A Super Birthday Party Plan

Thank you to everyone who sent words of encourgement over the weekend in response to my last post. I hated to be a Debbie Downer but it was something that had been weighing on my mind for sometime and it felt good to let it all out.

Today I have something much lighter in store. Con-Man's 4th Birthday is coming up! This year he is really getting into Super Heros. He still likes cars but Superman and Power Rangers are taking hold pretty quickly.

So for his birthday we are doing a Super Hero Theme. I used this background for the invitations:

Con requested a moon bounce for his party, and because it's been well over 100 degrees here we are having the party at the AFB community center. I didn't want a bunch of kids passing out in my backyard- so indoors we go! 

Other than that it's going to be pretty simple. I'm going to attempt to make him a Power Rangers cake:

And just for fun I'm making some kid size cardboard cutouts of the Red and Pink Ranger the kids can take their picture with:

Sawyer's first birthday is this week also. We're combining his birthday with Con's (poor guy ;) I'm making them both birthday shirts and Sawyer will have his own special little cake to eat and smash up.

Other than that it's pretty low key- friends and family having fun. I'll be sure to share pictures next week.

Have a great week!

Con-Man's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Con-Man's 3rd Birthday Party this weekend! We invited a few of his little friends from school and church to come celebrate with us. He had a lot of fun so I think the party was a great success!

Since it's in the 100's here we had a "Water" Themed party. I had Con-Man's pool out, water balloons, and a Kid Wash for the party goers to enjoy.

Con-Man was super excited about his Lighting McQueen cake! And he really got a kick out of us sining him Happy Birthday.

After cake and ice cream we opened presents, and i gave the guests their party favors. Sand buckets filled with anything having to do with fun in the sun; water guns, shovels, bubbles, sun glasses and of course giant gummi bears! Don't ask me what giant gummi bears have to do with sun and fun but I thought they were awesome and the kids got a kick out of them.

The party was a success and we had a blast. I was hoping Con would go to bed early that night but of course he didn't- he was to busy playing with all his new toys!!

DIY Play Kitchen

There are lots of fantastic play kitchens floating around Blog-land these days. I never thought I'd have to make one since I have a son and all. I thought if I'd have to make anything it would be a tool bench.


But lately the Con-Man has been "cooking" a lot. We'll be sitting outside and he takes his shovel, fills it with rocks and tells me he's cooking hot dogs. Then proceeds to give me some and tells me to eat it. And he has been really interesting in my cooking dinner and such.


I'm glad he's using his imagination but how can I deny my poor little guy a play kitchen? And since his birthday is coming up I thought it would make a great present.


So for the past few weeks I've been keeping my eyes peeling for a piece of furniture I can use for a play kitchen. It's not like there are tons of "boy friendly"play kitchens on the market; especially where we live. About a week ago I finally found what I was looking for!

It has several shelves and wheels for easy mobility. I painted it white with a primer/ paint combo and thought about leaving it that color. I didn't want anything to girly looking. But in the end I went with some leftover blue spray paint I had on hand.

I added a back to it by cutting down some extra plywood I had lying around. Something heavier and smoother like MDF might have been better but the plywood works well.

I used cup hooks to hang the utensils and leftover handles I bought from Ikea for Con-Man's bed for the towel bars. 

I bought some inexpensive towels from Wal-Mart and used Stitch Witchery to add the fabric; the same fabric I used to recover the pot holder that came with the play kitchen set.  

Before

We gave it to him early and he has been excited about it. He's been cooking me hot dogs and hamburgers all day!

A few more detail shots:

And one more before and after:

I'd still like to find some baskets to put the play food and plates in- attempt to keep everything organized. But for now he's having fun with it. 

In fact when I tried setting up his pots and pans for the pictures he waved me away telling my I was messing everything up. Oops- guess I should mess around in his kitchen anymore!!

Con-Man's Birthday Preparations

The Con-Man is turning 3 in a few weeks! We're having his party this weekend; early, just in case Tiny Falcon #2 makes an early appearance. I've been busy with preparations for his party. I thought I could whip up a few things for the party but being pregnant seems to make everything take twice as long!


I sent out the invitations a few weeks ago. I hand stenciled them with stencils from Hobby Lobby. We're doing a water party since the temps have been in the 100's here. I got the inspiration for them here- I liked that they were a "water" theme but not to literal.

