Birthday Parties Past

Generally speaking, I am an ANTI-theme kind of person, or at least I used to be. I still cling to simplicity when it comes to room design and decor (no Winnie the Pooh or Noah's Ark for me), but as you're about to see--birthdays are a "whole 'nother" story. Since I never blogged about Noah's birthday party last year, and now we're about to have yet ANOTHER party, I've decided to go ahead and go through all of 'em. Oh, the fun!

Noah's 1st birthday: Cows

I chose this theme based solely on what Noah seemed interested in (which wasn't very obvious, considering he was just a BABY). About a month before his birthday, though, he pointed to a large cow-shaped pillow on a shelf in Walgreen's and looked at me inquisitively. I said, "That's a cow. It says Mooooo." He thought this was pretty funny and immediately tried it himself. (I'll never forget how cute his version was). From that point on he noticed every single cow we came across. And a theme was born! I just happened to find invitations at Wal-Mart I could print up myself that were "the cow jumping over the moon."

I made a simple cow-head-shaped cake and stamped cows all over a white paper tablecloth.

There were several farm/cow-themed gifts. And we had family and a few close friends there to see him have his VERY first taste of sugar. The fact that I had to BATHE him after he had his cake is a testament to how much he enjoyed that first taste!




2nd birthday: Trains

By the time his 2nd birthday rolled around, it was EASY to choose a theme. This boy was obsessed with trains!

I made a big engine out of an empty appliance box just for fun. We held the party at our neighborhood park/playground on Easter Sunday right after his nap. His favorite food was (and still absolutely IS) pizza, so we had Domino's deliver right to the pavilion.

The party favor (for his one little friend) was a train whistle and a little bag of goodies, which I forgot to give to him. (This has happened on more than one occasion!) Family was there again, along with the same friends. And I made a long train cake using mini loaf pans, several different colors of frosting, and cookie/candy decorations. Noah loved it!

3rd birthday: N is for Noah

Noah had learned his letter sounds four weeks after his second birthday (no joke), so this entire year was FULL of discovering the letters that were ALL around us. He pointed them out (and identified them) on every store front, every street sign, and every vehicle with a logo. It was delightful! SO this year's theme was easy, too. Here was his invitation:

I put out little signs everywhere that said "P is for Piano," "D is for Door," "C is for Cupcake," and so on. Party favors were white T-shirts I personalized with iron-on first initials (a capital and a lower-case) I made on the computer. This time we had a family party on Sunday night and then a mini "friend" party on Monday morning. I did myself a favor and ordered cupcakes this time around. Monday's party was so fun. He had three little friends from church come over (with their parents) and they played with play dough and letter cookie cutters, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, took pictures in the new shirts, and ate cupcakes. Like a glorified playdate, but with a birthday song!





4th birthday: Cars (this was before the Disney Pixar movie)

Our boy was continuing in the typical boy kind of way by the time this birthday rolled around. This time, I let Noah decide his theme all on his own. It was an easy choice for him.

It was definitely a BOY'S party. I made the invitations out of plain construction paper and a white crayon, literally throwing them together late one night and mailing them the next morning! (Why do I have to do everything last minute? Or--a better question--why do all my ideas only come to me at the last minute?)

Paul and our friend Jeff hung a tire swing in the backyard. We put another real tire on the food table, and I placed a shiny silver (plastic) tray right in the center of it, like it was a hubcap, on which we served Paul's freshly-grilled "hubcap" burgers. We held it outside in our backyard and on the deck. The kids played relay races in little cardboard car cutouts and a tire-changing game I made. (Wish I had a picture of that one, because I don't think I can remember how it was played.) We also played "Hot Wheels" (instead of Hot Potato) to a Woodie Guthrie song called "The Car Song." The kids got to keep their Hot Wheels vehicle (party favor) when they got "out" of the game. The rest of the favor was a small chunk of homemade play dough (in the shape of a car) and some car-shaped chocolates wrapped in Nascar foil. Once again, I ordered cupcakes and then inserted two checkered racing flags (from Oriental Trading) in each. I'm just sick there aren't any actual party pictures. I don't really know what happened. Except for the fact that I was WITH the kids continually throughout this party. Helping with games and stuff. And I guess I never thought about asking someone to take pictures. So sad.

5th birthday: Noah's Pizzeria

This was a "Make your own pizza" party.

Our house was ENTIRELY too small for this one, but despite overcrowding and running out of food, Noah really enjoyed it. Paul dressed up in a green apron, a chef's hat, and a black (very Italian-looking) mustache. Oh, the kids LOVED that! I made up a "menu" on black foam board to look like a chalkboard menu. (It got a little smudged in the garage afterward.)

