party

This year Brennan's birthday party had a construction theme! It was seriously fun, and seriously over the top. I could never pull off a party like this without help (and probably won't attempt to go this big again any time soon), but it was all worth it.

The theme was set with the invitations, which I made on the computer.  The inside listed the job site, shift times, clock-in information, and other pertinent details.

When the kids arrived at the party, they received their time cards and hard hats, then went to practice building while they waited for other workers to arrive.

When everyone was there, the kids split into crews and rotated to different stations.  They got to paint birdhouses,

create construction sticker scenes,

and do some building activities:

After all of the stations were done, the kids had their lunch break with paper bag lunches.  (The adults had a deli tray, fruit and chips.)  We had a dirt cake, complete with gummy worms and construction cone candles.

Other decorations included street signs and caution tape, and there was a Bob the Builder movie playing on giant big screens in the play area.

I think even the littlest workers had a good time...

but the most important thing is that this little foreman (four-man) had the time of his life. 

Happy birthday, Brennan!

Today we went to a birthday party for Brennan's twin four-year-old friends.  Their mom just started a new job this week and has been working like crazy, so I offered to make the cake for the bug-themed birthday party.  I can't take credit for the design... The idea for the shape came from the internet.  But I was pleased at how well it turned out.

The kids listened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar while they ate their cake, and it was fun to watch their little faces fill up with green frosting.

In other news, I spent six hours today working on the crib bumper for the nursery.  I kept running into the most irritating setbacks:  My bobbin kept catching, my thread kept ripping, I realized I had only made half as many silk ties as I needed, I sewed all five hundred feet (okay, small exaggeration) of the ruffle inside-out, and at the end of the day, Brennan accidentally got pure butter on a piece of silk fabric that I needed to work with.  

On top of all of those annoying things, my feet are like balloons today.  I haven't had much swelling up until this point, but today my feet are puffy and really hurt from being stretched beyond what is normal for my skin..  I'm going to blame it on the Chinese food we ate last night and the fact that I didn't have enough water, and I'll hope that tomorrow things will be back to normal.

Yee-haw! Remember Brennan's farm party from several months ago? It was featured today on Everyday Celebrating. Check it out and leave her some love!!

This morning was Kylie's baby shower, and it was so much fun! It was so girly, even though she is having a boy! (Baby showers are for girly moms, no matter what gender child they're having, right?) Honestly, it was one of the most elegant showers I have ever attended. Christy, Tricia and I worked together to host. Christy and Tricia teamed up on food while I took on the decor. We were a fierce trio, mostly because we each truly enjoyed the roles we chose.

As an inspiration for the shower, we used Kylie's nursery decor of brown, green, and polka dots. We chose to do a "sweet baby" shower, with lots of delectable treats for the guests.

It all started with the invitations, which set the tone for the whole affair.  The top part of the cupcakes were made with color copies of one of Kylie's nursery fabrics.  The text was printed with chocolate brown ink on green vellum, the cupcakes were made 3-D, and they were all finished with chocolate brown ribbon.

The sweets table was the hit of the party.  It was filled with delicious green and brown treats for guests to bag up and take home as favors at the end of the morning.  The treat bags were made to match the nursery fabric, too.

It is hard to see in the photo (you can click to enlarge it), but Christy made the most adorable (and tasty) cake pops that looked like mini cupcakes, and we bagged them and attached a tag that said, "So sweet of you to come!"  

Some of the other decor included the banner on the mantel (shown at the top of the post), and several fun hanging elements above the tables.

We did a word search made just for Kylie, and when everyone was finished, we drew one for a door prize.  We also asked people to write notes to Kylie and the baby.

The food was incredible.  We had chicken salad croissants, banana bread fingers (with a cream cheese filling), fruit salad, and three different kinds of muffins.  Everything was made completely from scratch!  It was all incredibly delicious.  For drinks we had homemade lemonade, sweet tea, fruit tea, regular and decaf coffee, and, of course, there were a few flavored creamers.  They thought of every detail.

After the food, it was time for gifts.  One of my favorites was this bib that was bought on Etsy.  Kylie's husband is our worship leader at church and plays both guitar and drums.  There was a drum set onesie to go with the bib, which was just perfect.  Too cute!

It is hard to believe that our own baby is scheduled to come just eight weeks after Kylie's (twelve weeks from now).  I so don't feel ready.  Someone asked me today to share a photo of the nursery, and it nearly gave me a heart attack.  I have got my work cut out for me.  But for tonight, I need to put my feet up and relax...  I loved every minute of helping with this shower, but I am one tired momma tonight.  Happy shower day, Kylie!