Winona's Butterfly Cake

Baby girl had a party yesterday. 

Although she turned two last week, we (insert I) didn't have time to make her cake and purchase presents.... 

so we waited until yesterday to celebrate.

(I know.... so mean!  I won't get away with that next year, I'm sure!)

For each birthday, we have a tradition....

Mom makes a *somewhat* fancy cake.

Sometimes the child gets to pick what they want.... 

and sometimes Mom gets to pick.

Since Winona doesn't know about picking cakes... the choosing fell to Mom this year.

Honestly, I wasn't very inspired yesterday... I had an idea of colors I wanted to use, but nothing else.

So a rather square cake was tricked out with butterflies and flowers made from candy melts.

I almost feel like I cheated..... ;(

And you know what.... she loved it!

There were candles and icing and singing and blowing and eating....

what more could a girl want?

The boys made the banner with a little help from Mom and Dad

And then there were presents.....

Let me say, there are certain advantages to being the only girl.

New clothes, shiny red shoes, and a whole Little Mommy kit.  Woohoo!

Such excitement!  

(even the boys enjoyed all the "dolly" stuff.... whether they would admit it or not ;)

{linking up to Mosaic Monday and Macro Monday today}

Two Much....

Yesterday was Nona Girl's birthday.

She had no cake, she had no presents, she hadn't a clue...

But come Sunday.... baby girl will be rockin' the par-tay ;)

It's not to say that she didn't have fun yesterday...

She celebrated with two much cuteness and two much chocolate...
and two much of Momma's bad hair cut (got that fixed...sorta)...

(I swear... I don't know how to cut her hair!!! Boys are easy.)

She celebrated with two much fun outside on the slide...

which led to two much blood from a bit lip...

which was followed by two many hugs and kisses from Momma...

Two too much!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

I love you two too much!

(even with chocolate and blood all over you ;)

he.....she....they....and we

he...had a birthday
...wanted pie

she....had a delightful but dirty face

they.... were all together for a few hours

they...all wanted to blow out candles again and again

they...had to snuggle up for warmth....
(brrrr it's been cold)

we....had a wonderful time together
(together... isn't that a beautiful word?)

ps.....he wanted to make sure you saw {this....scroll down}...

To Another Year.....

To another year of living, loving, laughing, singing, baking, eating, hugging, kissing, enjoying, sharing...

To another year of dear family, sweet friends, wiggly children, and a loving husband.
Thank you for making my life a joy to live....

Speaking of husbands...do you like Randy's creation?

(I made the frosting and put it on, but Randy did the rest.)

Reid's 8th Birthday in photos

If you look no farther..... this collage shows it all.... fun, games, cake!
That's what you get at an all boy birthday party... besides tired parents.
Reid had the activities all planned out weeks in advance....

First there were water balloons... don't they look serious?
(thanks to Daddy who spent at least an hour filling balloons....)

then there was a huge squirt gun fight...

then many trips down the water slide...

good thing it was a warm day...

even water slide races!

Then it was time to dry off and get warm and eat snacks and do "girl dances"
(sorry Reid, you will probably kill me for this one in a few years.... but this photo is priceless...)

This photo.... I love the story it tells.... boys, boys, and more boys
(with one little girl watching in wonder...)

(and then getting into the fun herself...)

Then after free time and supper, it was time for cake.
Reid requested a flag cake.... actually he had decided what cake he wanted months ago.
He loves flags and all things patriotic.

Right before bed... we did a few fireworks left over from the 4th..
then 6 boys tried to sleep out in a tent... it didn't work so well, but we tried.

Reid said, "Thanks Mom, for an awesome birthday party!"
(And I said, "Thanks Reid, for planning your party!")

Walter's 4th Birthday

Here's the birthday boy! He turned a wopping 4 years old last week!
Doesn't he look proud?
(we celebrated his birthday at Great-Grandma's house)

Walter was very concerned that Grandpa's fingers were going to get burned!
Then, while we sang "Happy Birthday" to him, he did a robot dance.... he he
(where do little kids learn these things?)
One of his favorite things to say is,"Everybody dance now! Na-na-na!"
What a silly boy!!!!

Making a wish.....

