Birthday Number 9!

On Sunday we celebrated our sweet Eva's 9th birthday.  She had her friends over for a dance party.  Yes, we turned our basement into a disco for the afternoon.  The girls *loved* it!  Eva was thrilled.

This year Eva requested a Candy Land cake. The seed was planted about 1 year ago when I showed her one that I'd pinned on Pinterest.  She remembered it.  And wanted one.  She told me the themes for her party were dancing and candy.  Does that sound like a 9 year old girl or what?

 

So a Candy Land cake was joyfully created with plenty of creative input from Eva.  She was over the moon with the cake and that made me over the moon.  

 

What I used:  1 box cake mix, 1 can of frosting, green sprinkles, starburst, candy letters, conversation hearts, Mike and Ike's, Nerds, Swedish fish, mini candy canes, Dots,  M&Ms, rainbow sour candy,  blue frosting, 2 candy lane game pieces, 1 mini cup cake.

Girl Time

My girls had an early dismissal from school yesterday so I surprised them with a date at the salon to get their nails painted.  They (the eldest mostly) have been hounding me to take them for months. 

I was surprised to learn that many of their friends had been before.  Salon manicures at 6 or 7 or 8 years old?  Honestly, it seemed indulgent but on a deeper level I thought about how the lives and activities of children are becoming more and more adult.  The separation between child and adult is shrinking.  I'm not sure this is a good thing.  Our kids are growing up so fast and in many ways we're facilitating that. 

In the end I decided I was reading too much into it.  That this was fun and girlie and maybe I should turn off my brain and stop analyzing everything so much.   What do you think?  Harmless fun?  Or something else.

We did have a good time.  A good time together.  It was a great shared experience.  The girls thanked me over and over and showed their nails to everyone they saw.  They were thrilled.  So right now, at this moment that is what I'm taking away from the experience.  And that feels just right.

Scenes from the Weekend

on a Tuesday.

Last weekend I got the gift of spending it with just one child.  This doesn't happen very often if at all.  Bryce and the eldest were together in the mountains and Audrey and I spent the weekend at home.  I made a conscious effort to plan activities for us instead of just "hanging out" and playing it by ear (which is my usual MO.) I didn't want to squander this precious time with just one. 

Friday we went out for dinner.  Not really a highlight as Audrey was so wasted from the week she was basically catatonic.

Saturday we made pumpkin bread.  That girl loves her baked goods and pumpkin bread is right at the top of the list.

Later we bought some bulbs and planted them all over the yard.  I went over-board with the buying.  Audrey insisted on digging the holes herself.  No easy feat with her pink plastic beach trowel.  While we were out in the yard we picked another pound or so of our Sugar Lump tomatoes.  I'm very pleased with this variety. 

Then there was her soccer game and a walk up to the corner store for a treat.  Sunday we hit the Farmer's Market where we purchased some peaches (one of Audrey's fav.)  We stopped by the craft store for some supplies for her Halloween costume (you know we've been excited for Halloween since September 1.)  She's going to be a black cat this year. 

What about you?  How was your weekend?

6 Years Old!

Waiting for guests to arrive

 In late July we celebrated my sweet Audrey's sixth birthday.  We held her party at a local Frozen Yogurt shop, invited a few friends and set about the happy business of celebrating her.

We decided that since Eva had a special cake on her 6th birthday Audrey would have one too (although, really, they are all special.)  She went back and forth about what kind of cake to have but kept coming back to one - an Angry Bird cake! Naturally I wished she'd picked something less commercial (mermaids, cats, candy, pony) but this is what she really wanted.  Strange as she'd only played the game a few times but for some reason these angry little birds captivated her.  So, an Angry Bird cake it was.

 I really enjoyed planning and making the cake (see notes below).  The girls loved it too and were very proud of my endeavor.  It was sweet.  We played a little Pin the Beak on the Angry bird as well as some Angry Bird Bingo.  I also had some Angry Bird coloring sheets for the kids to work on while the guests arrived.

The girls made Angry Bird goodie bags.  We put a pen and 2 packs of fruit snacks in each.

 The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and Audrey felt very celebrated.  An Angry Bird party for a very happy girl.   Who is now 6!?! Gah!

 Cake Notes:  To make the cake I made two 8-9 inch circular cakes.  Used one for the bird and cut the head feathers and tail feathers out of the other.  The eyes are sliced jumbo marshmallows that I then rolled flat with a rolling pin.  Pupils are chocolate chips.  Eyebrows are black licorice.  The beak is made of yellow candy melts which I formed on wax paper (template underneath the wax paper) and then "outlined" with melted chocolate chips and a toothpick.  The tail feathers are unfrosted pieces of cake.

to say thank you

Eva just recently completed her first ever season of soccer.  We got wind that one of the coaches loved shortbread.  We used that as an inspiration for a thank you gift.
Now, I realize that a batch of cookies doesn't usually warrant a blog post, BUT, these are worthy, trust me.  Espresso chocolate chip shortbread!  Not only are they delicious but they are a perfect canvas for whatever shortbread concoction you can imagine - almond, chocolate, currant, lemon, pistachio . . .
Pin it. Make it.  Love it. 
I bought a can of the espresso powder called for in the recipe. There is a lot left.  What to do, what to do . . . pinned this to help me figure it out.

