Birthday Party Picture Blitz

Norah had been asking for several months for a "Princess" party. No surprise there. Jason and I had it all planned out, complete with mental blueprints for a giant, homemade cardboard castle for the kids to play in. Then, just two weeks out, she went and developed her prerogative to change her mind!

"I'd like an 'OLIVIA' party for my birthday!", she exclaimed one night after dinner. (As mentioned in my previous post, "Olivia" is a fictional pig that our daughter has recently developed a taste for) Thankfully, construction on the cardboard castle hadn't taken off yet.

This was our most fun party to plan thus far, because Norah helped with everything, making it more her party than mine...which is the way it should be, I think. She told me who she wanted to invite-- "No boys, Mommy. Only girls. The boys can come to Eli's party." (Which, incidentally, was the same party, but I guess she wanted me to be clear that all male guests were there for her brother, and not her). She very proudly put the invitations into the mailbox, all by herself.

Since we had decided to have a joint party for both kids' birthdays, I went with a "Book" theme. (This would satisfy Norah's "Olivia" requirement, and also allow some individualization for Eli, as well--I decided to go with "Babar" for him)

We asked each guest to bring 0-5 gently used books from home for a book swap. I think it worked out great--we got a wide variety of fun books, and everyone left with a couple of new titles.

I printed off a few free "Babar" and "Olivia" coloring pages I found online to give the kids an activity while we waited on all our guests to arrive.

When we had a full house, one of Norah's favorite "grown up" friends , Jon Buchanan, treated the kids to two stories. "I am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed" and "Olivia Saves the Circus".


Jon did an awesome job...the kids were completely mesmerized by his storytelling skills. I was amazed to see how well they all sat still and paid attention for that length of time (though, I do admit, intentionally waiting to have the cake and icecream-induced sugar rush until AFTER storytime was probably a good call on my part).

Norah's cake: strawberry flavored inside ("because it's pink"), with Olivia and her beloved "Missing Toy" on the outside. One night while I was getting Eli into his PJs, Norah rushed into his room with her "Olivia" library book in tow, with a big grin on her face. "Look Mommy! I found it! I want THIS picture on my birthday cake!" It was so much fun being able to get her input on what she wanted this year! (And even more fun to see her reaction and heartfelt appreciation when I delivered on her requests)



Eli is still a little too young to petition his requests (at least in intellegable words), so he had to settle for Babar. However, if you've met our son, you can vouch that most anything edible would have been deemed acceptable. He loves to eat...and he LOVES cake.


Norah blowing out her candles...









I love this photo...the kids are either celebrating her candle-blowing efficiency, or getting excited because they know the cake is coming!

Cal savored every bite of his cake. (This was another one of my favorite pictures... he's just too cute for words, Jenny!)











For party favors, I printed personalized book plates for each of Norah & Eli's guests. (With their names, not our kids', obviously) I found some great, vintage storybook illustrations online. There were about 6 different pictures, but these two were my favorites

And, thanks to the awesome Christmas present (an embroidery machine!) that the entire Robinson family chipped in on for me, I was able to make personalized bookbags for each guest to take home their "new" books in. (Well, technically, I didn't make the bags. I found a great deal on them. I did add the fabric patches and stitched the names on the front. Butterflies for the girls, and stripes for the boys)

This is another one of my favorite pictures. The kids had a ball playing with the balloon decorations. They pretended the balloons were "kites" and Chloe lead them all on a "Kite parade". It was a perfect example of how sometimes the best parts of a party are the unplanned moments. Priceless memory.

There was a set of bus seats being stored in the room where the kids had the party. Norah, Patti, and Cal made believe that they were the Little Einstiens, flying in rocket. So cute!

All, in all, I think it was a great day. Norah was thrilled to see her friends come, and Eli loved observing them all playing together (I'm sure he's just counting the days until he's big enough to run with the "big" kids, too!) PS--Please excuse the lack of Eli pictures, I had two people taking photos, and this was the Norah-intensive collection. Hopefully AA will share her Eli pictures with me soon!

Ok, Maybe Just One More...

Our sweet friend, Olivia recently celebrated her 1st birthday, and I couldn't resist the chance to make a cake with such cute animals! (So, I guess if you want me to come out of retirement to do a cake for you, word to the wise, pick a super-cute design).








The birthday girl sunk her (few) teeth into her own, monkey cupcake. I am told she was quite the dainty, neat eater. Happy 1st Birthday, Livvie!

One More For the Road...

