Pumpkin Sioree

What do you get when you combine fabulous fall weather, a visit to the pumpkin farm, food, pumpkin decorating and carving, and grandparents?  That's right - a pumpkin soiree!  Here's a glimpse into our little family celebrating fall the pumpkin way.

The business of picking pumpkins.

The business of lunch.

Cake Balls.  If you've never tried cake balls, visit Bakerella's website.  Don't walk.  Run!

And, now for the business of pumpkin decorating and carving.

The final products. 

Happy Fall, Y'all! :)

Emma Kate's Abby Cadabby Party

After several late nights planning and creating and digging myself out of a sea of tissue paper, Emma Kate's second birthday party turned out just the way I envisioned it.  When Emma Kate chose Abby Cadabby as the theme, I wasn't sure how to feel.  This was our first "character" party, and while Abby C. is an adorable tutu wearing fairy, I can't just order a "party in a box" and be done with it.  Nope, I love to create, and plan, and put my own touch on things.  So, here is my spin on an Abby Cadabby birthday.

My Little Fairy.

The Dessert Table. 

We had the party at Mimi and Papa's house on the front porch and in the front lawn.  The dessert table, as well as the rest of the porch featured these cutesy pom poms hanging from the ceiling.  You can find tutorials online, and I got the tissue paper from Nashville Wraps.

The dessert table needed a tutu, because Abby Cadabby wears a tutu of course!

Since Emma Kate's birthday is in the fall, I thought s'mores would be a fun idea.  But, they are messy to make, yada, yada, yada.  And, since marshmallow pops are popular right now, I had an idea for s'mores pops.  Thanks to my good friend, Google, I discovered that I wasn't the first person to think up these yummy treats, but I'm still pretty proud of myself.  They are super easy to make: Stick 2 marshmallows on a skewer, dip in melted chocolate, roll in graham cracker crumbs, devour.

For the meal, I stuck with a fall theme - chili and hot dogs with all their fixings.  You can see Abby Cadabby showed her face in the way of those cute little buckets I found in the Dollar Spot at Target.

And, she showed up here too.

These are the centerpieces I made for the guest tables and food table.  They are limbs Justin, Grace, Emma Kate, and I gathered on an evening walk.  Then, I hot glued tissue paper flowers and butterflies to them.

I found a tutorial for a tissue paper wreath (told you I had a sea of tissue paper!) at A Blissful Nest.  I changed it slightly though - instead of poking a hole into the foam wreath to glue the tissue paper squares into, I just hot glued them right on.  Grace was super proud of herself for helping with this project.

Favors.

We had kids from 2 months old to 13 years old at the party, and some of them included boys, so I had to get creative on favors.  The little girls were easy - fairy wings.  For our 2 babies, I made flower headbands, and a more sophisticated flower headband for the older girls that included wrapping a plastic headband with ribbon and making a flower out of silk fabric.  The little boys received a magic wand and a "magic growing animal," and the big boys received a brain teaser cube and a set of playing cards.  Abby Cadabby = Fairy = Magic.  Get the connection between it all?

Still cashing in on fall - my daddy got us a few hay bales from his hay field for the kids to sit on, eat at, and play on.  They were cheap entertainment, and I would have never imagined they would be such a hit!

This was the stance Emma Kate took as soon as we started singing "Happy Birthday" and didn't turn around until the song was over.

Thanks for enduring so many pictures!  I hope you enjoyed them, and Happy Birthday to my precious fairy!

The Royal Celebration

Grace's Princess Party was a blast!  Our family gathered for a fun filled, tantrum free day celebrating Grace turning 3.  That tantrum free part is probably the biggest blessing these days! ;)  Enjoy pics from the par-tay!

The royal invitation

Recipe for princess party: tulle, feathers, beads, repeat

Closeup of the centerpieces

The mantle

I fell in love with this party ware set as soon as I saw it!

The candy buffet and Emma Kate's favorite part of the party.  As the adults went around, Emma Kate stayed near the ground gathering dropped candy and stuffing it into her mouth as fast as she could.  That's my girl!

The favors:  Tiara and Wand, Notebook and Tiara Pen, Checkers, and Foam Sword

The guest of honor

Princess Grace and Princess Emma Kate

Applique shirts and ruffle pants made by my friend, Mandy, at fashiondeeva.etsy.com

Grace and her BFF, Sarah coloring at the fun table

Grace, Emma, Trenton, Emma Kate, and Jacob playing with blocks

Kaitlyn, Kayla, and Ethan chowing down

Mmmm, strawberries!

Princesses don't always sit like princesses when it comes time for present opening.

Aunt Andrea showing the girls how the Barbie cash register works.  "Clean up on aisle 2."

Watch out, American Idol!

It's a sister act!

What's in this one?

Princess dress up clothes and accessories!

Modeling birthday gifts?  Nope.  Playing momentary dress up?  Nope.  Just a regular Tuesday at Princess Grace's castle.

Thank you so much to our family and friends for making Grace's birthday so special!