More How-To's from the parties....

 Instead of a table cloth I covered a folding table with butcher paper (found at Michael's) and set out a bowl of crayons. The kids had fun drawing, and guests got to write birthday messages to the birthday girl and boys!! Best part- no washing the table cloth afterward!

recipe for Marshmallow Fondant HERE

 THE best buttercream frosting. EVER. Recipe HERE

 

Cake Pop Ice Cream Cones

What you need: 

1 Package of any boxed cake mix  (Baked as directed on the box) 

1/3 cup of your favorite frosting. Canned or homemade 

1lb. Package of candy melts. Any color (or almond bark)

Any type of edible decorations 

Wax paper

Kid Cones (found at Walmart)

To make the cake balls:

Bake cake and allow to cool completely (about one hour). 

Crumble cake in large bowl and add frosting.

Put cake mixture in fridge and chill for 30 min or overnight

Shape dough into balls, place on wax paper and flash freeze for about an hour.

Melt candy melts or almond bark according to directions. Dip the top of the cone lightly into melted chocolate so there is a ring around the top. Quickly dip the bottom of a cake ball in chocolate, place on top of the cone and let the chocolate set so the cake ball doesn't fall off. Once set, dip the cake ball completely into the melted chocolate so that the cake is completely covered. Add sprinkles and let chocolate harden.

Balloon Wreath How-To

 

This wreath is super easy to make. Here's what you need:

3 bags of 72 count ballons (1 1/2 to 2 inch size). 

2-3 greening pin packs-found at Craft stores in the artificial plant section.

 a straw wreath -leave the plastic on so it doesn’t shed.

 *I found everything but the wreath at Walmart

 Thread a balloon through a greening pin so that the pin is in the middle of the balloon. Stick in in the wreath (make sure it's in tight) and repeat a gazillion times until your wreath is covered. Voila! The perfect celebration wreath!!

My One Year Old

One Year Stats:

Weight: 19 pounds {20th percentile}

Height: 28 inches {40th percentile}

It's hard to believe that my baby's a year old. I hate that he's growing up so fast, but he's at such a fun age. He loves to eat (don't let his stats deceive you). His favorite things to eat at the moment are goldfish and frozen waffles. I'm a great mother...

He blows kisses, waves hello and bye-bye and even waves when he's ready for "night-night". If you ask him where your nose is he will point to it. He loves looking at books and carrying around socks {guess who leaves them lying about...} and "cleaning" things with them. He points to everything and babbles on and on like I should know what he's talking about. Most of the time I do.

Being the youngest of four Landon really knows how to make himself heard, but on the whole he is such a mellow, easy-going kid. Like his siblings, his binky went bye-bye on near his first birthday. We had a few tough nights, but he's doing great now.

the partying continues...

Saturday was Kensie's day! Grandma & Grandpa Holbrook picked her up in the morning for breakfast at Kneader's and clothes shopping at Kohl's. She loved every minute, of course!! That afternoon she & I went to see "Rio". It was fun to spend some time talking. Just the two of us. That night she got to choose where she wanted to go for dinner. She picked Rumbi's. She had a great day and never once wished she would have had a friend party instead {i vetoed friend parties this year....}. I can't believe my baby girl is 10 years old!!

PARTY #2

 

On Sunday we had my family over to celebrate ALL our May birthdays- Kensie, Jackson, and Landon. The kids were spoiled rotten! They got some fun toys, wonderful homemade gifts, and scooters!

Landon ate his cupcake so fast that I couldn't even video it! I seriously think he was done in 3 bites.

 

It was a great day, and weekend to boot! I'm so grateful we have so many wonderful family members to share these events with. It makes them so much more special!

Birthdaypalooza

Three kids with birthdays in May means a LOT of partying! We had a weekend full of fun this year.

PARTY #1

Landon turned one on Friday the 13th. We celebrated his birthday with Grandma & Grandpa Holbrook, Great-Grandma May, and Great-Aunt Teresa.

He was somewhat indifferent when it came to opening his presents, but once they were revealed he enjoyed them in many ways:

Lincoln and Jackson were very "helpful" of course...

Landon got his own cake to devour.....

...and devour it he did!

channeling his inner Bruce Bogtrotter

It was a great party and a fun start to a weekend of celebration!

Tulips

  A stroll through the gardens was really all I wanted for Mother's Day. I got my wish, and the tulips were finally out in full bloom. The kids rolled and rolled and rolled down the hills, and we relaxed in the warmth {finally!!}. It was a great evening.

 

 No, my child is not abused.....just accident-prone.

The Kindy 500

Last week the kindergartener's had their Kindy 500. I was very impressed by some of the cars! Very creative. Some of them looked like they could be worth as much as a real car, and I hope they didn't just throw them away afterward...

The kids performed patriotic songs, then paraded their cars around the school. They also visited many US landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, and Lincoln Memorial.