Reasons why today has been a good day.

(In no particular order)

1. It's Friday!
2. For the first time since returning from Vegas, I feel normal....as in, not exhausted.  Polly's baaaaack!
3. The kids and I met Sean for a yummy Asian lunch.
4. Kate totally(!) redeemed herself in JoAnn.  None of us left in tears!  Hallelujah!
5. I found everything I needed to make the accessories for Kate's Halloween costume -- and all of it was super cheap!
6. After totally forgetting Jackson's flu shot appointment this morning I called and they were all like, no worries, just come on in whenever!  Whew...missed appointment charges are the worst b/c they are totally preventable!
7. It's only 2 o'clock and I already have 6 reasons why today is a good day!  I'll take it!

Scary little thread

Parker Vernon

Sean and I were honored when Matt and Beth asked us to be Parker's godparents, or sponsors, at his baptism.  We made a quick trip down to Columbia the day after Kate's party to participate in the service.  It was our first time meeting the little angel and we were so glad to be able to be a part of his special day!

Kate's 2nd Birthday -- Part 2: The Party

The idea for Kate's bumblebee themed 2nd birthday party came about when I read about a bee-themed party on my Reader, then later came across this dress in her closet.  As soon as I looked at the dress, I knew this would be the perfect theme for my busy little bee!  The dress was originally worn by either Ryley or Emma and already had most of the pretty details like the yellow bows.  I added the little bumblebee appliques and a row of rick-rack along the bottom to make it an eensy bit longer.

I originally thought I wanted to do a bee-shaped cake, but after doing research I couldn't come up with an idea for the wings that I loved.  So, since my partner and I had just done our first cake pops, I decided to give Bakerella's bumblebee pops a try.  But the bees would need a home too, so we made a 'hive' out of a few layer cakes and some yellow icing.  The exciting part of the bee hive was our method for icing the cake: poured buttercream. We had never tried it before and it seemed pretty neat, so we took a shot at it.  Basically, all you do is microwave the prepared buttercream until it's at a 'pouring' consistency, then pour it onto the top of the cake, letting it spread all down the sides.  At best it would look like a smooth, fondant covered cake, at worst (we hoped) it would need spreading like regular buttercream.  Well, it turns out that you need A LOT of buttercream and a big cup to use for heating/pouring.  Since so much of it runs down off the cake, you end up with a lot of waste and b/c we weren't quite prepared for that, we ended up doing a lot of spreading.  I will say that it was very much worth the extra clean up though, b/c we saved a ton of time just getting the icing on the cake.  

Add a few bee pops to the hive and sit it atop the cake stand that Sean built for me and Voila! we had us a fabulous bumblebee cake!

I repurposed a Halloween bucket with yellow tissue and it made the perfect display for the other bee pops!  

No bee party would be complete without antennae for donning!

To continue on with the theme, I made this 'bee' day banner!

Jackson got in the spirit by collecting a grasshopper for his bug cage.  Good thing he didn't try and catch a bee!

I found the cutest idea for an ages 0-99 friendly bee craft on Pinterest.  I do love me some Pinterest!  Just to demonstrate what we were going to do, I decided to paint my foot first!

Next we went to the birthday girl, for some fun with footprints!

Then we went around and let everyone feel the squishy paint b/t their toes...

After all the footprints (Amy and Ashely made one too!) dried, Sean painted on stripes and drew antennae and wings, while Amy glued on googly eyes!  It turned out to be a fun, quick and easy craft that everyone seemed to enjoy!  Here are our bees, now hanging in the playroom...

After a little more playtime outside...

...it was time to go inside for a wardrobe change!  ;-)

Every girl needs a play outfit and party dress for her big day, right?!

The birthday girl made her way back outside to show off her pretty dress and sweet bracelet, but then priorities took over and she took Nana over for a swing.

Look at that big girl! 

Before Kate opened her presents, I handed out the antennae for all to enjoy!  I'm not so sure Ryan is digging the bumblebee look!

Mamma and Papa sure do wear them well!  

Present time!  Yay!

Picture time!  With my ECU girls!

Jackson and his buddy, Tate.

Brandy & Tate.

Swaz with the birthday girl!

Kate with her fairy godmother, Ashely!

Before Kate could enjoy her cake, Amy and I had to pose for our obligatory cake shot!

Jackson actually smiled for this one b/c I said he couldn't have cake until he did!  It worked!

Happy birthday to you, Kate!

 

Time for cake!

Get it girl!

Yeah, I might've been just a little proud of the bee pops! ;-)

Kate and Ryan were so cute saying their goodbyes.  She was so happy to give everyone their party favors!

Ryan was sweet, giving Kate a 'hug' before he left!

Kate is surely growing up!  She even attempted to take the bigger kids for a ride on the Gator!

But of course it didn't take long for them to get frustrated with her lack of driving skills and Emma took over behind the wheel.

All in all, I'd say this BEE-day girl had a pretty un-BEE-lievable day!  Especially considering her after-party included a sleepover at Nana and Pa-Jack's house!