We Will Always Have Paris

An Old-Fashioned Country Fair Fourth Of July (Part Three)

Our pool filled with feed corn:

Second place winner in the bike parade:

Little details:

Good times:

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!

Part One can be found here
Part Two can be found here

An Old-Fashioned Country Fair Fourth Of July (Part Two)

Every fair needs a midway (Hubby hand drew and painted the canvas background):

Ten entries in the Pie Bake-Off:

And Suni took home the blue ribbon for her "Watergate Pie":

 A fantastic bluegrass trio:

I'll be back with even more pics tomorrow!
To see Part One of "An Old-Fashioned Country Fair Fourth of July", click here.

An Old Fashioned Country Fair Fourth Of July (Part One)

Welcome to the Fair...

Prepping for the bike parade...

Watemelon eating contests:

My little watermelon eatin' champion:

Winner!:

I'll be back tomorrow with more pics...

A Spring Tea Party

Last week, my girls invited their closest friends over for a tea party to kick off Spring Break.  I think it will become an annual tradition!

The table was set with pink straw hats, wicker chargers and pots of strawberries on sticks.  I tied big bows of pink and green tulle on the chairs.

The ceiling was decorated with giant tissue paper pom poms (to learn how to make your own, click here!).

I used jelly jars and paper straws (from Etsy seller Hey Yo Yo) to serve up lemonade (not all 5 year olds are fond of tea).  Each guest found her name already written on her jelly jar in chalk ink.

Rice Krispy treats, brightly colored cupcakes and mini powdered donuts were big hits!

Spring dresses were a must!

And Baby A. enjoyed her first "cuppa".  (Yes Amy, that's the teacup from your wedding shower -- both of my girls choose it each and every time we take tea.)

I hope you're finding wonderful ways to celebrate Spring!

In The Jungle...

After a month of illness, we were finally able to celebrate Baby A's second birthday.  Her favorite stuffed animal "Ooh Ooh Monkey" goes with her everywhere, so we went with a jungle monkey theme.

 
Handmade jungle vines (click here to see how to make them!)

Homemade cupcakes with fondant monkey & banana cupcake toppers from Etsy seller Cookiecovers. 

I found a great cupcake stand by Wilton at my local Jo-Anns (& used a coupon).  I decorated the cupcake stand using crepe paper, glue lines and Martha Stewart's fringe scissors.  If you don't have these scissors, go get yourself a pair.  I love them!

 

 
Party hats are a must (from Oriental Trading Company)

 
Rather than goody bags filled with a ton of junk, I opted for sippy cups (again, Oriental Trading) and bubbles.

Hubby made meatballs for mini meatball subs.

 
Good food is a must at our parties.

 
Anticipation.

And, of course, a birthday girl who burst into tears when everyone started singing "Happy Birthday".
It's a family tradition 

 Happy 2nd Birthday, my sweet baby girl.

Come One, Come All!

I've promised a number of you pics from Baby G's birthday party this summer.  Leave it to my kid to want a "Vintage Carnival" themed 5th birthday party.  Not Sponge Bob.  Not Disney Princesses.  "Vintage Carnival".  That's my girl!

So, hubby spent most of July building Baby G. her dream carnival.  And I designed an invitation that looked like a carnival poster.  And then we started decorating.  Lots of pink, red & aqua...

 
Pennant banners.

The admission booth.
We're planning to use this for our upcoming "backyard movie" nights. 

Each invitation included a carnival ticket for each child (click here to make your own).
The kids redeemed them at the admission booth for game tickets to be used on the midway.
   
 
The midway.

 

 
The "Ring Toss" game

 
The "Wheel of Fortune" spinning wheel game.

 
 
Our "Spin Art" table.
Hubby made it using the motor from an old fan.  Pretty smart, no?

 

 
The "Goldfish Toss".
I originally planned to give out real goldfish, but decided that my friends would probably collectively kick my ass after the party, so I went with little plastic fish that squirt water as the prize.

"Duck Races".

We used the table hubby built for our 4th of July Stinky Pete's gold panning table to create our own duck races.
Hubby re-painted the table red & then used our pool pump and PVC to create a flow of water where the kids could race little rubber ducks.

 
Clown noses were a popular prize.

 


 
 A circus tent pinata and popcorn boxes to scoop up all the candy!

 

Home-made cupcakes (thanks for the clown toppers Auntie Suni!).
The super-cute circus tent cupcake stand came from Oriental Trading.

 
Cupcake boxes for the party guests to take extra cupcakes home with them!
These were also from Oriental Trading Company.

Whew!  Of course, the moment I'm going to scrapbook is when Baby G. dropped her hot dog on the grass and burst into tears.  She sobbed saying, "This is the worst party ever".  Five years old.   

 
 

Wild Wild West

This year's 4th of July party had a "Wild West" theme.  Here are the highlights:

(Stinky Pete's Gold Panning Table - My hubby drew, painted & cut out the huge "Stinky Pete")

 

(I spray painted rocks gold, silver & copper -- kids were able to win cowboy rubber ducks when they found golden nuggets)

(The saloon -- Lots of frozen margaritas & ice cold beer)

 

 (Hubby made steer heads for our three alfalfa bales & my friend Robyn from Arizona sent me her hubby's extra lariats for ropin' in the "steer")
 

 (Horses for our horse race -- God bless the dollar store!)

 

 (Giddy-Up!)

(The annual drunken mom's sack race -- I am choosing not to post the pic of Jenny & I crashing into eachother -- not pretty) 

 

 
 (The entrance to the food tent -- scrap plywood, a little acrylic paint for distressing & letters cut from my Wishblade!)

