Happy Halloween

The kids had fun this Halloween. We're pretty sure this will be our last time to dress up and trick-or-treat, though. Cadence is starting to ask about the spooky side of Halloween already, and wondering about the background, and we had already decided we would only do it as long as the kids were completely oblivious... apparently this time is ending. They adore dressing up though, so we're hoping to have a dress up party next fall, so they can still do costumes and see their friends in costumes.

Cadence really wanted to be a dragon this year, but I told her she would have to choose something we already had the stuff for - a knight, a fairy, a princess, a fireman, a construction worker, etc... She chose to be a fairy princess.

ReC... well... come on... look at those cheeks. How could we not make her the Gerber baby?
 Besides - Worlds. Easiest. Costume. 

James was Band-Aid man of course, and demonstrated his strong muscles on command all evening. 

No More Night-Night {Another Self-Weaning}

See that orange thing in his mouth? You, know, the orange thing that's been in his mouth since the day he was born? (Yes, literally, that same one! Not sure how it managed to not get lost!)

He stopped asking for it.

Just one day didn't ask for it, and we didn't give it to him, and just like that, he was weaned. 

Wow. Thank the Lord! I had really been dreading weaning him from it, because he always used it to fall asleep. Since birth. And lately he'd started using it during the day too. But not anymore! He did this abrupt self-weaning with nursing and putting himself to sleep at night too... I guess that's just who he is!

James' 2nd Birthday Party

James adores construction vehicles, so we decided that would be a fun theme for his party. I had most things done before ReC came, so I wouldn't be getting ready for a party with a new baby. We had fun! It was so awesome to watch his face light up when he saw the decorations, balloons... and when all his family started trickling in and greeting him specially :)

Party favor hats...

 Bows to match the theme colors :)

The cake that died... and got remade... and died... and turned out cute anyway.

Pa-pa reading to Cadence and James before the party. 

Gramma getting some ReC snuggles.

James loved opening all his gifts, reading the cards, and saying thank you. He loved getting his own rocking chair to sit in too.

"I know there much be some way to get this paper off...."

Nana and Emma

Band-Aid Man!

He was so incredibly happy with his cake!

 He blew out the candles with one puff, before anyone could even tell him to:

Clapping for himself :) 

Jojo being the town fix-it hero:

Auntie's turn for snuggles!

His new little suit jacket from Aunt Jennie... which I love, and has come in handy since fall hit us with some chilly weather.

A bit of the 'loot'. 

A Dinosaur Party

Cadence loves dinosaurs, so she wanted a dinosaur birthday party. In fact, she started planning this party in October, before her birthday in February. She wanted all black, with lots and lots of dinosaurs, especially brachiosaurus, with a black brachiosaurus cake. I cajoled her into giving me another color to work with, and she grudgingly said a little bit of purple would be ok. Here is what we wound up with.

Cake table.

Gift Table

I love fork holders - just wrap a small box with tissue paper and add embellishments :)

Gumballs for dinosaur eggs.

My attempt at a brachiosaurus cake - I really like using smashed oreos for black instead of icing, since it tastes so much better than black icing.

Tyrannosaurus Rex guarding the cake. Is it sad that I've spelled these dinosaur names without looking them up? That's how many times we've seen them this year!

Cake for the second party, while the beloved Pelletier family was here. Rice Krispys are so much easier to shape! This one I sprayed with black spray food coloring. Super easy!

Invitations

My first attempt at subway art :D

Dangling stuff makes me happy inside ;)

Of course Cadence loved her party. Once all her friends arrived she wasn't so much worried about the decorations anymore, she was ready to have fun, open gifts, eat cake, and most of all, play!

Oh, she also loved her shirt, which was just an iron on transfer of her invitation basically. 

Thank you for the gifts!

Snitching a lick of icing... the little stinker.

A Guitar Birthday Party {Watercolor Crayon Art & Rice Crispy Cakes}

This was so fun to plan! Our son loves guitars, and has since he was teeny tiny. In fact, guitar was his second word, at seven months! So for his first birthday, we did a guitar theme.

Fun things at this party:

Invitations with a guitar on the back

Guitar shaped rice crispy cake

Guitar art

Decorated fork holder

Music makers, maracas, kazoos, etc. for favors

Invitations:

Rice Crispy Shaped Cake

I love working with Rice Crispy cakes. They are gluten free, and are so easy to mold!They also don't crumble while being iced, and if you make a mistake with the icing, it usually wipes right off to start again!

1. Draw an outline of your shape on a cake board or sturdy surface.

2. Cover with plastic wrap or press and seal.

3. Make rice crispy treats using the original recipe, but insyead of pressing in a pan, dump them on your outline while they are still warm and soft.

4. Butter your (clean!) hands.

5.  Shape to your outline, and allow to cool and harden.

6. Decorate as desired! You can also put icing around your design just for fun.

7. Cover with foil if it will be a while before the party. I always make mine a day or two in advance, and they are still yummy at the party.

P.S. If there will be candles involved, you might want to have something pointy to make a 'pilot hole' for the candle, since the 'cake' will be stiff!

Gift Table

Cake, Party Favors and Guest Page Table

For the kids' first birthdays I like to have a scrapbook page out and ready to go, and all the guests are forced urged to sign it for their scrapbook later.

Cake Table

Fun Watercolor and Crayon Art

Watercolor and Crayon Art

I promise our wall is not purple! Not sure what happened there... Anyway, this was such a fun art project for me. Confession: This was solely for my playing pleasure, not because I thought my son would particularly love it. There. I had never worked with watercolors before, so here are step by step instructions for this project too.

1. If you want, (I did) very lightly draw your design on a poster board in pencil.

2. Draw your design on poster board with crayon. Even white will show up once painted over, so have fun! I used a white crayon for the music notes and ones, and dark brown for the guitar.

3. Squirt a little watercolor from the tube into a cup or bowl, and dilute a lot with water.

4. Dip your paintbrush, and lightly cover all of the surface you want that color. Go right over the crayon! The watercolor will just slide off the waxy surface. Fun!

5. Allow to dry completely. The end. Easy peasy.

And one just for fun - birthday boy lovin' his cake and all the attention!