Happy Birthday Addy Bear!

Mother's Day is always an extra special day for me... because God blessed us with our beautiful daughter, Addison Marie, at 12:01am on... Mother's Day! 

This past weekend was Addy's birthday party and her one request was a "Swiper party".  Unfortunately, very few decorations come featuring Swiper (that sneaky, sneaky fox)... so we focused the party around Dora..
      .. not very original, I know.

Let me state up front.. this is not a craft.  I just wanted to share Addy's birthday party and some of the fun things we did.

Each year I make the birthday cake myself.  I really enjoy taking the time (hours and hours to be clear) to create a special cake for my babies.  Even though my days are swamped with things to do, I always make sure I set aside plenty of time to accomplish this task.  Now I'm definently not a professional, but I'm pretty happy with what I created.  Here is the final product...

Ryan took Addy out the morning of her party, allowing me plenty of time to set up and decorate.  When she came home and saw all party decorations up, the smile on her face was priceless!

We had one more surprise for her out in Mimi and Poppop's yard...

... her own powerwheels Jeep!

    (neutral colors of course, since she'll be sharing with her brother in a couple years)



Time for guests to arrive, the grilling to start and a few games to be played!

Addy was very excited to see her Nina!

The men at the grill!

Four generations.

Addison and her cousins, Ethan, Andrew and Wesley!

Pin the Tail on Swiper.

Poor... Poor Dora.

Addy was eyeing the Swiper cake topper the moment I set the cake down...

Happy Birthday Addy Bear!

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

I have been on the hunt for pine cones for weeks!  Why is it that I see pine cones all the time, but when I actually am looking for them I never find them??  Now it's not like I went out of my way to get some... obviously that would have been the simple solution.  With a 5 month old on my hip, finding a new house, and planning Addy's 3rd birthday party... I just have not had time to make a trip to find pine cones.  Luckily, we came across a TON of them at our old playground... so here it is...

Pine Cone Bird Feeders



What You Need:

- a pile of pine cones

- a jar of peanut butter

- wild bird seed (pour into medium sized bowl)

- 1' of yarn or ribbon per pine cone
- spoon for spreading the peanut butter

What To Do:

- First tie a 1' long strand of yarn or ribbon around the small tip of your pine cone.

- Using a spoon, have your child rub peanut butter all over the pine cone (yes, this can be messy)

- Roll the pine cone in the bird seed.

- Repeat until you've made as many as desired.

- Hang from a tree

(make sure there are plenty of branches around for the birds to reach the pine cones!)

Countdown Chain

What a perfect way to introduce this fun project... counting down to Addison's birthday AND our new house! 

Yes.
We are on our way to owning our second home.
         ...talk about stressed!

We've been talking about Addy's birthday for a couple weeks, and she has made it very clear that she wants a Swiper party.  How come there is so little Swiper decor out there?  Is my child really the only one who is obsessed with that sneaky, sneaky fox... I doubt it.
Anyways.
Trying to explain how many days are left until a big event is difficult when talking with a soon-to-be three year old... therefore, enter... The Countdown Chain Craft!

Materials You Need:

- Construction paper

- Printed pictures representing the event

- Crayons, marker, or whatever you prefer to color with

- Glue stick

- Scissors

The Simple Steps:

- Pick an upcoming event that your child is excited for!

- Find an image to represent the "event".

(You can use WordArt, Google Images, etc)

- Get your child to color their pictures.

- Fold the construction paper longways, in 1/3s or 1/4s to create equal widths.

- Cut along each crease, enough strips for the days left until "the event".

- Have your kiddo glue along one sides of each strip, then loop around to create a circle.

- Continue for each strip, and connect making a chain.

- Hang your pretty creation in a fun location!

- Each day tear one chain link from the chain, creating your countdown!