We asked our friend, who is a co-owner of a pizza restaurant in town, if we could borrow those fat cheese and pepper shakers to decorate the table, which was covered in a checkered tablecloth. I also hung a string of pizza slice lights over the table. (They were SO cute!!) Favors were homemade pizza-shaped chocolate candy (I found a pizza slice mold on Ebay because they. have. everything.) and a chef's hat and apron, which the kids wore while making their pizzas. And I made a giant cookie cake and a batch of cupcakes, all to look like pizza.

The "pepperoni" is made from fruit leather cut out with a Crayola marker lid (resourceful, huh?)

The "sausage" is made from chocolate chips placed in a blender and pulsed a couple of times. (I swear, this just CAME to me in the middle of the night as I was up baking, and it worked!)

The Cookie Cake

Emeril Lagasse's recipe (made plain)

Friend Ethan making his own pizza

I even found these great thank you notes!

6th birthday: Fish

Noah had never been fishing before and so we decided his birthday would be as good a time as any for his first fishing experience. We decided to meet up at Pinnacle Mountain State Park and hope for a picnic table.

It was a little risky, I guess, looking back, since it just so happened that our scheduled party day was the very FIRST beautiful, nice day of spring we had had. Perfect day for an outdoor party at the park; unfortunately, everyone else thought so, too! So our major obstacle on this day was that some of our guests had a TON of trouble actually GETTING to the party site, because the park reached capacity and they closed the gates. (I didn't know that was even a possibility.) In fact, one little friend never got to come because they wouldn't let him in unless his family parked blocks and blocks away (and they had a baby to tote as well). That still hurts my heart!!

We did get to the party site in time to get ourselves an awesome DOUBLE picnic table right by the bank. It was the perfect location, aside from the fact that it was CRAAAAZY windy!! Anyway, we had asked that the fathers please be present to help with baiting, etc., and it was so nice to see each dad out by the water helping their children learn to fish.

The bad thing was it was a little early in the season to catch anything, so it was an exercise in patience and...disappointment. Awww... BUT we took turns swinging at the fish-shaped pinata and eating tuna fish sandwiches, goldfish crackers, Swedish Fish gummies, and a fish-shaped cake I made.

The party favor was a cane pole and a bag of candy. And I even found these custom thank you notes on Ebay:

And then!!

Then it was YEAR SEVEN!! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: Birthday Parties Past and Present ('Cause I know by now you're tired of reading...You need a break.)

**Warning: If I find more pictures in the future, I'll probably add them to this post, because as I've said before...this blog is as much my digital scrapbook than anything. So you may get notices of new posts, when it's really just me finding some more stuff. I apologize in advance.

Project 365: Week 20

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day

Okay. I'll admit I didn't take these pictures ON Sunday. Mother's Day itself was a little weird due to the fact that Paul had to go to the office to do final preparations on a HUGE case. We did, however, eat lunch at my favorite pizza hangout. (See what a cool mom I am? I requested pizza; not some frou-frou restaurant. Cool, I tell ya!) As soon as we got home, Paul headed out and then didn't return until nine something. But back to the pictures. This was my rockin' Mother's Day gift.

BEFORE

AFTER

Notice anything different about me????????!!!

(Poor Atticus. It was awful bright out there for his baby blues.)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Our sweet friend made us a Chicken Pot Pie and this was the top!! Is that not something?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Today I was so excited to have our Digi-Block Demonstration Counter up and running again. (Our hundreds place wheel had a broken plastic part, so it wouldn't turn.) After contacting customer service for a part, they sent me a new wheel free of charge! Don't you love it when that happens?

Oh! Digi-Blocks are a math manipulative I fell in love with when I went to the NCTM conference one year (long, long ago) as a second-grade teacher. They're especially great for teaching place value and regrouping. If you live near me and are homeschooling your child and are needing some assistance on the whole regrouping thing, let me know! (Maybe we'll do a video demo sometime. That'd be fun!)

And then...these cards came in the mail today...from my adorable niece (top) and nephew (bottom cover).

Preciousness like this always makes me cry. That and hormones.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Today the kids wanted to have a picnic outside for lunch. So we did. It was windy. The picnic didn't last long since the food kept blowing away.

Oh, yeah. And we had Baked Oatmeal again today. I finally posted the recipe here.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

We had a make-up soccer game tonight instead of soccer practice. I know I've said this before, but Noah is quite the scrapper. No fear.

Stealing the ball

Setting up for...

this!!!!!

We all worked up such an appetite after the soccer game, we headed to Cracker Barrel. There we had a little game of checkers.

And Gabe was fascinated with the "dee-uh" on the wall.

