happy first day of fall!

Ya know how people on Facebook are like "I LOVE FALL!  ISN'T THIS WEATHER GRAND?" 

And there's me sitting there thinking "IT'S FRIKKING AUGUST 30TH."

We can all now officially say those things because it's the first day of Fall!  I know most people would agree (why else would they be raving about fall during summer?), but it's the best.  I really like all the seasons but there is just something about Fall that gets me.  The cooler temperatures, the smell of the air, pumpkins, cider, apple pies, and one very important holiday for scarfing:  THANKSGIVING.

I realize there is one other "holiday" in there, and I'm pretty indifferent about it.  I surely won't be one of those people that lines their driveway with skulls or has the candy dish with the ghoul's hand that scares the shit out of you when you innocently grab a Kit-Kat.  However, I am excited about Patrick being involved in Halloween this year.  We've got his wagon and he can walk up to doors and into their gardens and into the street, so I think that having children will get me more involved with the bats and fake R.I.P headstones.

Last year Patrick was the cutest little lion you ever did see.  The costume was from Old Navy and was graciously bought for me by Jeff's cousin (she got a great deal at a garage sale, something I wholeheartedly suck at).  But this year, Old Navy has 45 costume choices for little girls and 3 for little boys.  All three options are hideous, and Pottery Barn Kids' costumes were made for Asian babies this year so WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!

I absolutely have to show you all the costumes that are for sale this year at PBK. 

Here are the sets for rich families with nothing better to do:

This is the Sushi Family Costume set.

Here is the Chef Family Costume set.

And the best one of all:  the Woodland Family Costume set.  Pretty sure they gave Mom and Dad a some special Woodland Juice before doing this photoshoot.



And here are your toddler boy options for embarassment:

You can see the pickings are slim.  Let me know if you can find something that won't get my kid beat up.


Happy Fall Ya'll!!

patrick's first birthday party

What a wonderful weekend we had here at the Rowland household!  Patrick's birthday party was here on Saturday, which ended up being just perfect.  It was exactly what I had envisioned:  simple, traditional, and full of laughter and new toys that I didn't have to buy. 

To tell you the truth, it was practically impossible being the hostess of the party and being the photographer so I didn't get near the amount of pictures nor the quality of pictures I was hoping for.  On the flip side, I was able to visit with my family, watch everyone enjoy all my homemade food, and most importantly watch the joy in my son's eyes while playing with his cousins and new presents.

We chose to invite just our immediate family and very close friends.  While it was SUPER hard to not invite all those extra people that I love love love, we had legit reasons:

1.)  Patrick is only a year old and I didn't want too much stimulation.
2.)  Our house straight up isn't big enough for the whole brood (and I have a decent sized home).
3.)  We are paupers.

Next year we will have a huge bash outside with every last person we want, but it just didn't seem necessary this year.

Anyways, the details of the party:  I made the layer cake and frosting (recipes found here).  It was phenom, even though I forgot the vanilla in the cake...

I also made Sausage Tortellini Soup and Sweet Pulled Pork sandwiches with Cilantro Ranch Dressing...all the recipes were from Many Makings.  It all tasted incredible.

Oh yeah!  The onion dip was a favorite too, and that is from my BFF's dad. 

• 16 oz. sour cream
• sprinkle it with chili powder
• sprinkle it with garlic salt
• half a package of Lipton's onion soup
• 2 t. Lea & Perrins woosteshire sauce (it might be 2 T., which is what I did)
• serve with Ballreich's circle pretzels!

*Other decor:  the balloons are from here, the invitations are from here, and the white garland is from here.

Patrick did pretty well with his big piece of cake.  Other than my dumbass putting a lit candle in front of him and almost burning my child's hand off, there were no causes for an E.R. trip so that's good.  You can see he got pretty relaxed after a few bites.

He got a bath right after!

Patrick's gift from his Mama and Daddy was this sweet wagon.  Remember my initial thought of a Radio Flyer?  Yeah, maybe for a doctor's kid.  Heck, maybe for the kid of a hostess at Olive Garden.  But the kid with parents that are a farmer and a Catholic school teacher?  Forget it.  This Step 2 will work just fine - even though it was dirty when we got it OUT OF THE BOX.  I bet you it was manufactured the year I was born.  Stupid Toys 'R' Us. 

godparents!

aunt amy!

cousin iva!

grandma!

my beautiful blessings!

We ended the party by going outside for some fresh air and having people take crappy pictures of us.  I kid you not, I think three separate people tried taking them.  Take a class, folks!  My tripod would've done better.  That's what I need - a robot!

Just to let you know, planning this birthday party was more stressful than planning my flipping wedding.  Making all your own food is ca-razy, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I can totally see why people have parties at Skate World and all kinds of really trashy places because they COOK for you and CLEAN UP after you.  Trust me, I'll be at Chuckie Cheese's just like the rest of 'em someday!