A Fishy Post

Welcome the two new members of our family - Cutie and Josie. They are bettas, fish that are found in mud puddles around Thailand. Amazing that they can end up in little plastic containers in a pet store in Seattle. You know how I feel about this topic.

Anyhoo, I don't remember what sparked the girls' interest in fish ownership but they wanted one or some. After a few weeks of begging and nagging, Bryce and I agreed they could each have one. The girls had to buy the fish with their allowance and be responsible for feeding them. We supplied the bowl, rocks, food, plant. The woman at the pet shop recommended bettas or white clouds for the girls. She said goldfish were too poopy. The girls thought this was hilarious.

We are all enjoying the fish. I find myself not so much watching them but checking on them. Are you dead yet? Are you dead yet? I had a series of gold fish in college and none of them lasted more than a week or so. I don't have high hopes for these guys either.

Do any of you have experience with bettas? Tell me what we're in for.

Cats on Shirts

I was folding the laundry the other day when I had this realization:
Cat shirts. Lots of cat shirts. 8 cat shirts between my 2 girls. And since they are not old enough to buy their own clothes you can guess what crazy cat lady purchased them. Sheesh. As the girls get older my days of buying sickingly cute cat shirts are numbered. Good thing I have a niece on the way (!!) who can continue to support my obsession; starting with the turquoise onesie in the bottom corner.

Any themes in your children's clothing? Trucks, butterflies, dinosaurs? Do tell.

Birthday Girl

I'm the mother of an 8 year old as of today.

Happy Birthday, Eva!

Guess who

lost her first tooth? Ah, my baby. Didn't she just get those teeth?

I'm having fun, exploring the hipstamatic app and posting a picture a day on tumblr. You can follow along here. To be honest, I'm not really sure how tumblr works. I'm managing to post pictures there but that is the extent of my knowledge. Are you familiar with tumblr? Do tell.

Girl vs Gelato

Finally!

Exciting news here in our house! Eva has her first wobbly tooth! She has been waiting so patiently and it has finally happened. She complained that her tooth hurt and when I checked I confirmed that it was indeed wobbly! With the pure joy of a child she jumped up and said I'm growing up! Yes, I suppose she is.Now I've got to fast track my plans to make a tooth pillow. I mean I don't have to. I want to. My mom made one for me. I've done a bit of searching this evening to gather inspiration for Eva's pillow. I love the hand stitched pillow above from Stitchado. Don't you? It has a little pocket sewn onto the back for the tooth.

This one is great too. The mouth is the pocket. Clever!

And this darling Matyroshka Doll with a pocket for a tooth. Cute.

I've seen a few that hang from the door. Like that idea too.

Here's a tooth fairy doll with a pocket for teeth.

Martha Stewart has a very simple version as well.

What tooth fairy rituals do you have in your house?

Have a great weekend! I'll finish up my Ireland posts next week. Dingle or bust!

p.s. There was a huge thunder and lightening storm here last night. Eva and I watched a bit of it. Here are a few pictures of the action (not taken by me.)

{Paris}

Bound and determined to see Degas' Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer, we headed to The Musee d'Orsay they next day. Eva became interested in this statue after she brought home this book from her school library. The book tells the story of Marie Van Goethem, a ballet student at École de Danse in Paris in the late 1800s. Marie began to pose for Degas to earn money to pay for her dance lessons. The result of all those hours of posing was the statue. Degas dressed his statue of Marie in her ballet uniform, including the peach ribbon she had tied in her hair. This was the detail that most intrigued Eva - her ribbon, her "real" clothes. It was interesting to watch Eva try and make that connection between the book, a young girl she could relate to, history, something famous, and something she could actually see. Yes, we saw the real ribbon that was really hers*.

Audrey got caught up in the excitement too. Although she listened to the book too she didn't really get it. She just had fun going around the sculpture saying, Degas?!?! Where's Degas? This Degas? Mom, look it's Degas!!

The book said that the statue was housed in the Louvre. But as we discovered, it's NOT!! As the Louvre guard told me, "All impressionist work is in the Orsay. " Now you know too. BTW, books are a great way to get kids excited about traveling. This book is wonderful too. We got Eva this one for her birthday as well as her own copy of Degas and the Little Dancer.

What are your favorite books about art/travel for kids?
I'd love to compile and share a list.

*There were 7-8 Marie statues cast. I don't know where the real, real, real one is housed with her real uniform and bow. But this detail didn't seem important to share with Eva.

The 2 pictures in this post were taken by our friend Jenn. Most of mine were blurry or strange. I think I was over excited too. Ha!

Snow Fairy Scenes

They came, they frolicked, they floated and flitted about - 6 little snow fairies. Here are a few images from the party:

This was my first themed party - not sure I'm a convert. What are your thoughts?