A 3rd Birthday Party

This is a large post, full of birthday celebrations and lots of photos (be warned...). Anna turned 3 last Tuesday and we threw a party for her the Saturday before that. I rented a pre-school playroom with slides, castles, things to climb, things to throw and padded walls. It was loud LOUD! But it was also SO fun! She had 8 friends at her party and was so excited to play! After the playroom we had food and cake in another room. She was so happy, although I know she was quite concerned when everyone helped her open her presents and she definitely did not want anyone playing with them... being 3!

I made all the decorations... I'll talk about that in a second.

She is getting so big!

Personalised loot bags for the Minnie's & Mickey's

Oreos transformed into Minnie.

I made that number 3 cake and let me tell you... it was no easy feat to ice.

Make a wish!

Monday night, after she had gone to bed I decorated the living room for her birthday. 

I had bought a bouquet of Minnie themed balloons, she has a bunch of Minnie toys & stuffies that I was able to use as decor but everything else was handmade.

- the Minnie paper rosette

- the hanging rosettes all had different things for the centres like a number 3, or an A, or a heart or a Minnie head. 

This banner was so simple but I just LOVE it! I bought two colours of crepe paper, cut a long piece and tied them onto a ribbon, I also used gold tissue paper folded over the ribbon and stapled in place.

I cut out the number 3 onto cardstock with my Silhouette Cameo and then traced it onto thick gold glitter paper (the Silhouette could not cut that) and hand cut the number. I then adhered it to a 12" scallop circle also cut with my Silhouette and stapled it into place on the ribbon.

The banner was created with letters I cut with my Silhouette, I then sewed the letters together.

We hung streamers in her door and balloons in the hall. In the morning I woke up to "Hey guys! Hey Guys! Hey guys! I think it's my birthday!" SO GREAT!

She got a power drill that lights up, turns and makes real noises- this was a hit!

We ate birthday pancakes and then headed off to Build a Bear. She made a cat, named her Kitty Kitty and dressed her in a sparkly tutu. This experience pretty much made her day!

Opening her tool box with the help of Kitty Kitty, another big hit! This girl loves to "fix" things!

Being the birthday girl is tough and she passed out hard the second we got in the car to get groceries for her birthday dinner.

Anna didn't want her cake, instead she wanted ice cream with candles and that is exactly what she got. You can see by these photos how she feels about us signing to her. xo

I love birthdays! I go over the top and it makes me so happy because it makes her so happy! There isn't a feeling quite as wonderful as when she cheers for decorations or candles or special wrapping paper. I want her to always know how special she is and how I will do whatever I can to make her day extra EXTRA special!

Did I mention I love birthdays?

I {heart} Halloween Decor

A few years ago I went out and bought a big bunch of decorations to replace my existing ones that had worn out their welcome. Last year I went after Halloween and bought so much awesome stuff on clearance I had heart palpitations when I left the store. Needless to say I have plenty of stuff to work with but found myself drawn to only my absolute favourites when I started decorating the house. I love how my little corners all turned out and I am already thinking about what to add for next time.

I do plan on hitting up clearance items again this year.... you just never know... right?

Tonight we are carving our pumpkins (most likely Disney characters), tomorrow we are trick r' treating with a group of friends (and everyone is dressing up) and then Halloween is over for another year. I am pretty excited to help Anna with her candy.... hee hee.

Do you decorate for Halloween? What's your favourite thing to put out? Do you carve pumpkins? Do you love roasted pumpkin seeds as much as I do? Do you eat the whole seed or open it up? I eat the whole thing but Cory opens it up... he's a weirdo ;-)

No "holiday" is complete in our house without cupcakes. Mmmmm.

Around Here: A Second Birthday

The blog has been pretty dry lately but nothing turns things around like a party.

Anna turned 2 on the 12th- two! Where does the time go? We celebrated with Cookie Monster cupcakes and presents on Monday and today we had a party for her. Gramma. Papa, Auntie Lyndsey, Uncle Mike & Brayden all came up from Stettler to celebrate with her. She had a lot of fun and got lots of love from Gramma & Papa.

Anna woke up to this on her birthday morning.

She loved it!

New paints.

She blew candles out for the first time and it was so very exciting... for everyone.

A visit from Auntie Karen and a new Minnie doll, among many other goodies.

 Karen has four boys and buying for a girl is a lot of fun.

I made an Elmo cake for her party today.

It was a small party but that did not mean I was going small on decorations.

I made this sign post and bought this "Anna Street" sign from this Etsy shop.

A fun wreath I made for the door.

I made garland by punching a bunch of coloured circles and sewing them together.

Loving her cake!

Loving her Papa.

I can't even tell you how much I love birthdays. 

I hope Anna always knows how special her day is and that I never stop making the twelfth of November the most magical day for her.

it's getting spooky up in here

I love Halloween, the decor, the kids in costumes (especially little ones) and of course... mini chocolate bars. I found a few new goodies to add to my decor this past weekend at my girlfriends garage sale. Jars and cake stands- I truly believe you could never have enough. 

Take a peek into our spooktacular home.

*photo collages were created and edited with Picasa

valentine's decor

Our Valentine decor this year. I hung these hearts up while Anna was asleep and when she woke up and saw them it was all the recognition I needed. This girl appreciates that little something extra. She pointed, squealed and kept looking at me with a smile as if to say "Look Mama! Look at the hearts!" She is seriously the greatest!

Christmas Around Here

December first marks a little tradition Cory & I started a few years back, we call it-Christmas Decoration Celebration. We have a nice dinner, we dig out the tree and the decorations, pour a little egg nog and we set the tree up. Anna was right into it this year, digging in the boxes, playing with the lights, wondering what in the world was happening.

This past weekend we headed to Wellingtons for some live greenery & my amaryllis then to Home Sense for a couple fabulous little treasures and I finished up the rest of the house.

I love this time of year. I love the colors, I love the lights twinkling on the tree, I love the smell of pine, I love Chirstmas carols, I love buying presents for my family, I love holiday traditions, I love Christmas baking, I love reminiscing of years gone by. What do you love?