Three Cheers for Three!

Hi All,
Today was the long awaited celebration for our three year olds. Not to disappoint, Drew got his fish party, and Bree got her Hello Kitty bash.

I am not going to say the dual themes did not clash, but I'm pretty sure nobody minded. And most importantly, the birthday kids were thrilled!

There was a Kitty banner....

And a One Fish, Two Fish banner....

Balloons for both....

Our sea of balloons....

Floating fish, alongside floating hearts....

Some very big Kitties....

And an even bigger fish to boot....

And life is good!

We hit the "easy" button in the food department and served pizza and breadsticks from one of our local favorites. We complemented the menu with a mini-salad bar, which turned out to be a popular and worthwhile addition.

In the drink department, we served the usual soda, water, and adult beverages. However, I spotted this fountain while online shopping and decided I had to have it. After reading One Fish, Two Fish, we decided to serve Pink Ink. However, my mom brain forgot the pink drink mix, and we had to improvise with Blue Ink. It was all the fun I envisioned!

After lunch, we did gifts and enjoyed each other's company, along with some March Madness on TV.

Let's see - one eye on this game, and one eye on that game. :)

We bid farewell to Logan, who was ready for a nap.

Then it was cake time - time to showcase my "masterpieces". This is the first year I took the plunge and attempted my own cakes. It's easy to tell I am not a professional, but I actually was pleased with the end results.

On a whim, I decided to attempt to model the Dr. Seuss fish, and I couldn't believe how well they turned out! The edible ink marker I used to outline the fish faded prematurely. (I made the fish a few days before the party.) But, I quickly applied a touch up with permanent marker, since we were not going to eat the fish anyway.

I had to look everywhere for the cupcake tins to make the shape of  the mini-Hello Kitty cakes - finally found them on ebay, as it appears they are no longer sold in stores. (It's actually a heart shaped tin that I reshaped.) Thank goodness for ebay!

Back by popular demand, my homemade ice cream sandwiches. If anyone recalls last year's party post, I swore I would not make these again. This is what I get for swearing. :) Who can resist this cuteness? This year's flavors included a strawberry / sugar kitty, chocolate brownie / moose tracks-filled fish (Drew's choice), and a knock-off of my favorite Melting Moments creation - the chocolate chip / vanilla fishwich. Live and learn, the sandwiches are getting a little easier to make. (No doubt, they'll be back next year!)

Happy birthday, Bree! Happy birthday, Drew!

Girlie's candles....

And then the boy's....

Ready to dive in already!

Cake faces - oh yeah!!!

Even our princess gets a little messy when it comes to cake!

Post-cake, we got a closer look at all the toys and games.

Aunties at play....

Even the big kids enjoyed the new toys....

Thank goodness we got a picture with Grandma! She is always so thoughtful to make sure to take plenty of pictures. :)

Cousin Conner lends a hand....

Bree got a RC My Little Pony car which was a big hit. For added fun, it was on the same radio frequency as Drew's RC truck. That should keep the kids (and adults) guessing!

Not sure what was so funny, but this is a laugh that you can not fake....

Bree and Papa share a moment.

And the whale gets some more friendly visitors.

Drew is ready for some serious landscaping. And don't mind Joe; he always needs a nap after his annual all-nighter chaperoning an energetic group of boy scouts.

Oma and Bree decorate her new jewelry box, with Hello Kitty of course!

Photo ops with our guests....

The idea was to take a picture with the whale - he's in there somewhere!

Then the party moved outside - it was a beautiful March day. The grandpas supervised.

The shovels, and even the fishing poles, came out.

Bree is working on the "fingers in mouth", but after a long day, they are pretty irresistible.

Funny family photo of the day - stick in nose and fingers in mouth = fantastic! Can you believe this was the best one of the series? LOL!

We sent our guests home with treat bags - a variety of goldfish crackers (of course!) and my favorite homemade chocolate Chex mix.

The kids were very entertained with the drink fountain. Here's the birthday girl serving herself a bit of punch after the party wrapped up and jammies were on.

And Drew didn't waste any time passing out on the couch once the party ended.

All in all, it was a great day! The kids really got the whole birthday concept this year, much more than last year, which made it that much better. Plus, nobody needed a mid-party nap, other than cousin Logan (who's almost one) and their Uncle Joe! The only thing I would change is, same as last year, I spent too much time on last minute preparations and not enough time sleeping the night before. I got a whopping two hours of sleep between 2 and 5 a.m. This is an improvement from last year, when I got a total of two hours. My mother-in-law decided I will get an extra hour each year. :)

Happy birthday, kiddos! It's going to be a great year!

Drew and Bree's Barnyard Birthday Bash

Hi All,

WARNING - this is going to be lengthy picture post! I drew up a list of pics that I wanted to share from the kiddos second birthday party, and it is more than I've ever included in one post before. But, I put a lot of thought and hard work into all the party details, so I want to share them with you (and keep it for Drew and Bree to enjoy someday). 

Drew and Bree's second birthday party was a few weeks after their birthday. This worked out well, as Bree was sick on the actual day. With a lingering cold that passed from Bree to Drew, I don't think they were quite at 100% yet on party day. Drew took a nap in the middle. But they still enjoyed the festivities along with the rest of the crowd.
So, without further adieu, I will present to you the party in pictures....

The Birthday Tutu
Bree was not at all happy to wear her birthday tutu. This is one of the few shots I have of it, because it didn't last long. Oh well, how many tutus do you see on the farm anyway?!?

Down on the Farm Crafts

Here is Conner working on a model at the crafts table. We had tractors and other vehicles, along with farm animal refrigerator magnets to assemble.

Jim's Feeding Stable

Here's our very own stable, complete with hay bales and all! Tables were brought in for the convenience of our human stable dwellers.

Wholesome Garden and Farmyard Grub

We served up garden fresh grapes, berries, and veggies, along with pigs in a blanket, pulled pork, veggie pizza, potato salad, deviled eggs, corn and baked beans.

Barnyard Balloons
The kids loved the barnyard balloons - decked out in cow, pig and chicken decals.

Tractor Pull

Okay, we didn't actually hold a tractor pull, but our kid size model did get a fair amount of pushing and pulling throughout the day.

A Few of our Farm Animals

Our nephews were transformed into farm animals with these nifty visors....

The Cake
Need I say more? Our cake lady did a fabulous job on our cake! Not sure how long I can get away with it, but I will from here on out be a fan of cupcakes because they don't need to be cut to be served. :)

And Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
I vowed never to endeavor to make these again, because they were a serious amount of work. (A failed batch of cookies for the sandwich top and bottom did not help.) But, they received such rave reviews that I fear it is inevitable they make another showing!

Partaking in the Cake
We sang two rounds of "Happy Birthday" - one for each birthday kid. Then we all dug in!

Presents!
Drew and Bree got some really cool gifts and they immediately had a great time playing with all the toys. And, as expected, it was pretty impossible to convince them to pose for any pictures at this point!

Guests of Honor Photo Opps

Out to Pasture
Not sure if it was the meal, the cake, or all the fun and excitement that did them in, but not everyone made it through the day without a snooze. One of the Joes gets a break for being up all night the previous evening with an energetic bunch of Boy Scouts!

Feed Bags for the Parting Guests
As we bid our guests farewell, we sent them away with an assortment of feed bags to enjoy later....

Post Party Fun
Drew had some fun after the party with some of the extra stickers. He thought they looked good on Jim's face.

We had a very nice day, and I wouldn't change any of it. I take that back. I did plenty of party prep, but I would start everything sooner, so that I could get more than two hours of sleep the night before the party! :)