My wish for you my little man --
have a wild and wonderful summer,
don't ever quit telling me that you want to give me a hug,
and bottle up the fount of joy springing from your soul and spill it liberally on those around you.

I love you.

(PS--in the scrapbook image above, I made the cloud and balloons by using the custom shapes tool in PSE as clipping masks. Just learned that one from Jessica Sprague.)

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

Happy Birthday Caitlin! We hope you have an awesome day!

(Sorry for the drippy "Happy Birthday", the font is called "Plasma Drip"
-- and well, I thought -- with you in nursing school and all.......)
((also, please excuse the messy fondant --it's the first time I've made fondant))

Anyway, we celebrated your birthday last night. We wish we could have celebrated it with you, too!

Cupcakes in your honor.

(I looked into trying to mail you cupcakes, but even with overnight mail, I think you would have to eat them with a spoon
-- so I'd be happy to make some more for you when you come visit this summer)

Sending you lots of birthday kisses and wishes for a Happy Day!

Finally..... Wyatt's Birthday Scrapbook

It only took me about 2 hours to finish..... but now it's finally done.
You can see why I put off making his digi-scrapbook page until I had a little time to play. Geesh!!
Below are the two pages cut apart so you can actually see them. (he he)

Around here, the birthday candles are re-lit again and again until everyone has had a chance to blow them out..... of course the birthday kid gets to go first! The funny part is .... look at the hand covering Walter's mouth while Wyatt is blowing out the candles. Bet you can't guess who's hand that is!


The birthday boy's choice of cake design -- the number six with various farm animals and chocolate fences.
(Please notice the Daddy getting the sheep back in their pen! True to life!)

PS -- Happy 1st Birthday cousin Emily!
Hope you had a wonderful day!

{Digi papers, template, and elements from Jessica Sprague}

Happy 6th Birthday!

Guess who's turning a whopping 6 years old today?
My sweet, cuddly, big boy Wyatt -- that's who!
Six years ago, my second little boy came into the world --
and from his first appearance showed just what kind of wild, sweet child he would be.
His cord was knotted and wrapped around his neck twice, he was a little blue,
and within 24 hrs tried to stop breathing just for kicks -- I'm sure of it.
He hasn't stopped since.

He is a wild and mischievous, sweet and loving, blue-eyed and freckled, dirt-under-his-fingernails, carrot-topped bundle of pure boy joy.
I love you, little man.

In celebration of his birthday today, he offered to free his two pet salamanders --long-toed salamanders we found in the back yard. To call them "pets" might be a bit of a stretch since they mostly stayed safely hidden under the moss or bark in their terrarium. But they LOVED the baby crickets! Boy did they ever get to be fat little salamanders during the three weeks that we kept them. I hope they enjoy their freedom. Wyatt was a little teary eyed, but the prospect of baby chicks in a few days cheered him up considerably. That, and his birthday tonight.
Happy Birthday, Wyatt!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Dear Molly,
We had a birthday party for you. Kind of selfish of us, sorry.
We sang you "Happy Birthday", blew out your candles, and ate your cake.
How we wish you could have been here to eat it with us.
Your cake is made in honor of you -- sunshine and lavender and sweetness.
We love you lots and miss you lots.

Head over to {Molly's blog} and wish her "Happy Birthday"!

Winona's 1st Birthday Party

Here is the picture chronicle of Nona's 1st birthday party. She was enthralled with the cake and candles. Daddy had to keep her hands away because she just wanted to grab the candles. The boys had to have their turn blowing out the candles too. Why more than one candle? Kids love to blow out candles.....so the more candles, the more blowing, and the more fun.....that's all.

Why the pink icing grin? Because she just did this.

And why did she do this? Because Daddy was keeping her from using her hands to grab the cake (and candles), so she stuck out her foot and sampled the cake with her toes. She's a good problem solver already, that girl of mine.

Open or chew? Hard decision.
She loved the music toy that she received from Grandma and Grandpa.
Everytime she turned it on, she had perform her little wiggle dance.
Don't know about that girl.

The cake.

I was tickled *pink* to make bright pink icing!

The rainbow cake was scrumptious...and SO pretty, too.

(Want to make your own? It really is easy. I will post about it this weekend.)