olivia is four

The little one is four.

She wanted a beach cake with a dolphin on it for her birthday.  We have two dolphins somewhere in this house, but only one surfaced when the cake was being made.  The other must have been swimming somewhere off shore.

I put the older girls in charge of making some beachy decorations for the cake with Legos.  I knew they would come through for me, and they certainly did not disappoint.

This is the third beach cake that I've made.  If my memory serves me correctly, I've also made three castle cakes.  I wouldn't have thought the beach theme would be a popular one, but I won't complain.  Beach cakes are waaayyyy easier than castle cakes.  It took longer to crush the graham crackers than it did to decorate it.  

The girls had several gifts for Liv this year.  Claire made her a stuffed teapot, tea cup/saucer, and spoon.  Meredith made her a few stuffed pastries/desserts to go along with her tea set.  Amelia gave her three pieces of gum and sparkly $1 bill. :)  All three girls pooled their money and bought her a $5 Bunny and Babies Lego set.  

She.is.so.loved.

Josh and I got her a Design and Drill toy.  She (along with her her sisters) have absolutely loved playing with it.

At four years old, Olivia loves...

-her sisters

-balloons

-talking

-cheese

-the color purple

-books

-people

-playing with hair

-changing her clothes

Olivia,

You are a bright spot in our lives.  It is so much fun to enjoy life with a four year old!  We love the way you think, talk, and giggle.  Your love and admiration for your sisters is beyond evident, and they adore you as much as you do them.  We can't wait to see you grow this year.  What a blessing you are!

the "almost" slumber birthday party

Oh, the "almost" slumber party!  It has come and gone, and we all survived. :)  We celebrated Meredith's 10th birthday party with another Dramatic Fanatic themed party...this one with a slumber party theme.  Again, it was a hit for all involved.  (We did a similar camping themed party for Claire's 10th birthday a couple of years ago.)  

For several reasons, we chose to do an "almost" slumber party instead of an actual slumber party.  One of those reasons included the fact that there were 20 girls here that evening celebrating.  What a fun time, though!

The girls had the option of coming in character or in their pajamas.  I scoured Pinterest for as many slumber party/sleepover party ideas that I could find.  You know me, I chose the cutest, easiest ones. :)  All of these ideas (and more!) including the printables and recipes that I used are on my almost slumber party Pinterest board.  

Here are some photos from the setup:

The Menu:
-sleeping bags (not pictured because I didn't have them baked when I took the photos): crescent rolls filled with pepperoni and cheese with dipping sauce on the side
-yogurt bar: yogurt in individual cups with strawberries, blueberries, and granola for toppings
-bed bugs: red and green grapes on small kabob sticks
-cuties
-bacon and eggs: white almond bark with little m&ms and pretzel sticks
-crispy bites: rice krispy treats made with fruity pebbles cereal on small popsicle sticks
-donut pops: donut holes on kabob sticks (by the way, I just wrapped a shallow box with kraft paper and poked holes in it for the donut pops holder)
-donuts
-water bottles: covered with fun duct tape and an owl sticker
*the food label stands are sitting in jumbo marshmallows...they worked perfectly for our camping themed party, so I used the idea again.

I decorated the tables with cereal-filled jars.  I added some larger cereal bowls and spoons as decor as well.  Believe it or not, all of the cereal in the jars and bowls was eaten by the end of the night!  It totally cracked me up.

Streamers were used to make a photo shoot area which was a fun addition:

The girls watched a movie and ate popcorn to end their night.  I found the popcorn bags on Amazon:

We sent home little boxes of cereal with the girls:

...and a little note on the back:

This was a really fun party to put together!  The owl theme was sweet, and I went with it because I found printables and matching duct tape.  Meredith had a great time and so did all of the girls.  I always love planning for and doing parties like these, but I'm also thankful to not have to do them every year.  I don't think my sanity could handle it.  Now, I get a three year break until Amelia's. Whew! :)

claire's cake

As I was looking through facebook photos the other day, I realized that I never posted pictures of Claire's birthday cake on the blog.  I need a record over here, too. :)  

I was so proud of her for making her cake from scratch...I was also thankful that I didn't have to do anything!  Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

  

She did a great job, and we invited her friend Abby's family over to celebrate and eat cake.  It was a fun night, and the cake looked great and tasted delicious!  Great job, Claire!

amelia turns six

Guess who turned 6 last week?!!  She spent the day with Grandma doing some birthday shopping, and they also went to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman which they both enjoyed.  (On a side note, when Josh came home from work, Amelia excitedly announced that she and Grandma had watched Mr. Peabottoms!!  So funny.)

