Max's Birthday Party Mishap

Max recently turned 5! Every year, rather than buying gifts we throw the boys a birthday party. They get to choose the theme/location and then I spend weeks scouring Pinterest for ideas. This year was no exception! Max wanted to have a Superhero birthday party. We invited his entire class and were planning all of the superhero activities we would have. Everything was coming together and then one week before the party......

We had a leak in the kitchen that destroyed the floor..

  and the basement walls!

 

 

After A LOT of discussion we decided to keep with the original plan and we had Max's superhero birthday party at the house. I threw up some tacky fringe to cover the doors to the kitchen and didn't take ANY pictures.....oops!

 

But, the kids had a blast! They shot "webs" at targets, leapt over buildings, demonstrated their "super power" and earned their very own cape!

 

 

You never know where you'll spot a superhero around here!







 



Here are some pictures from Max's previous birthdays!

 

 

Taking Pictures with Babies

Christmas is rapidly approaching! I am always caught off guard at how quickly Halloween turns into Thanksgiving which turns into, "Oh no, we forgot to bake cookies for Santa!" Luckily, that only happened once and the boys were half asleep as we opened the cookie platter gift, we had just received, to set a plate for good ole St Nick. This year, however, is a whole new ballgame.

Now that I have an Etsy shop, I am prepping for Holiday items a lot sooner than I ever would have imagined. As the days pass I am shipping more and more orders and continuously creating new items to photograph and list. Sounds pretty straight forward, and it is, except for one thing....my model is a DIVA! Kidding! It's actually even worse than that, she's one and a half! So, without further adieu....here is a glimpse of what you don't see.

 

Whenever I take pictures in a tutu I give her the chance to wear it for a bit. I thought I would try to get some headband pictures in, but after one awkward pose the headband was off and so was she!!

 

 

 

More often than not, the accessory is thrown to the wayside as she takes off out of the room.

 

 

 

Other days she is eager to have her picture taken, but the "costume" is not quite right!

 

Then there are times like this. It's not something I would use in my shop but I LOVE it!

 

 

Arabella's 1st Birthday Party

As I mentioned in my previous post, Arabella's birthday party was held a month late.  Due to the move, we didn't plan anything!

 

Her actual birthday was spent sitting through a six hour trip back up to NY for the boys' last tee ball game.  Thankfully, our old neighbors are awesome and gave us a place to stay and baked Arabella a totally allergy-free cake!

 

Fast forward to our two-week long vacation back home and Arabella's 1st birthday party!!

 

Truth be told I love parties, kid parties especially. Throw in the fact that this was my first girly party and you have one excited momma! 

 

 

 

Since Arabella LOVES to dress up, that was the idea/theme behind her party.

 

Did I mention days before the party Andy suggested we have it at the park?!? Well, I agreed with him....BUT that meant I had a tiny table in a gazebo to work with!

 

The table featured rings, necklaces

bracelets and butterfly chalk.

 

 

Plus, dum dums and lip whistles!

(We couldn't forget about her brothers!)

 

Each guest got a plume wand

 

 

And a marshmallow pop

 

The marshmallow pops were a HUGE hit! Especially with my 85 year old grandmother who enjoyed eating all the "ugly" ones the night before!

 

 

 

Arabella enjoyed her watermelon "cake." This was NOT what it was supposed to look like. A total Pinterest fail!!

 

Overall, I think she had a good day!

 

 

Back to the Blog!

It's been over a year since I have blogged and A LOT has happened! Remember that nursery makeover we did? Well, we moved and left all of that beautiful wainscoting and crown molding behind! We did, however, find an unbelievable home in Pennsylvania and have fallen in love with the area! The boys (including daddy!) have settled into their new schools and Arabella and I have had more time to play dress up and create new designs!! She is quite the helper!

 

 

Here are some pictures from the last few months..

 

A rare family photo!

Taken at Boldt Castle in NY.

 

All 8 grandchildren during our summer trip back home

 

Arabella's 1st birthday party!!

(One month late...shhhh!)

 

Summertime fun for the boys!

 

 

The boys on their first day of school

 

She LOVES to dress up!

 

Honestly! She picked this one out herself!!

 

Other days she is a super, ahem, helper!

 

Don't forget apple picking!