Tuesday, November 19, 2013

blue birthday bash

 So I went a little overboard this year. Hudson expressed interest in a blue birthday. And I decided to have a little fun! Pinterest pretty much feeds any creative need and I found some great templates and ideas to pull it off
 The paper geo globes held a medley of blue m&ms. The menu also included blueberry & almond butter sandwiches, frittata bites, veggie plate, blue chips & salsa and a kale salad.

 These cups worked out great - just mason jars with cut balloons to look like they were dipped in paint. I used paper as the topper and we wrote each kid's name on the glass so we knew whose was whose.
 And the piece de resistance - the cake (and meringues)
 The cake was a blue velvet with cream cheese icing (Hudson helped make it). I cut out a 3 out of paper and used it as a template for the sprinkle decoration. It was easier than I thought it would be and I'm super happy with how it turned out.
 And check out this cutie too!
 We tied a green balloon on him so we could keep track of him at the party.
 I also made the triangle pennant banners hung around the house. More details on the goodie bags shown below in a future post.
More details - a hat for Hudson:

 And the guests arrived! Ben & Megan with EB.
 Luka having fun with a bus
 Maddy with Emma & baby Corrine talking with Megan
 Dave playing with the blue goop we made for the kids. The blue tape was a road for the kids to play with. Bryden loved putting cars and shapes in the goop to make imprints.

 Sterling & Emma & Corinne hanging out. Corinne is just 4.5 months and is up on all four rocking back and forth already!
 Brittany & Ilija with Luka and Chelsea holding Bryden
 Veronica and Emma playing with a giant tube Dave brought home from work...Hours of fun. We were so happy that Veronica made it as her mom just had a baby brother three days earlier!
 Everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' to Hudson

 Blowing out his candles.
 And diving into the cake. This is pretty realistic to the color. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too sweet. The blueberries in the center layer were really a nice addition.

 Yum.
 Everyone having fun in Sterling's crib...


 Every kid's mouth was blue by the end of the party. Not kidding.
 Bryden is such a cutie with the green froggy socks!
 Sterling & the green balloon...

 A smile from Emma!



 All in all it was a great party. It was fun to put together and even more fun to hang out with so many good friends.

Friday, November 15, 2013

happy birthday, Hudson!

It is hard to believe that this one is now three! 
He has brought so much joy and discovery to our lives. He woke up this morning wanting to "make a cake" I had made the cakes last night (blue velvet, more on that later). 
We still needed to frost them, so we got about the business if mixing! 
The crown was made in preschool yesterday by his classmates. He loves his hat! When Violet came, he openness her present...
...a remote control blue monster truck!
"It's just what I wanted, Viowet!" (He still pronounces his 'L's' as 'W's')
We also opened one present from Oma and Opa, a wooden jigsaw puzzle. There aren't many smiles with the toys as he was engrossed in the toys!
He is super excited for his party tomorrow! 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

apple picking - trip #1

So we tried to go apple picking once in the past. We live in New York and we should take advantage of our locale. Unfortunately we always went too late: not only were there no apples, the pumpkins were picked over as well. So this year we were determined.
The weekend after we got back from Florida, we went upstate to the same place we had gone years before with John & Beth and Megan & Ben. Unlike last time when we went just before The end of October, the place was packed (they even ran out of apple donuts at the barn)! We had such a good time. It was a beautiful warm day, and we got to go on a hay ride further into the orchard.


The apples we got were delicious and you could eat as many as you like I'm the orchard.


I see Hudson with those pants rolled up two inches. Today he wore them completely rolled down. Kid is growing like a weed!
It was a fun family day and a good memories for us and for Hudson. We've learned our lesson regarding apple picking. Go early and go often!