The prince's 3rd birthday recap { finally }

{ THREE }

AND...  as of tomorrow it will be two weeks since the prince's 3rd birthday party and this mommy is finally getting around to telling all of you about it.

First things first...

No.  I didn't forget to post about it, we've just had a busy two weeks.

Second...  how about a picture of my sweet birthday prince!!

Third...  the dessert table { before I forget to share it with you }

I made the bunting out of newspaper and craft paints.

{ It says, "Carter is three"... in case you don't have x-ray vision to see through the balloons }

{ Cherry vanilla cupcakes* }

{ Train sugar cookies* }

{ Chocolate chip cookies* }

*all made by me

YUMMMMMM!

{ you may remember when I shared the inspirations for this party here }

And finally on to the party fun!!

The coloring station.

Thomas trains to play with or for some... { teething toys }

Of course there were presents to open...

{ reminder for next year...  do cake before presents because after having opened all of the presents someone didn't want to even blow out the candles on his cake }

My boys = { LOVE }

Last, but not least a few pictures of the cuties that we got to spend the day with...

{ best buddies, sharing in their love of choo-choos }

Seriously.  Those blue eyes. { LOVE }

And for those wondering what was served for lunch...

You'll have to check back this weekend for the details.

{ FYI, the food was eaten before I could remembered, to get any pictures }

But... there were some amazing recipes that I used and everyone LOVED them, 

so come back this weekend to see which ones they were!

Have a FABULOUS Friday, lovelies!!

Cookie baking with Grandma and Mommy.

And we're still on vacation { YAY! }

We just got back from spending the night at Grandma's house...  all of our little family including the puppy dogs got to go, usually it's just the hubby and the prince.

We had a wonderful time... 

some cookies were baked { by the prince, with help from Grandma & Mommy }

{ stirring the ingredients }

{ learning how to break an egg...  into the bowl }

{ more stirring... he's such a good stirrer }

{ this would be the face you get when you ask him to smile }

{ Mommy & the prince }

Lots of toy cars were played with, possibly by everyone... definitely the prince.

 And a certain prince played until he couldn't play any longer...

{ aren't they sweet?! }

We're hoping the weather clears up in the next few days so we can make a trip to the zoo

{ cross your fingers for us }

Have a wonderful week, lovelies!

A super busy staycation! { the first event of the week }

I'm on vacation for 10 whole days!!

Specifically a staycation and relaxation is kinda the last thing on the list for us this week.

The first event this week was the hubby's surprise birthday party...  it was a major success!!

{ Yes, he was totally shocked and surprised. }

See for yourself.

That look's saying, "thanks for the party, hunny!"

It might be hard to believe from this picture, but we didn't do thirty candles for fear of setting off the sprinklers in the restaurant { love you hubby }

He can't wait for a piece of the German chocolate cake I made specially for him.

A couple of the cuties that were at the party { smile }

And then there's the German chocolate cake I made for the special occasion...

I found the recipe at Une Deux Senses, get the recipe here...  it was delicious!

{ the hubby told me how good it was a couple of times... so that means it was AMAZING }

And in case you're interested in the frosting technique I used check it out here.  

Thank you again to all of the family and friends who helped us celebrate this special day for my hubby!!

Check back soon for some other exciting events from our week of vacation { smile }

The invites again, and oh! I added some finishing touches...

Just a little over a week until the prince's 3rd birthday party!!
And I think it's about time to start planning out my next week and a half so that I don't forget anything for this special party { smile }

I already shared the invitations that I designed for the special day with you here.  

But I haven't showed you what they looked like after I added some finishing touches, so here you go...

A few pieces of scrapbooking paper, some glue, velum paper and yarn to jazz them up.

I did a couple of versions as you can see.

It was really quite easy.
{ FYI } I got the idea for doing this from Project Nursery, you can check out their DIY tips here.

Have a great Tuesday, lovelies!

Easter { recap }

I know.  I know.

Easter was practically a week ago and I'm just now getting around to telling you about ours...

Well, first lets start with the cookies...

I had the best intentions to make some, really I did.

I even bought the Easter/Spring themed cookie cutters that I needed, 

but the time to make them... well that eluded me.

{ Unfortunately the medical things I've had going on lately have been needing my undivided attention }

But those things won't stop me from planning and executing my little prince's birthday party!!  Which is where my focus is now!

The other thing I've got to be completely honest about is Easter Sunday...

I took the camera with us to my mom-in-law's, but for some reason I never took it out of the bag it was packed in...  major fail!

It was a wonderful day filled with family, a rambunctious almost 3 year old and yummy food!

Good news is that we took pictures the night before as we colored/decorated eggs { yay! }

And here they are...

Happy Friday, lovelies!

{ quickie post } Appetizers perfect for any party...

How about some quick and yummy options for appetizers that you could serve at your next party...

I for one, will likely be making a few of these for one little prince's 3rd birthday!

{ one }  Antipasto skewers/kabobs via The Hungry Housewife

{ two }  Mini mac and cheese pies via The Curvy Carrot

{ three }  Mini corn dog muffins via Iowa Girl Eats

{ four }  Veggie and dip all-in-one

**simply poor a little dip in the bottom of a plastic cup 

and then place veggies standing up in the cup.

{ five }  Baked brie bites via Plain Chicken

{ six }  Pretzel bites via Beantown Baker

{ seven } Fruit skewers/kabobs

**choose whatever fruits you want, skewer them and you're done!

I hope you found something to inspire your next celebration... or maybe even a family meal!

Have a wonderful Wednesday/middle of the week, lovelies!

Invites are designed!

I'm pretty sure that sometime between now and my rambling about the prince's birthday plans, I mentioned that I had finally created/designed the perfect invitations for that same party!  And I even think that I had promised to share them with you...

Surely you have been waiting and hoping everyday for my next post to be the one.

Well the wait is over... thank god, I know.  { smile }

Ta da!!

I am more than pleased with the finished invites!  And they only took a few hours/days to get just perfect!  FYI, don't forget to make sure your file saved properly before exiting...  

Best part of this invitation is that I made it using Pixlr.com, an online photo editing service that's completely FREE!!  I highly recommend it if you don't want to invest a few hundred $$$ in software.

One more thing...

Picture via Sprinklebakes

I'll be using this Cherry Vanilla cake recipe for the cupcakes...  

SERIOUSLY could it get any yummier?!

Have a wonderful Friday, lovelies...

TGIF!!