Friday, May 14, 2010

I cleaned the kitchen ALL morning long today. Scrubbed cabinet doors, organized, and mopped. And then I learned never to start the water to running in the sink (that "grammar" was so Southern, y'all...) for the mop water and then walk off to check on the kids, because inevitably there will be a dirty diaper waiting for me. And once I get that changed, I'll need to take the two-year-old to the potty, and then by the time I remember to walk back to the kitchen...

......uuuummmmmmmm....

...I'll probably find that the water is all the way up to HERE!!!

Yes. THE. VERY. EDGE! Whoa. Close call.

But Atticus had fun with it.

Oh! And then I caught these two sitting on Nana's chaise lounge. Noah wanted to read Saylor a story. And she wanted to hear it! It made my heart happy to think how Nana would have loved to know her chaise was being used this way.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The other day Noah came in after playing with some kids in the neighborhood. He told me that he and another kid had planned to have a Bible study on the corner on Saturday at 1:00. I was thinking, "Oh, really. Mm-hmm. I bet." He said, "We're going to study Matthew." I laughed so hard (inside). I really didn't think that either one of them would remember.

But they did.

Is that not the cutest?

That's my week, folks! I'm linking up at Sara's for the "project."

WFMW: Baked Oatmeal aka Oatmeal Bake

Several people have asked me for this recipe, and I just simply forgot to get around to posting about it. But we had it this morning for breakfast, which reminded me. This is basically MY favorite way of making this. There are several versions "out there," but this specific method is what truly works for me. (I'd give credit where it is due, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got this exact recipe.)

The night before you plan to have this for breakfast, mix 6 cups rolled oats with 2 cups buttermilk. Cover loosely with a dish towel and soak overnight.

The next morning, crack 4 eggs into a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Then, using a wooden spoon, break apart the soaked oats a bit. They will be pretty clumpy and hard to stir. You just want to break them up enough that when you add your dry ingredients, they will be evenly distributed.

Now add 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon to the oats and mix well.

Melt 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of coconut oil. (If you don't have coconut oil, use 2 sticks of butter. But know this: virgin coconut oil is SO good for you!!) I melt them separately, but you CAN melt them together. You'll just need to start the butter to melting first, because coconut oil melts FAST, and you don't want it to get too hot. Then set them aside to cool a bit.

Next, take two of these beauties. (Pears are good, too, or any other fruit combo. you'd like. I have a friend who even makes it with chocolate chips from time to time!)

Then chop or grate them. (I grate mine so I don't have to worry about babies choking on large clumps, etc.) Add the fruit and all its juice to the oat mixture.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch pan or, as in my case, a casserole that holds a comparable amount. (You can also smear coconut oil in the pan. Both ways work fine. If I'm using a metal pan, I like to line it with parchment paper first and then butter THAT.)

Lightly beat eggs with a whisk. Then Beat in 3/4 c. honey (or Sucanat). I personally like the rich taste the honey gives it, but it can get expensive using that much honey at once. Today I used 1/2 c. honey and 1/4 c. Sucanat. Just to be wild and crazy and actually branch out!! It was a success! (Whew!) Add the melted butter...

and oil slowly, while whisking quickly.

Now you can add the liquid ingredients to the oat mixture.

Looking good...

Spread the mixture into your buttered pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees.

Once baked and dished into individual bowls, I like to sprinkle with raisins (for those who can eat raisins) and then pour a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream on top. Stir and eat! Of course, Atticus eats his like this. No raisins and no cream usually ('cause he's already drinking rich, whole raw milk).

I've found I can really save time in the morning if I'll go ahead and do some of the steps the night before, like wash and dry the apples (I could probably go ahead and grate them and stick 'em in the fridge, too), measure out the honey (or other sweeteners), set out the dry ingredients and measuring spoons (or even go ahead and measure them out), etc.

There are even more recipes for similar dishes on sites like Allrecipes.com, but THIS recipe is truly healthy, as it includes the grain-soaking step. I've mentioned this before, but soaking grains like oats first makes them as healthy as they are supposed to be. (You might have read that I try to do this in some of my other recipes.) Why soak?? Well, whole grains like oats (or whole wheat flour, brown rice, etc.) contain SO many good things for you--things that we genuinely NEED! But they also contain enzyme inhibitors, which make it difficult for you to digest the grains OR to absorb all those good things (minerals, fiber, vitamins, etc.). You see? Whole grains contain enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid that make it difficult for YOU to digest them properly and make it next to impossible for you to absorb the actual minerals/nutrients they contain. So, it's sort of pointless to bother with oats unless you're going to soak them. Aren't you glad to know that?

Okay! So. I hope you enjoy breakfast tomorrow...
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