Rainbow Birthday Party

As I mentioned early this week, for Stella's 5th Birthday Party we had a Rainbow theme.  I already posted about the Rainbow Fruit Skewers and the Rainbow Jell-O.  So go back and check them out if you missed them.  Here are the rest of the decorations and ideas.

We had an outdoor Wet 'n Wild backyard party

so we decorated with rainbow balloons and streamers.

And we even put a rainbow inside.

I made each child their own personalized water.

I used blue painters tape to cover the label.

And the WordArt feature in Office for the names.

All of the kids thought it was pretty cool to have their own

and with 15 kids running around it was nice to have them labeled.

Party Favors?  Of course.

Skittles, Starburst, Rainbow Bracelets, and Hair Things for the girls.

Same candy and rainbow kites (from Target $1 bin) for the boys.

And don't forget the cake and no-sew rainbow bunting.

My friend Kara's tutorial was super helpful.

Any particular party themes you've experienced lately?

No-sew Cake Bunting

True confession...I had no idea what bunting was.  I remembered hearing the term "baby bunting", but when I saw it as "cake bunting"...huh??  But what a great idea.  I saw this over at me and elna.  It's a new crafty blog one of my co-workers started.  You should check it out.  Anyway, she made a cake bunting and I loved it.  I had no idea what I was going to do for Stella's rainbow cake and this was perfect!

Here are all of the materials I used.  I found everything I needed at Michael's and Target.  You can see that one of my main materials was the iPad.  Because seriously, Kara has awesome step-by-step directions over at me and elna.  So get your materials and click over there.

Rainbow Jell-O

 

Another hit at Stella's Rainbow Birthday party was the Rainbow Jell-O squares.  I had to accomodate for the time it would take for each layer to become firm, but other than that...super easy!  To find out how I did it, click HERE to head over to Tastes From Tricia's Table.

Rainbow Fruit Skewers

These were a hit at Stella's Rainbow party this past weekend.

More to come when I have more than 5 minutes to post!

Our Little Guy...Not Much of a Baby

Seriously?  Who is this little guy and what happened to my BABY?? 

Happy Birthday Stella!

Exactly 5 years ago I was in the final stages of labor with Stella.  She wasn't actually born until 11:02 PM.  That's a story for another day...

Today was great fun.  Andy and I continued the tradition of taking the day off and spending it just with her.  Her choices: the new movie "Brave" and IHOP.  Perfect.

My how she's grown from last year.  And how she's changed over the years is amazing.  Her favorite thing this year?  Cowgirls.  So she got her very own light-up pink cowgirl hat first thing this morning and wore it most of the day.

Stella sporting her new rainbow ruffle skirt that I did splurge on for her rainbow party.  I found it HERE on Etsy.  More to come about the party later this week.

Stella's 5th Birthday - Rainbow Style

Stella doesn't officially turn 5 until Monday, but today we had a 5th birthday party to celebrate with her girlfriends.  It was a wet 'n wild time in the backyard for her Rainbow Birthday party.  Tons of fun had by all.  I'll be posting this week about all of the rainbow-themed party accessories.  I think it made for a cute party.

Web Funnies

For my co-workers:

For my teacher friends:



Friend of teachers:

And...for Grey fans:

This Happen To You Much?

Every parent's dream and nightmare.

LONG car ride back home.

Cranky kids.

They FINALLY fall asleep.

And now you and/or your spouse are about to pee your pants.

And you are both starving.

But there's no way you are going to stop the car.

Right?

Happy Father's Day

Today was an unusual Father's Day,

because I actually got to spend most of it with my dad,

who is rarely in town on Father's Day. 

So I hosted a Father's Day/Stella's Birthday cookout for our family. 

It was a really nice time and lots of yummy food. 

Including these red potatoes. 

Here's the easy recipe: Oven-Baked Red Potatoes.

 

One of my favorite things to do on a weekend afternoon is to sit on our patio,

under our umbrella and look towards the very back of our yard. 

Look closely.

The kids call this section of the yard, "our island".

And it is here that they look for creatures.

For roly-poly bugs and worms and ants.

They dig.

They turn over rocks.

They giggle, squeal, and chit-chat.

They adventure together and it melts my heart.

Someday I'll Miss This...

Someday the kids will grow up and move out along with their shoes and I'll miss this (or so I'm told).  But for now?  I'm tripping over all the different pairs constantly in our mudroom.  Somehow they seem to multiply.

Luckily, the new office area is actually going to help solve this problem by rearranging a few things in the mudroom and laundry room.  I can't wait to see if it really works.

How do you manage all of your kids' shoes?

Green B.E.A.N. Delivery Update

For those that have asked...yes!  We are still using the Green B.E.A.N. delivery service each week. 

The picture above is what was in our bin this week.  I am still very happy with the service and the options available to us.  I really like the flexibility of being able to skip a week here and there when necessary.

For other reasons why we did this and why we love it, read the following posts from the past:

Introducing Green B.E.A.N. Into Our Life
Top 10 Reasons I Love Green B.E.A.N.

One of my good friends is also trying out some of the services from Nourish over the next few weeks.  First up is a grocery shopping trip.  I can't wait to hear how that goes and if she really learns anything new about how to shop better at your local store.  Then she's having some cooking lessons in her home.  Stay tuned!

And, yes, those are limes and fresh mint.  I predict more mojitos in our future...