Goodbye. (for a little while)

I'm on hiatus.

I've disabled my facebook and twitter accounts.

I've got family in town.

I've got one BIG girl turning SIX tomorrow.

I've got a focus on our family that can't be derailed.

Beth Moore's got me deep in with Saul, Samuel and David.

I'll be gone for a little while.

But we'll be back!

The Cake Was Blue

Our FIRST blue, boy birthday!

Found the sweetest nursery rhyme toile invites, plates and napkins in the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby!

I tied some ribbon to Humpty and strung it from the chandelier.

I picked some scrapbooking papers that fit the color theme, cut some pennants and sewed them onto some ribbon for a homemade banner.

I even made a miniature banner for the top of the cake. Got that great idea from Pinterest!

I ordered the cakes from a cafe/bakery in Marietta, Canvas. They were a dream to work with via the phone and email. They got it just right and it tasted divine!

One little cake for SJ, one big one for the rest of us.

Tied a ribbon to a simple glass cake stand. I have a set of three in graduated sizes, and they come in handy for all occasions.

Ommmmmmmmmmm.

The good stuff inside!

I made a hat for our birthday boy.

He wore it for 30 seconds.

We sang Happy Birthday.

He wasn't too sure about the sugar.

He loved playing in it without so much as a "NO!"

This sweet, but sour look really exemplifies his feelings toward the cake.

He went after it.

I love that little "tear" of icing just under his eye!

HJ couldn't wait to get a taste.

Sweet snuggles from a teething one-year-old, post cake smash

We played a little game with the post-its and the girls' pictures from their cake smash days. I wrote each of our three's birth weight and weight at one-year-old to have our guests match the correct measures with the correct child.

The answers:

AE:

-8 lbs, 4 oz

-19 lbs, 4 oz

HJ:

-7 lbs, 7 oz

-20 lbs, 2 oz

SJ:

-6 lbs, 11 oz

-21 lbs, 14 oz

Then we opened presents.

With big sisters' help, the big one was revealed.

And yesterday he mastered getting in and out by himself! He also found his horn!

On His Actual Birthday

We celebrated with banana pancakes as per our family tradition.

Don't mind the pink, son.

There's blue and green on there, right?

Cute. One. Done.

He's Only One

SJ turns one this evening at 10:06 pm.

He's on the move. He'll be walking any day now.

Everything goes in his mouth. He's got ONE tooth and it's only half way in.

Those lips. Those eyes. That sweet gummy smile.

He's a blondie. He'll be a heart breaker.

He's in love with his sisters. Each time we get in the car to pick them up from school, he's looking all around for them.

If they aren't in the car, he just goes to sleep to pass the time until they show up again.

He's got a few curls in the back of his tow head. A few rolls and sweet dimples.

He's only one.

Her Birthday Was in April

HJ graciously agreed to ask the party attendees to bring donations for our local children's hospital just like her sister.

In April.

Last week, we finally drug the red wagon FULL of crayons and coloring books down to donate them. (and to have lunch with The Daddy)

Oh, sweet sisters holding hands!

I hope this is a tradition that continues with all our children's birthdays.

While we were at the hospital, we to a spin on the playground:

And SJ FINALLY got to ride in the red wagon!

PJs and Pancakes

HJ turned four last week and we celebrated breakfast-style. I loved the idea of having all the kids over in their favorite PJ's for The Daddy's specialty, banana pancakes.

First the invitation:

We LOVE this silly girl!

The decorations up the sidewalk to mimic the flowers and bees on the invite:

I used the flower directions that I found here.

I just winged these happy guys!

AE liked the smiley bee the best!

For favors, I found some cute water jugs, filled them with layered treats (Cheerios, marshmallows, mNm's, Golden Grahams and more marshmallows), and tied a balloon to each.

They played double duty as a favor for each guest to take home and as decorations during the party.

The menu consisted of:

• Banana pancakes
• Mini quiches
• Fresh Fruit
• Overnight Egg and Sausage Casserole
• Bacon strips and Sausage links
• OJ, coffee and water (juice boxes for the kids)
• Toppings galore for the pancakes!

Instead of a cake we used a stack of panCAKES,

for HJ to blow out.

For a game, I bought some bean bags on Etsy that looked like pancakes, complete with syrup and a butter pat. The kids tossed the bean bags into the red buckets a la the Bozo the Clown game. Remember that?

They lined up and had fun:

You can see one of the bean bags in the photo above. So cute!

The whole crew got together for a picture, minus a shy one and one on a bathroom break.

We even remembered to take a family portrait, post-party.

Yes, I wore pajamas. Why do you ask?

The grands all came in town for the festivities.

And got a little silly!

Instead of receiving presents, we opted to ask our guests to bring donations for our local children's hospital. They all brought crayons and coloring books!

We filled up the wagon and will take it down to the hospital some time this week.

What a big girl!

She had a blast with all her new friends from school, church and our neighborhood!

Next up? SJ's first birthday...low key!