The big thing I've been working on is a PVC Pipe Car Wash (Or Kid Wash I guess). I tried to finish it today but realized I bought some wrong connectors. Always shooting myself in the foot!

Lots of water balloons will be on hand.

We have a pretty big Kiddie Pool I'll fill up and stuff it with water toys. Like I've been seeing these Sponge Bombs all over Pinterest and it's about time I make some! And some water guns and anything else I can find that might be fun for the kids.

As for snacks we'll have the usual chips and such but I thought some fruit and other frozen goodies would be refreshing to have on hand.

And of course cake and ice cream. Though it's a water party I'm not doing a water themed cake. Con-Man's favorite character is Lighting McQueen. I've been looking at McQueen cakes online for ideas. I'm not an amazing cake decorator but I like to make his cakes myself so we'll see how this one turns out! Not sure which I'll go with yet~

Source

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For Party Favors one of the things I'm giving are these Giant Gummi Bears! They have nothing to do with "water" theme but they were so cool and on sale. I couldn't pass them up.

The final countdown has begun and I have lots to do! Will share pics after the weekend.

What sorts of things have you done for your child's birthday? Do you like to do a lot of it yourself or do you like to dole out the tasks?

Dirty Thirty

Happy 30th Birthday to Me!

Woo I'm 30! The big 3-0, no longer a twenty something. I don't feel any older and wise yet but I'm sure that will come ;) I've already had a few birthday surprises. What was supposed to be our usual football watching party (complete with homemade gumbo from yours truly) turned into a mini surprise party for me! The hubs surprises me with a new Ipad (OMG!!) and even a special made super chocolately cake. No Walmart cake this year! I was really impressed.

There are supposed to be a few more surprises this weekend~~~ Can't wait!

Any advice for a fresh new 30 year old?

Birthday Baking

Connor's 1st Birthday is tomorrow! I can't believe my little baby is going to be 1 year old. He's so grown up. ;..)

So to celebrate all of our family is coming in town. They never get to see him since we live San Antonio and they live in Houston and Baton Rouge. So I figured I wouldn't be able to do anything to creative this weekend except make Connor's cake! I don't have a lot of practice baking but I love to cook and have lots of inspiration:

My friend Angie has her own company Callooh Callay Creations where she's always making lots of yummy stuff.
http://twitter.com/calloohcallay09

 Or all the scrumptious cupcakeries here in town offer lots of eye candy as well.

Cupcake Couture

Or Saweet! Cupcakes

Anyway, I'm making myself hungry. What kind of mom would I be if I didn't atleast attempt to make my son's first birthday cake? I decided to use a recipe my mom gave me that I've had several times. The cake is so light and fluffy and the icing is to die for. I just hope I can make it the same way she does. Here's the recipe:

Vanilla Cake Batter

Makes about 6 cups. Prep 20 min.

(Add an additional 1/4 tsp vanilla extract if you don't have almond extract.)

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract (I'm going to add a little more of each of these so its extra flavorful)

3 cups cake flour (I'm using Swans in the red box)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy- duty mixer until creamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; add sugar to mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at medium- low speed just until blended after each addition. (Batter will be thick.)

I'm making cupcakes so I followed these directions:

Vanilla Cupcakes
Prepare basic Vanilla Cake Batter as directed. Place paper baking cups in muffin pans and coat with vegetable spray; spoon batter into cups, filling three-fourths full. Bake at 350 for 20- 25 minutes or until a wooden pick insterted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans or on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove pans to wire rack and cool completely; about 1 hour (Seriously 1 hour!!!) Spread tops with buttercream frosting. Makes about 24 cupcakes

Phew that's a lot of words, I think I need some inspiration to keep me going.

That's better!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Makes about 2 3/4 cups; Prep 10 min

If you love frosting double the recipe

1/2 cup butter softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. salt

1 (16 oz.) package powdered sugar

3 to 5 tbsp milk

1. Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

2. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with 3 Tbsp milk, 1 Tbsp at a time, beating at a low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in up to 2 Tbsp additional mild for desired consistency.

Hopefully Connor's cupcakes will turn out as good as those pictures. I don't want him to look back at his first birthday pics and be embarassed! Must...Channel...Cupcake...Goddesses...

I also uploaded the full article I got this recipe from. It was from Southern Living and had a lot of variations on the batter and icing. Yum!! Happy Baking!

Cake Recipe

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