Her grandmas and grandpas gave her a book light, a tea set, sandals, a swimsuit, a watch, and nail polish. :)

Claire and Meredith gave her some play jewelry and playdoh.  

We gave her the new Tinkerbell movie (The Pirate Fairy) and a bicycle bell.  

Her 21-year-old friend, Nina, came over and watched The Pirate Fairy.  (Have I mentioned that Amelia has best friends of all ages?!  She makes friends more easily than anyone I've ever met!)

For her birthday dinner, she wanted pancakes, blueberries, smoked sausage, Hershey kisses, and punch.  

She asked for an island cake with dolphins, and her friends James, Lauren, Landry, Colson, and 9-day-old Noah enjoyed cake and ice cream with our family.  

Thankfully, we had everything for the cake already in the toy bins...loved that we had mini-birthday hats for the octopi. :)

Amelia Kate,
You are energetic, non-stop, and a complete chatterbox.  You are not a smidgen short of being one-of-a-kind.  The dramatic fashion in which you handle disappointment could use a bit of work, but you love people, offer forgiveness, and enjoy life more than the vast majority of the population.  Child, you set a beautiful example without even being aware of it.  What a blessing you are!  Hope you had a wonderful 6th birthday!!

olivia turns three

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the fact that all mothers drop the ball from time to time.  Friday, it was my turn.  I uploaded some pictures to my computer, and I obviously didn't include them all in the upload.  It makes me very sad because the ones that didn't make it included little stinker pot's third birthday cupcakes.  

IF I had made them perfectly and taken perfect pictures, they would have looked like these:

Image: Erica's Sweet Tooth

Olivia's were similar...not as rounded on the top...no white mickey buttons...lighting not as great for the picture.  I'd say maybe it was better this way because the ones in the picture above are just so darned perfect, but then we miss Olivia's sweet little smile for her birthday cupcakes.  And you miss how three of them were lined up in front of her with a candle in each.  And you miss how she had to blow at them about 10 times to get them out because she was blowing up rather than out.  It was so cute, and I'm a bit teary-eyed just thinking about how I don't have it captured in a photo. :(  I'm sentimental like that.  

I'm sorry, Olivia.

And now I'm moving on because there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to bring back those pictures, so I'll happily show the pictures that did make the cut.  

The girls talked Olivia into a Mickey Mouse theme for her birthday party because they insisted that they do a Disney Day for Olivia since she didn't get to enjoy Disney with us in September.  They have been planning this for at least a couple of months.  They are so, so sweet to her, and they just couldn't love her more than they do.  

All three girls stayed up late on a Friday night to decorate and woke up at 6:00 a.m. the following morning to make cinnamon rolls, Mickey Mouse pancakes, and the works for breakfast.  Here's sneak peek at Disney Day:

Breakfast goodies: handwritten menus, Mickey stickers, autograph book for the day

fruit tray while we're waiting for our pancakes and cinnamon rolls

Loving the day already...and who wouldn't love Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pancakes?

Disney employees hand these stickers out everywhere.  The girls saved them for Olivia and used them in lots of places.  Love their creativity!!

Bippity-Bobbity-Boutique right in our own home!!  Complete with glitter hairspray, a tutu, fairy wings, and a sash.

1st Visit :)

She met Minnie Mouse...

...and Princess Anna...

and Queen Elsa.

The whole group together. :)

She rode Toy Story Mania.

This is a bulls-eye from TSM.  

They had her throw little sponges at the bulls-eyes that were all over the hallway.

They had the Mad Tea Party in the kitchen and used the roller coaster scene from Despicable Me as another roller coaster ride.  They put a kitchen chair in front of the t.v. and would lean the chair all around depending on which direction the roller coaster appeared to be heading. 

Is that so sweet or what?!  

At three years old, Olivia loves...

-reading books

-playing Legos

-taking baths

-playing outside

-being with her sisters

-eating snacks

-giving hugs

-being a helper

-playing with dolls

-talking

She's not so much into...

-sitting still

-trying new foods (although once she does, she often likes them)

-having her hair brushed

-being fully potty trained

-telling Daddy goodnight (not sure why?!)

Olivia,

We love you more than words can say.  You make us laugh every single day, and we can't wait to watch you grow this year.  What a joy and a blessing you are to our family!

the melted ice cream cone cake

Meredith chose a super-simple melted ice cream cone cake for her birthday.  It was one of the easiest birthday cakes I've had to do.  (I won't lie, I try to gear my kiddos toward easy cakes on Pinterest.)  She wanted white frosting for the cake and sprinkles for the ice cream cone.  

