30 Days of Thankfulnes {Day 10}

Today I am thankful for:
getting up early
new ideas
remembering 10 on 10
lots of help from my family
cupcakes turning out so much better than I had hoped
getting to take a shower by myself and not having to worry about the kids
a scrubbed clean porch
party details coming together easily
being {mostly}ready for the party before everyone arrived
a birthday party that went off without a hitch
one very happy little girl who's birthday we celebrated early today
polka dots
red, white, and turquoise
striped paper straws
yummy cake
cutely decorated gingerbread houses all lined up in rows
Sadie-Rose's very closest friends coming to spend the afternoon with her
smiles on everyone's faces

Birthday Questions - Olivia turning 9

Birthday Questions - Olivia turning 9

{Olivia got a camera for her birthday this year. It takes video, so you guys may actually get to see an occasional video of us now! }

This is a video of our annual birthday questions for Olivia, inspired by my friend Chelle. I thought it would be fun to share. Especially for grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins who are far away.

Hope you enjoy it.

Vintage Sewing Party - Olivia turns 9

For Olivia's birthday to celebrate turning 9, we decided on the theme of sewing and it quickly morphed into a vintage sewing party, since we both have strong affections for the vintage side of life. :) It was a lot of fun and truly, the details make all the difference. Buttons tied on with twine, lace doilies around, polka dotted straws, and button shaped lollipops. We kept it small, with just 6 friends to be dropped off at our house. That was a big deal, because Olivia has never had a drop-off party before, but it it seemed to be the best way and made all of the detail work possible
We decided to have the girls make an initial embroidery hoop with felt and then embellish it with felt flowers and buttons. They turned out amazingly well. A few of our girls had never seen an embroidery hoop or held a needle while others were more knowledgeable, so it was very fun to see where they all ended up. Even Sadie-Rose joined in and stitched her initial onto her own hoop. Pretty good for a 4 year old we thought.
After sewing our hoops (and rethreading needles about 85 times) we decided to take a break and play a couple games. We played several rounds of "Button, Button, where is the Button" and then played hoop toss with the spools of serger thread and embroidery hoops. Then it was time for cake and ice cream and lemonade. After the fun of all of the sugar (they also ate button shaped chocolate lollipops) we opened presents and cards. We then came back to the table and made elastic button bracelets. While we were finishing those up, our parents arrived and it was a quick pick-out-your-pincushion-and-drop-a-lolli-in-the-bag-grab-your-hoop-and-out-the-door-marathon of 5 little girls.

 The invitations, pinked along the edges, hand written, and buttons tied on with twine. Sewn up in waxed paper enveloped and {most} hand delivered.

 The table was set out with vintage milk glass, pyrex, mason jars, and threads.

Sorry several of these look blurry. Blogger has messed them up in the loading process somehow as they look fine in my photo editing program. :(

 My grandmother, who was here visiting, did all the flower arranging which turned out lovely.

Olivia picked out the flowers at the store. She said she was going for a "pink roses/vintage/ country flowers type feel." I think she accomplished her mission with our limited choices. :) 

 Threads and embellishments ready for creative minds and small hands.

 

Our hoops with their pre-cut initials.

 

We used Olivia's great great grandmother's treadle sewing machine and table for our food display. Her great grandmother's china was used as well as a vintage cakestand we found a couple months ago. Hung on the wall and on the mannequin were vintage patterns that were her grandmother's and a few thrifted ones as well. (Again, blogger messed up the photo quality on these! Arg!)

Our 3 layer Neapolitan cake. All 3 layers made from scratch and it was sooooo yummy.  The cake flags were made from the leftover papers of her invitations and various sized skewers.

Sparkling raspberry lemonade to drink.

The party favors. Pincushions from vintage sheets and button shaped chocolate lollipops.

The front door was decorated with a paper banner and vintage sheets hearts on the door and my dress makers mannequin with vintage fabric and patterns.

It was a lovely day, everything went without a hitch, and Olivia was beyond thrilled with it which, in the end, is all that really matters. I am more than thankful that my grandmother was here visiting for O's birthday and was the most amazing help to me ever. There were one or two nights we were up until 11:30 or so, tying twine and cutting felt. I could never have done it without her. She washed all the dishes for each set of cakes (that would be 3 9" cake pans and 3 pans of cupcakes plus all the bowls and beaters and the frosting stuff too) which is a total labor of love and that's barely the tip of the iceberg.
I'm glad that we were able to have a celebration that reflected a lot of Olivia's personality and interests and celebrates the amazing young lady that she is. 9 years have sped by lightening quick and I'm sure the next 9 will as well. And though I never would have thought it possible to love her more than I did when she was born and laid in my arms for the 1st time, it is true. I love her more now and can't imagine life without her.

Samuel's 1st birthday

So, my plan for this year is to actually document these daily moments that we live and to share them. Fabulous photos or not, witty or deep writings aside. Just put our story here, because I will be thankful, in the end, that I did.

Last Wednesday we celebrated Samuel's 1st birthday with a yummy dinner and cake. He's been exclusively breastfeed this entire year, so we had to document his 1st taste of big people food. Somewhere along the way, Daddy lost his head a bit and decided Samuel should have cake too and then let him lick off the ice cream scoop! I will not be uploading the video of my reaction in those moments. :) Thankfully he had no adverse reactions to that system overload. I did take lots of pictures though and this will be a picture heavy post. So, you have some warning! We fed Samuel quinoa and black beans and a bit of avocado. He was ok with the first two, but the avocado is definitely not his favorite.  He was extremely interested in the cake, but after tasting a bit of frosting he had to shudder, several time. I scraped the frosting off his piece and just let him play with the cake which didn't make him shudder and gag too badly. Such an interesting experience. Happy 1st Birthday boy! 

His 1st experience with a sippy cup. He did good.

Daddy and his boy

He wasn't sure about the singing.

He was so interested. Just one finger.

hmmmm....

ick?

Seriously, my favorites are these 3.

He thought it was better without frosting.

He did use his hands some.

Presents!

pull along squirrel

every kid needs cars!

Mike and  Samuel

The cake was Burnt Sugar Cake with Burnt Sugar Frosting. That has been my Daddy's birthday cake for the past 21 years and since Samuel and my Daddy share birth months, I thought it would be a fun tradition. At least while I have a say over the cake choice. :) Mike and the girls were quite impressed. It was super delicious.