Heather. Thank you Heather for saving me when my camera battery died!)

shadow puppet party!

LM's birthday party was this weekend and we had so much fun! She was truly the happiest little girl surrounded by all of her cousins and was spoiled with love! As you know, the theme was 'Shadow Puppets'. We kept the agenda simple, starting out with a puppet show and popcorn, then we let the kids try out different hand shadows, ate hot dogs and Izze, and finished things off with cake, ice cream, and presents!

(invitation)

The birthday girl was very concerned that we needed to have three things at her party: party hats, balloons, and candles on the cake. Pretty easy requirements! So, we made some simple cone party hats, as well as a few fun pillbox hats with big feathers on top for the girls (see first picture, inspired by). I thought Lark looked so cute in her party hat!

I made a theater  for the puppet show using a cardboard tri-fold and white butcher paper. It worked great, but if I were to do it again I would use sheets so it would be easier to store and wouldn't potentially break or tear. 

For the puppet show we thought it would be fun to do a Mad Lib type story, so we wrote one and had the audience yell out adjectives, verbs, etc. to fill in the blanks before we started, it was a great way to make them more involved. Then we dimmed the lights and passed out popcorn. The story turned out so funny with the random words thrown in, and Husband saying a silly phrase every time a character was mentioned in the story. For example, whenever the knight was mentioned he would pause and say, "Hey, how you doin'?" like Eugene in Tangled, then continue on with the story...

Above are pictures of the main scenes. The story was about a Princess who was having a birthday party, but didn't invite the mean dragon and witch. They were mad and decided to cast a spell and turn her into a donkey! Her fairy Godmother gives a knight a gift to make the dragon and witch become nice so they will tell him how to reverse the spell which turns out to be...can you guess?... a kiss! So the knight kisses the donkey and she becomes a Princess again. Everyone is happy and becomes friends, the end!

It was a silly little story and all of the kids loved it! The story uses all of the shadow puppets in this set.

For her present we got her a bike and helmet, but the bike isn't coming until today (I thought I had ordered it in time for the party, oh well!). She was very excited for her head protection though, ha! She got a lot of fun presents like art supplies and music toys which she has been playing with ever since, what a lucky girl!

When it came time for blowing out the candles she got a bit shy so I had to help her out. Husband made the entire cake from scratch and it was so yummy, I wish I got a better picture. I think it is going to be tradition that daddy makes the birthday cakes since he did it last year too!

For party favors I gave each family a copy of Fun with Hand Shadows to take home. It was such a nice time. Thank you to everyone who could come, I know LM felt special on her big day!