connor's 1st birthday party

Have I mentioned that I'm sick of throwing parties?  Have I also mentioned that I'm the lucky host of Thanksgiving next week?

This one had me so stressed I almost ralphed before everyone got there.  

Apart from the negativity, though, it was a great party.  As always!  We have some amazing family and friends - my boys are always showered with so much love.

I pinter-est-ed it up with this party - just about everything you see has already been done by someone with much more time on their hands (not to mention much more imagination).

What better fall food than chili?  And two-fer-a-dollar fritos?

The only food it seems I'm able to make at parties is soup, something I can make ahead of time and throw in a crockpot.  I used an all-purpose chili recipe, nothing fancy at all...meat, beans, tomatoes, pre-made seasoning packet.  You guys, it was really really good.  I had all the fixings for chili dogs & chili nachos as well.

Check out the burlap around the appalling crockpot.  (Pinterest, not me.)  After thinking about where I was going to get all these dumb crafty things I headed over to Walmart, my archenemy.  Have you even been there lately?  They have it all!  Striped straws, rolls of burlap, chalkboard signs, errrrrthing.  I never thought I'd say "Walmart for the win" but there it is.

All the other paper products and such came from Target, obvi.

You know how I'm always trying to make a fabulous cake for my kids' parties?  This fluffy white cake with whipped vanilla bean frosting was pretty good, but a little....different?  I made the cakes ahead of time and had them in the fridge a couple of days - I really think that took away from the flavor, but the frosting was wonderful.  Did you know that one vanilla bean costs $4.98 at the grocery?  Being the scientist that I am, I did some light reading (yeah right, you know I printed out pages of research to present to my students) and found that it's the second most expensive spice after saffron because of how labor-intensive it is to grow the seed pods.  

For the mini cake bunting I used the same printable template from TomKat Studio that I used for Patrick's 2nd birthday party.  I mean, these people that give out free printables are like saints.

The white cake plate was a new purchase, and one I didn't want to make.

A couple days before the party the boys broke my absolute favorite glass cake plate AND the lid.  It was a wedding present, so I was pretty devastated.  And by pretty devastated I mean I finally broke down and bawled like a baby about all my nice stuff being ruined by these kids.  Dammmmmit.  In all fairness, though, I had the cake plate on the lowest shelf in our pantry...

This pallet display of monthlies was my inspiration for the entire party - isn't it the coolest?!  Jeff brought the pallet from the farm, I used basic poster paint and a square-tipped paintbrush for the "Connor Is One," I bought small squares of fabric from our local fabric store, cut them into triangles and taped them over with temporary sewing tape.  It probably took two hours total to construct.  And the next 48 hours to keep it from being torn apart by the birthday boy.

PS - Have you seen all the amazing things you can do with refurbished pallets?  Just search that up on Pinterest.  It's incredible.

Don't forget your balloons - those things keep kids entertained for like 30 minutes.

This is me being more excited than Connor about the blanket my sister sewed for him.  I am obsessed with the colors and everything else about it.  Thanks sooooooo much Aunt Linds!

This piece of crap airplane was the biggest hit for the boys.  The wings go up and down, the propeller spins and lights up, it talks to you - it was super fun until the batteries ran out one week later.  Way to go, Target.  (Has anyone else found that their toy section totally sucks?)

Crushed it.

Great baby boy, great party, great family.  Happiest of birthdays, my little super star!




//invitations via

wendy's bridal shower

My friend Wendy (from high school) got married a few weekends ago.  It was a freezing November 1st, but it was such a fun day!  Since I was a bridesmaid, I threw the bridal shower (with some help from Wendy's family).  

It turned out to be a great party full of laughs and family jokes.  It's so funny seeing how other families interact - this family's interactions were hilarious.  Wendy's cousins were so mean to each other, but no one got offended.  I love it when you don't have to step on eggshells around your family.  Amen, amiright?  (PS - I don't have that kind of family.  Everyone gets pissed and stomps out like a three year old.  Don't be jealous.)

Wendy's sister made these bride & groom pumpkins and I copied threw together a chalkboard sign.  I messed up the first time around and tried erasing, but gee whiz, why would a chalkboard erase?   I ended up having to use black construction paper.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  alcohol is the key ingredient to a fun party, regardless of the type of party.  I made two versions of apple punch - one regular and one with champagne.  It was amazing and not super strong.  I didn't want people jumping off tables or saying how they really felt about the groom.

