Ruby's first 4th of July {2014}

We had such a fun 4th of July!  It was Ruby's first of course(as an American citizen) and naturally she had no idea what all the hoop-la was about but she was a good sport and seemed to have a really fun day with us.  She made it through our little party in the evening but then headed to bed so she missed the fireworks(and then, so did I!).

"Are you done with this photo shoot yet mama??" :)

 The kids walked around the block and delivered some patriotic treats to their buddies in the morning.

 Then we tested out the new patio set and ate our traditional red, white and blue pancake breakfast outside.  It was a beautiful day out!

 Poor peanut can't eat pancakes yet but hopefully by next year she'll have a big plate of her own in front of her!  She ate her usual bowl of oatmeal with mashed up bananas instead. :)

After John and the kids got home from watching the fireworks in Moorhead, the kids did some sparklers- we let them stay up late and do this every year.  It's always something they look forward to.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Mary Beth's dance pictures

These were on instagram but I don't think I ever posted them here.  They are from MB's spring gala.

Mary Beth's Garden Party {part 2}

 

For the cupcakes we made vanilla cupcakes and added our own sprinkles.  We used chocolate frosting and then dipped the tops in crushed cookies= DIRT!  The garnish... worms(of course!) and the candles looked wormy to us too so they were perfect.  Mary Beth and Emma baked the cupcakes the day before and then MB and I did the tops this morning.
 

 

 

She got the sweetest presents and they were all so Mary Beth!
She LOVED them all.

Here's the whole gang

 

The party was a great success!

Now to start planning for next year...

Mary Beth's Garden Party {part 1}

The long awaited Garden Party had finally arrived.  Mary Beth's birthday was April 6th but she wanted an outdoor garden party, complete with sunshine, warm weather, blooming flowers, and birds singing.  Last year this was all happening in time for her birthday.  This year it took 2 more months to make this happen.  She was so patient and it really paid off.  The weather couldn't have been ANY better.  No wind, 78 degrees, no clouds... it was PERFECT!!

I used all decorations that we already had on hand- mostly from our Cinco de Mayo party last year- and used her ballet flowers on the table.

We served MB's favorite snack foods:  black olives, pickles, carrots, watermelon, and pink lemonade.

That painting on the table was done by my good friend Wendy- she actually won a contest for it!
MB thought it would be perfect for her party so Wendy kindly let us borrow it for a decoration.

I found this table on the BLVD across the street and thank goodness because I needed a party favor table!  I don't know why I don't have a closer picture but they are watering cans(bought on clearance from Target's dollar section last year) with tissue paper, a flower seed packet, and a snail or butterly finger puppet inside.  The puppets were another lucky find at IKEA months ago(only 10 cents each!!)

here's some shots of the yard

I felt the need to spray paint these chairs this morning!!

Even our penguin was in the party spirit!

The boys read a garden themed book to the kids(just like they did last year!).  We chose:  Diary of a Worm.  If you haven't read this book and the other 2(Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Fly) please get them from your library and read them to your kids out loud.  They are hilarious!

THEN... as a surprise, our wonderful neighbor Dave stopped by and did a magic show for the kids!!
I knew he did a couple tricks here and there so we mentioned to him that MB was having a party and if he felt like popping in and doing something we would love it.  Well, little did we know he had many marvelous tricks and he was so good with the kids!  They all loved the show and were so sad when it was over!  I really think he may have to come back again for some other parties!

 

 

 

 

 

We did some Freeze Dance!

 and Limbo!

and then MB opened her presents.

 

 

Emma gave MB a frame of pictures of them together... one from every year they've been best friends.
It was so sweet!!!  Look at those babies!

Party Prep! {Mary Beth's birthday party}

Mary Beth wanted Emma to help make her party cupcakes and as you can see they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  They turned out delicious- they are very good little bakers!

 

 

sorry for the blurry shots- they were devouring the leftover batter so fast I couldn't get a clear one!

filling party favors

i got some flowers to spruce up the backyard- it was a "garden party" after all!

 

fairy house

 

 

 

 

Ready to party!!