I made a simple ganache (seriously, it tasted like chocolate gold):

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup chocolate chips

Put the chocolate chips in a bowl.  Heat the whipping cream in a small sauce pan over low heat until tiny bubbles begin to form on the sides and it begins to steam.  (I didn't have much luck with the bubbles, but it was steaming.)  Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and DO NOT STIR for 1 minute.  Whisk the chocolate chips and cream until smooth and let it sit for a few minutes.  

For the "glob" of ice cream, I found some brownies in the freezer, thawed them and formed them into a ball.  I poured the ganache over the cake, held the little cone on top for a minute, and sprinkled some rainbow sprinkles on top.

Glad you had a great birthday, Meredith!

camping themed birthday party

Birthday parties.  I'm not typically a big fan.  This year, though, Claire is turning 10.  Ten seems like a pretty big deal, so I decided to actually do something special for Claire for her 10th birthday.  

I asked on facebook several months ago for some ideas for a 10th birthday party.  My friend, Heather, linked me to Dramatic Fanatic.  For $35, I purchased a mystery party that can be used for 8-16 girls.  Claire chose the Summer Camp Mystery, and we invited 16 girls to our house.

So we had a party. :)  And it wasn't nearly as crazy as you might think!

Of course, Pinterest came to my rescue.  I found a fabulous invitation online {although I can't find the link to it at the moment}, and I used the image from it to make the invites.  It was a free download, and I was able to plug in our info.  It had a large fingerprint as well as the silhouette of a detective lady with a magnifying glass.  

I fed the envelopes through the printer as well and put the image on the back of the envelopes with a tagline that said, "Help us catch the criminal, unless of course, it's you..."

So fun.  

So, 16 girls arrived at our house at 6:15 tonight.  And, as far as I could tell, the entire party was a hit.  The best part was that a couple of Claire's friends are a bit older {and fabulous actresses}, and they ran the majority of the party for me.  Most of the moms stayed and chatted it up outside on the deck, so I pretty much owe these girls for letting us have a mom's night out! :)  

Like I said, the theme of the party was a Summer Camp Mystery, so we decorated with camping food/decor.  It was super easy and fairly inexpensive!  

Here are some pics:

 

 

The Menu:

-caterpillars: grapes on kabob sticks with little eyes attached with frosting {I didn't have those attached when I took the pictures}

-bananas: cut into chunks and served in an aluminum pie plate

-cupcakes and individual ice cream cups {the only way to go for a party!!}

-fruit cups: strawberries, frozen blueberries, mandarin oranges

-mud pies: gluten free chocolate cookies {made by my good friend, Amanda}

-s'mores on a stick: large marshmallows on popsicle sticks, dipped in chocolate and rolled in crushed graham crackers

-wild animals: animal crackers served in an aluminum pie plate

-firewood: cream wafer rolls cut into chunks and stacked like firewood

-dirt pudding: served in cups

-water bottles: covered with fun duct tape and camp critters hot-glued to the side

I purchased almost all of my supplies at the Dollar Tree.  There I purchased the tablecloth, plates, napkins, popsicle sticks, critters for the water, brown bags, and pie plates.  Seriously, I only spent $10 for the supplies for this party!!  I really wanted the pie plates for the girls for their serving dishes, but they were 2 for $1.  I just couldn't justify paying $8 for 16 plates when I could buy 28 checkered ones for $2.

I used regular cans from this week's dinner for spoon holders.  I cut a napkin and wrapped it around the cans to make them a bit cuter.  

I used marshmallows to hold all of the food labels as well as to add a few more pieces of decor.  I found all of the printable camping pictures from the camping preschool unit from 2 Teaching Mommies.     Those ladies have a ton of themes...I knew I could find what I was looking for! 

My mother-in-law brought over a lantern as well as some big old binoculars and their holder.  Like I said, super simple decor in this house!!  I'm all about the simple.  

For favors, we put together some s'more packs for the girls to take home.  They included enough supplies to make two s'mores.  I found these fun s'more printables from The TomKat Studio.  

I fed some brown paper bags through my printer to put a message on the favor bags.  I didn't know if the bags would go through, but they did!  Total score.  Claire was impressed. 

We had a great time, and overall, this was a really easy party to put together.  It was my first kid birthday party ever, and I'm thankful to have a two year break before the next one.  I don't think I could do this 4 times a year!  I'm pretty sure that we'll probably go the same route for child #2.  Looking forward to it!