After much deliberation (and prayer), I have decided to take a (possibly permanent) break from cakes. The one pictured here is my "last" one from a "French Pink Poodle" birthday party this weekend. (And no, the party wasn't for a poodle...apparently it's a new trend in little girl birthday parties to "adopt" a stuffed pink poodle and base the party theme around it)

Although I enjoy the creative aspects of cake decorating, anyone close to me can testify that I am noticeably more stressed when I have a cake order. I originally started making cakes in hopes of being able to make good birthday cakes for my own kids (and husband), and I feel like I (for the most part) now posses that ability.

For now though, I think I'm going to do a little more sewing, and most importantly, spend more time loving on my kiddos, soaking up every second that I can while they're still little enough to want me to. (Meryl Streep's "Time Slipping Through My Fingers" tore me UP when I saw "Mamma Mia!" If you've seen it, I'm sure you'll understand, and if not, download the song from I-tunes, and you'll "get it" in about 20 seconds)

Recap of AA & Uncle Trae's Wedding

I survived the wedding almost completely unscathed! I say "almost" because I am still dealing with post-wedding bustle insomnia. I guess my body is still conditioned to the late-night demands it was functioning with last week (I don't think I went to bed before 2am all week long...which is not normal for me!) So, since I'm awake at 2:30am and blogging generally wears me out, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by filling everyone in on the events of the weekend.

First off, it would be an understatement to say that my sister looked breath-taking...but anyone who knows her wont find that at all hard to believe.
The cake turned out better than I had hoped (thanks to some help from my good friend, and former cake decorating partner in crime, Katy Garner). Mom G helped me hand-roll homemade marshmallow fondant pearls earlier in the week (the rest of the cake is iced in buttercream), Mom R and Grandmother watched both kids all day Thursday while I baked and decorated the cakes (making good use of all 4 ovens in the church kitchen, which, as a bonus, meant I didn't have to move the cake after it was decorated!)

And in case you're curious, I wasn't in the least bit bothered by watching it be hacked to bits and served on plates. It thrilled me to watch people eat it and smile.

Norah has now officially joined the ranks as a veteran flower girl. She bonded almost immediately with Trae's cousins' daughter (an 8-time flower girl vet, herself), and Keri took her under her wing.

AA put her foot down and insisted that N have her hair in her "trademark" pigtails. (Which I was thankful for, because when her hair was styled like Keri's, she really didn't look like herself, at all!)

I got so choked up when N walked down the aisle calm as a cucumber, dropping petals (mostly one at a time...at a MUCH slower pace than Keri, but it was sweet). For being just 2 and a half, I thought she was beautiful, brave, and did a great job. Thanks to a suggestion by my cousin, Melissa, we put fruit snacks and candy in the bottom of her basket, so that when she reached the front of the chapel she could just sit down and eat them. This worked great for a few minutes, but I guess Foree's ceremony made her drowsy because she eventually laid out on the stage, on her stomach, spread-eagle, resulting in a hasty retrieval by Aunt Paige. (And I'll add, I was SO thankful that N's reaction to Paige's nabbing her was a whispered, "Hi, Aunt Paige!" and not a scream of protest like I had feared it would be) (The two cute girls on the left are Trae's twin nieces, Abbie and Gracie, who are three months older than N)




Even Eli got decked out for the wedding. His necktie (which cost a whopping $1.99 at the Children's Place outlet) was a big hit with all the ladies. (And let me tell you, he worked it--- little charmer that he is!)He even conned one lady into slipping him some cake! (By the way, the flurry of white in the lower right of the photo is Norah fleeing the scene.)




E was very aggreable about having his pictures taken (I got the feeling he knew he was the cat's meow)





Note: Eli's Daddy looks equally dashing in a necktie (and since that is a rare occurrence, I made sure to take a few photos!)

All-in-all, it was a great weekend. We're thrilled for Amanda and Trae as they start their new lives together and were thankful to be a part of their celebration.

Recent Cakes

Sunflower-themed shower cake (inspired by an old painting hanging in my Gramps' house--Amanda, you know the one!)

When the client came to pick it up, Norah said, "Happy birthday!" to her. (This is due to the fact that she usually asks for a piece of the cakes I make, and my standard reply is, "Oh, sorry sweetheart...this is X's birthday cake"..and she always backs off, because she can understand that a birthday cake is "sacred". As a result, she now thinks that any cake I make is for someone's birthday, and therefore, has started wishing each one "Happy Birthday" whether it actually is, or not.)