You can see I used rolls of packaging paper as my tablecloths.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.  I was then able to use a sharpie directly on the paper to label the food & drinks.  I hate labels.

Apple Orchard Punch

1 (32 fl oz) bottle of apple juice, chilled

1 (12 fl oz) frozen cranberry juice concentrate

1 cup orange juice

1 1/2 liters ginger ale

1 apple (sliced horizontally and placed on top)

(For the adult punch, use a bottle of champagne in place of the ginger ale.  Also, I totally would have doubled the punch with alcohol.  You can see in my punch bowl that the recipe doesn't yield a whole lot.)

My centerpieces were so simple and consisted of things I already had (bonus!).  Mason jars, field corn, twine and votives.  Next time I will use larger jars - these felt lost in the large room.

At each place setting I had a bag of this delicious trail mix.  All the guests were chowing down on it while Wendy opened her gifts, so they weren't bored and waiting around.

It doesn't look exceptionally appetizing, but this pumpkin pie was the highlight of the party.  I happened to be obsessed with pumpkin pie, so having these baking the whole day prior to the party pretty much made my day.  I did end up making the dough the weekend before the party and just put it in the freezer until a day before.  It only takes a few hours to thaw out.

My neighbor had cooked down pumpkin from Jeff's pie pumpkin patch, she added all the spices and canned it.  She gave me four cans of it - all I had to add was the evaporated milk and the sugar.

It seems easy, but ya'll.  This was tough.  Patrick helped me roll out the dough and mix all the ingredients.  My kitchen was an effing disaster.  Patrick's entire body was covered in flour.  But hey, we made memories right?

The only thing I'd do different next time would be to bake the pies in a ceramic pie plate rather than aluminum.  Each pie took almost two hours to bake (I did two at a time) but it seemed like an eternity.  Seriously, with the prep and the clean up, the pie baking took the entire day prior to the party.  I'd say it was worth it though!

I bowed out of making my own whipping cream (which I typically do) this time.  I bought a couple cans of Reddi-whip and set them out for the guests to use.

Wendy was a beautiful, blushing bride-to-be the whole time.  She was so thankful and grateful for all the hard work put into it, but gosh.  Don't ask me to throw another one ever for a couple years.


xoxo, love you girl!


//invitations via

connor's first year video

Gah!  I'm finally getting around to posting this video that I had done on time for Connor's first birthday.  It's a long-y (almost 11 minutes!) so grab your slippers and your Starbucks.  Or just X-out of your browser before it tempts you to immediately start making more babies.

PS - I typically use Vimeo but it exceeded the gigga-whatevers so I had to use YouTube.  I would recommend watching it on YouTube and putting it into HD.  Plz & Thanx.

Enjoy!

this is three

You're honest, brilliant, and beautiful from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

You're strong-willed, emotional, and a spatial thinker.

You're amazingly funny, you love to pretend, and you're beyond animated.

You're a singer, a snuggler, and a farm equipment extraordinaire.

You're a talker.  You want to know why and how.  You want answers.

"Why are stones gray?"

"Are restaurants red like tongues?"

"Where does medicine come from?"

When we don't know the answer, you say I guess that's the way God made it.

You care about your brother in a way I could never have imagined.  You mimic my words & actions with such ease and genuinity that he calms down with just the sound of your voice.  You also tease/bother/annoy/frustrate him to no end.  It's a brother thing, right?

You like your yogurt smooth, your milk in a mason jar, and your pasta loaded with parmesan cheese.

Your best friend is Lukas and your worst enemy is Millie (the dog).

You're scared of octopuses and the garbage man.

You want to do everything by yourself, from putting on your shoes to pouring your juice.

That being said, you make more messes than any kid in America.

You make me insane crack up when you do things like...

a.) take all the change out of my wallet and put it in the freezer.

b.) drink your milk with a fork.

c.) pull the sheets & comforter off our bed.

d.) spray the dust spray all over everything.

e.) on our way out to the car, insist on running into the field and digging your hands in the mud.

f.) stretch my clothes down off the hangar.

g.) swallow your toothpaste on purpose.

You also make me the proudest Mommy in the world when you tell me I miss you, Mom.  You're the best mom in the whole world. 

I love you more than life itself.  Thank you for making me a Mama, punky!
And Happy Official 3rd Birthday!