Showing posts with label Party-time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Party-time. Show all posts

June 18, 2013

Belated Birthday

We never had a birthday celebration for Anna this year. When she turned two, I thought that I wasn't into the whole birthday party thing. We had one for her first birthday, but the one-year is considered a milestone birthday. I didn't grow up having regular birthday parties. I'm not a particularly good hostess. Anna was also in this social phobia stage and Kimberly was a newborn. So it was a no-brainer. I didn't want to put the time or money into a party.

However, recently I started thinking that I did want to celebrate Anna's birthday. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to get my mind off some of the difficulties in our lives right now. The methodical, predictability of putting together crafts and making decorations could be a welcome distraction from the chaos I felt on a daily basis. And I could use some of those craft supplies I collected over the years that were gathering dust. Another draw was that it would be an opportunity to have a social gathering where every food was ANNA-FRIENDLY!! How awesome would that be! Imagine- not having to keep her from any foods present! I was convinced. We decided to throw a little get-together. We had a lot of good friends we wanted to celebrate with, but due to Anna's stage of life and our accommodations we decided to keep it small with friends who had kids Anna's age.

We spent very little money, used a ton of stuff we already had on hand, made almost everything else ourselves, and had a lot of fun!




We talked about the party for several days before and Anna was super excited.






I made these party hats and little treat bags with craft supplies. All they had at the grocery store were Dora and Elmo lol.

 
 
 
Bouncy cow gets a hat, and my homemade banner.
 
 
I wanted Anna-friendly food that was fairly easy and still appealing to the masses. Not an easy task. I succeeded for the most part, but I did end up making the potato salad with mayonnaise. I was too hesitant to go with a vegan mayonnaise and trying to create a ranch seasoning mix from scratch didn't seem like good idea. Everything else was allergy free, though.

The Menu:
  • Grilled chicken with garlic-free barbeque sauce (only one brand I've ever found, sold only two months out of the year at Whole Foods which is not located in Augusta- sheesh!)
  • Homemade milk and garlic-free guacamole and corn chips
  • Green beans cooked in homemade garlic-free chicken stock
  • Fruit salad
  • Asian noodle salad
  • Potato salad
  • Milk-free dinner rolls
  • Snacks for the kids: raisins, cheerios, and butter-free popcorn.

 

Dessert was Rice Krispy treats with milk-free margarine and milk-and-egg free cupcakes with milk-free icing!



Another homemade banner!



Backyard setup




I did this to my forehead thanks to our ridiculous low-hanging chandelier. Without having the table underneath it my clumsy self got knocked on the head.



Thankfully I came up with a last minute fix.


Kimberly got into the cow spirit.


Birthday girl.


My homemade cow cut-out


 
 
Sleepy girl.




March 25, 2012

Party Time

We had a wonderful time at Anna's first birthday party this weekend. Despite the stress of the last two weeks and my questioning whether it was a good idea to have a party at all, it ended up being perfect. We had so much fun doing what we love- cooking out and hanging out. Some wonderful friends were kind enough to host the party and take care of the grilling, and another surprised us with an amazing birthday cake that was a piece of art. With a perfect size of 20 people and great weather, it couldn't have been a better way to celebrate Anna's first year.

The day before I took care of most of the cooking. Considering what's been going on lately, we kept it super simple with the food. I felt proud that I still managed to make everything we did have homemade. I even had time to bake Anna her own little 'cake'. Since she needs everything dairy and egg free, I thought it would be easier to make something separate for her. I turned this great vegan apple bread recipe that I have into muffins, and then made some dairy free frosting (it tasted just like the real thing).

I made a quick banner with Anna's monthly pictures. Here's a close up of the pictures:


The beautiful cake. Pictures don't do it justice.
 

The Birthday Girl taking it all in. She gets real serious.
 

















In case you wanted a close up of my enormous nostril-flare, here ya go.


I love this pic, even with the black eye :)




Here's a video of us bringing out Anna's cupcake. She is totally clueless:




I finished the night off by going to see the Hunger Games. I can't remember the last time I paid full price to see a movie. It's been years. I still haven't decided how I feel about the adaptation. It was definitley true to the book which was  nice, and I thought it was a good movie but I can't help but feel that it didn't inspire me very much. There wasn't enough time for good character development and I left feeling like it was utterly missing something. The special effects weren't up to snuff, and the costumes were disappointing. Had I watched it without reading the books, I think I would have been a bit confused in a few parts, too. I did like Peeta's portrayal a lot. Since he was my favorite in the book, I was happy with how his character played out. I also like the portrayal of the Capitol and the Districts, and seeing the point of view of the Gamemakers during the games. That was a nice touch. Overall how do I feel about it? Eh. I need to see it again to decide.

February 24, 2012

11 Months, Remembrance, and...a party?

This post is a few days early (four to be exact), but we have a lot going on this week so I'm knocking it out early.

Anna Bean is 11 months old! One month from being a toddler. I'm not going to say much about this month except: she's fearless. She can do everything a typical baby her age can do in the gross-motor department, but with a short leg and a non-functioning ankle. She is nothing short of amazing. I have to beam for a minute from the comments I receive from the Mother's Day Out ladies- "She's so HAPPY! Is she always this happy?", "Little Anna is everyone's favorite!", and "She's unlike anyone else - always looking into our eyes, smiling, happy to be with us." Ok, ok, I'll stop beaming before I make you all sick to your stomachs. But seriously, this girl is awesome. Awesome, I tell you. I don't think God could have blessed us any more.

I took some photos of Anna's four-toed foot to remember, for this is the last month it will look as it does right now. How I love her little foot!







 Only a few shots this month:



Must have been a daddy-daughter moment. Ignore Ben's shirtlessness.


Anna eating oranges out of an empty Florida strawberry carton. Ignore my daughter baring all.
Sheesh, is this one big skin-fest or what?
 
I also just sent these out to our local peeps:


I know, I know. Timing. Originally we weren't going to have a one-year birthday party for many reasons, but I thought what the heck, it makes my heart happy so I'm going for it. It doesn't have to be anything big or fancy as I'm sure people understand. I just want to celebrate. Because there is so much to celebrate.

(Side note- if you are looking for sweet online invitations, check out Paperless Post- they have tons of free invites and the process is very streamlined and classy.  You also get 30 free "coins" to be used for invites that cost money. I picked these ones which were 1 "coin" apiece and sent them all for free).

To conclude this random assortment of a post, here's a snippet that spoke to me this week:

So often we mistakenly outsource our joy to another place or time. But I’ve learned, “No, it’s this life. This life I choose. This life God blessed me with. This moment right here—with silly kids, and toilets to scrub, and laundry to fold—this is the good stuff".... and even in the midst of the daily grind I see the wonders of what it means to live my soul purpose. That is the place of transformation.
Jamie Martin at SimpleMom.org