And this one was for butterfly
-themed 2nd birthday party last weekend.

Shower Cakes

Last Saturday, I helped give a bridal shower for my little sister, Amanda. Her cake is pictured at left. (I know it might seem like a random choice of design/colors, but I made it to match her shower invitations)









And this one's for you, Sheridan. It is the cake from the Tippens' shower from a few weeks back. They adopted sweet, baby Julia from China, so the hostesses requested a "Panda" cake. The green shoots surrounding the bears are supposed to be bamboo, and the writing on the sides of the cake are the Chinese symbols for "baby".

...And More Cake

This was the most fun week (in cakes) I've had in a while. Three cakes, all with different designs than "usual". It was a nice break from the monotony of the norm.

The first cake was for a baby shower for our good friends the Joneses. It was my first experience making marshmallow fondant. I have to admit, once I finished, I worried that people might think it was a bit barbaric to eat a baby-shaped cake, in celebration of an upcoming birth...but thankfully, that didn't seem to phase anyone. (The nose, all ten toes, and even 1 1/2 arms were devoured, in addition to most of the rest of the cake!)



The second cake was a referral (friend of a friend), who requested a "Hot Pink, Black, and Turquoise Girls' Rock-esque" cake. The sides are supposed to be a leopard-ish print, in case you cant tell.

And for those of you who may have wondered what ever happened to those two, cute kids you used to like reading about on this blog...don't worry, I'm finished posting cake photos (at least for a few days), so I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled program, "The Chronicles of Norah and Eli."

Up, Up, Up With the Fish!

"We can have lots of good fun if you wish, with a game that I call, 'Up-Up-Up with the fish!'".


"Put me down!" said the fish.
"This is no fun at all!
Put me down!" said the fish,
"I do not wish to fall!"

I LOVE Dr. Seuss, (Thankfully, so does Norah) so I was thrilled when a precious friend from church ordered a "Cat in the Hat"-inspired cake for her daughter's 5th birthday. Nothing like a good children's book cake to re-ignite my cake creativity! It was such a fun cake to make!

Let Them Eat Cake...or Not

Jason's birthday was Thursday, so to celebrate, he had had a "guys night", complete with video games and snacks.

I always get a big kick out of making J's birthday cakes because the #1 reason I started making cakes was so that I could create original/special birthday cakes for my own husband/kids.

This year he's been really into "Warhawk", a PS3 game; so a Warhawk cake seemed to fit the bill.


Since the game is largely about fighter airplanes (and I'm not the world's greatest artist), I cheated and had an edible photo scanned from his video game box. The words around the sides all relate to the game ("Pocket_Sand" is his handle, "T2P" is his clan name, and KDR: 5.73 is a game stat. The back of the cake reads, "Wingman", which is J's current rank)

Jason loved it...and so did the guys. A little too much, I'm afraid. When I returned home after the party (it's was guys-only), the cake was still fully in tact. Not a piece gone. Anyone want some cake?

This Week in Cakes

I had two fun new cake designs this week, so I thought I'd share. The first was for 4 year-old Karis, and the second was for her 9 year-old sister, Melody.












Their amazing (and brave) mother had both (separate) parties on the same day! What a woman! I was worn out just making the cakes!










Both designs were taken from napkins that matched the party decor. It was fun to do something so different and whimsical!

Cakes, Cakes, & More Cakes!

It was a BUSY weekend for cakes, but I got to try several new designs, so I really enjoyed myself!





1st Birthday cake (and matching smash cake) for Lathan
















Castle Cake for Emma












"Ooo La La Girly Cake" for Avery












And a new purse cake for Kylie

Happy Friday!

It's been a great day. GORGEOUS outside. (I think the high was 84...which is still crazy when you think that just last Friday we woke up to snow) Spent some time talking with my little buddy...








Sweet girl took a good nap...











And I got my cake orders for the week out of the way. Next on our agenda-- a family walk to our neighborhood park so Norah can "stomp on the bridge" and scour the grounds for squirrels (there are always tons, and she's getting quite proficient at spotting them, even high up in the trees!)

The Babysitter

I don't think Norah's quite ready for me to leave her home alone with Eli, but she sure does a great job entertaining him! I am so thankful that she looks at Eli as her "little buddy", and not competition or her "annoying little brother" (at least not yet).



N showed E how to make the overhead toys jingle. And he watched her, soaking in all the new playtime strategies she had to offer.


And Mommy got not one...











not two...













but three cakes finished!