 

 
(A full Tex-Mex taco bar -- lots of food for the 50+ people in attendance)

 

 

(It's non-alcoholic, I swear!)

 

(Baby G. getting her just rewards after starting a water fight with grandma)
 
  (This picture of my friend C. just makes me smile!)

(The pinata!)

(The annual line-up for the pinata -- youngest to oldest -- I have pics of the same kids lined up every year)
 
  

So, another great 4th of July ready to be preserved in our summer scrapbook.  Next year's party planning is already underway -- A 4th of July Country Fair.  Think bike parades & pie eating contests & watermelon seed spitting & hog calling....  I can't wait!

 
 

 

Happy Birthday Baby!

Baby A.'s first birthday party was re-scheduled twice, due to snow.  Essentially, we've been celebrating her birthday for two weeks now.  Way to drag it out baby girl!  We finally were able to celebrate with friends/faux family this weekend:

To keep with the "Ladybug" theme of Baby A's first birthday, I used various circle punches & the "Circles" Sizzix die to cut hundreds of black circles from scrap cardstock.  I used double sided tape to adhere them to my red (how convenient!) dining room & kitchen walls.

As the primary photographer in our family, I have very few pictures of my kids & myself.  I had passed my camera to my girlfriend Jenny right before we sang Baby A. "Happy Birthday".  Although I look terrible (& it looks like I'm trying to eat her headbow -- which I made, Melissa!), I love the shot.  Baby A. has always leaned in & rested her head on my head.  It's something that is distinctly her -- Jenny just happened to capture that moment.

 
My girlfriend Carrie has celebrated each of her children's first birthdays with the following:

In less fortunate times, when infant mortality rates were higher, a baby's first birthday was largely a celebration of survival.  These days, a first birthday is as much a celebration of the parents' survival as the baby's.  That first year, with it's sleepless nights, unpredictable schedules, and nearly constant demands, is a hard one.  On the other hand, parents witness and incredible unfolding as their awkward newborn literally unfolds and grows into an engaging little person who stands on two feet.  A variety of traditions attempt to define a baby's emerging personality, predict the future, or create a tangible memory to hand down.

In the classic smashed-cake birthday party, parents symbolically give Baby the world on a plate, then watch his reaction.  Does he contemplate for a while or dig right in?  Does he lick his fingers fastidiously, or smear frosting in his hair?  This birthday tradition is entertaining, but it also offers hints as to how Baby approaches life.

In the Korean culture, the first birthday party, Chut Dol, more definitively predicts a child's future.  The child sits at a table that is set with five objects: a ball of yarn, signifying a long life; a book, standing for knowledge; a calligraphy brush, representing scholarly ability; a coin , meaning prosperity and a paintbrush symbolizing artistic ability.  As he chooses items from the table, parents and other guests get a glimpse into the future.  A baby who chooses a coin will be prosperous, one who chooses the yarn will live a long life, and so on.

Baby A. selected the ball of yarn.  Long life!  Fantastic!  (Baby G. had selected the paintbrush during her first birthday party.)

 
My mother had a side business making wedding cakes when I was a kid.  One of the perks of having a cake decorator for a mom is that I had amazing birthday cakes.  I once had a cake that looked like a hamburger, with icing lettuce & tomatoes hanging out the sides!  Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother's cake skills.  When I discovered that I couldn't order a ladybug cake through my local grocery store, I decided to make my own.  I ordered a couple dozen cupcakes with green icing and topped them with Wilton candy flowers.  I then baked/decorated my own smash cake.  Dear God, it's ugly.  But I tried.  I really tried.  I didn't have enough red food coloring, so it was pink.  And I piped the base onto a dinner plate, forgetting that I couldn't then transfer the cake to the cake stand.  And then I refrigerated it, so the frosting turned hard & Baby A. couldn't even get her fingers into it.  Oh well.  I tried.
 
Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Ye be havin' a birthday?

Baby G's 4th birthday party was this weekend, and she (once again) wanted to have a pirate-themed party.  So, I drafted the invitations:

 

(Note:  The invitation is soooo much cuter, but I needed to block out G's name before posting it here).  The map is actually the map of Tom Sawyer's Island at Disney World (may God bless you, Google Images).  I photoshopped it to work for my little pirate.  The "Path to Frontierland" now reads "Path to Grandma's" and the title has her full name.  There's even a little section of the map that read's "G's hideout".  The "Dead Men Tell No Tales" flag is tied with hemp twine.

 

My friend Jill and I hit up local home improvement stores for appliance/patio furniture boxes and hubby cut & painted them to create pirate ships.  Then we let the kids decorate the three ships in G's armada:

 

Baby A. cheered on the little pirates:

 

I found a skull & crossbones iron-on transfer at AC Moore that read "Arrgh... Wipe Me Booty".  Perfect!  She really got into the pirate theme:

Once the kids were done decorating the ships, we loaded them up with buckets of water balloons and let them have a pirate battle:

 

  

 

There were tattoos:

  

And a pirate cake:

 

And a pirate pinata!

And "booty" bags for her pirate crew:

 

Thank goodness July is almost over. Between the luau and the pirate party, I'm wiped out (and ye old debit card needs a break)!

 

Fourth of July - 2009

 

15 kids, ages 8 and under

35+ adults

5 flavors of homemade ice cream (chocolate cherry, Nick's peanut butter chocolate chip, vanilla, root beer float & rocky road)

carnival games

a souvenir shack

zombies

pina coladas

mai tais

a sack race for the kids

a sack race for the moms (after a few too many pina coladas)

seashells on the mini beach

one coconut bra

two babies

one little white dog

good friends

good times

July 4, 2009