Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

*love*ly things-rainbow birthday party

okay...so a rainbow birthday party doesn't technically fit into a valentine's theme. but i LOVE throwing parties. so parties belong on my love list!

i think we all know there is nothing new under the sun (rainbow??). i planned this party with the help of pinterest. how in the world did i EVER throw a party before pinterest? it makes it so much easier for this tired mama's brain. see my rainbow board here.

 

the invitation:

here is how the party started off. i wasn't sure i'd EVER get past this point.the look on jimmy's face told me he wasn't sure either. HA!

the first thing i did was the chandelier above the table.

i used the martha stewart hydrangea punch for the garland. i strung it onto embroidery thread. the paper fan flowers are from party city.

we did watercolors for the favors...i bought rainbow ribbon from michaels and used a studio calico stamp for the tags. note: these are a great and affordable favor, i found them at target for 97 cents.

the wreath for the front door (all supplies from michaels, minus the ribbon, which was from walmart):

the front room when you first come in the door, lanterns from oriental trading:

 i set up the plate/drink station on the bar in the front room:

straws from shop sweet lulu:

an overall shot of the table (please note what is happening underneath...HA!):

strung above the dining room (from target):

closeups of the table:

 

the cake and cupcakes were from the AMAZING cheryl at back in the day bakery. she doesn't normally do custom orders like this, but she made an exception and we are SO grateful!!

i purchased sadie's candle at shop sweet lulu.

as you enter into the den (martha stewart flowers):

party hats from target, i embellished them with a heart punch and jenni bowlin buttons:

crepe paper fringe leading into den...i won't even admit how long this took me+j to do. he's a bit of a..ahem...perfectionist?

the den (lanterns from oriental trading,fans from party city,garland above window from party city):

as far as activities go, we had manicures:

and a pinata (yes that is a BULL. don't ask. i initially was concerned that sadie chose a jackass and/or llama pinata until jimmy noticed the ring in the nose):
 

  and my personal favorite..an inflatable twister! YESSSSS. we rented it from a local inflatable rental business:

everyone came in their finest rainbow-hued attire (sadie is dressed in  amy tangerine+maggie b) :

and some of the guests:

 

and my favorite shots of the sweet birthday girl:

  that FACE. man. photos from when everyone sings are always my favorite.

one more thing:

jimmy made a playlist for the party (the girls had a hilarious dance party at one point).

the playlist included fresh beat band, yo gabba gabba,rainbow connection, several versions of somewhere over the rainbow, and the rainbow song.

also...i gave the bigs a basket of sidewalk chalk and let them draw rainbows all over the driveway and sidewalk leading up to the house.

 

well, there you have it! i want to say how much FUN this was for me to do. i love throwing parties for my girls.

hope you all have a beautiful tuesday!

xxo

s

first cupcakes.

it was a super low key event. 2 balloons,

2 cupcakes from fresh market,

2 high chairs

2 one year olds

2 TOTALLY different personalities.

cate= mild,suspicious and kind of disinterested

lucy= thrilled. lucy went to town.

 

they are so funny. so different...and i LOVE that.

pretty sure that cate thinks lucy is nuts. :)

and i'm so glad i took a video...lucy's little excited noises are hilarious. :)

happy wednesday, y'all! xxo

 

c+l cupcake wars from stephanie howell on Vimeo.

what a year. (x2)

a year ago i gave birth to two baby girls. one was 6 lbs. 4 oz. and we named her Lucy Claire. one was 4 lbs 12 oz. and we named her Catherine Bennett.

i was scared. i didn't know how i was going to handle two babies.

i didn't know how i was going to handle four children under five.

one year ago they wheeled me into the operating room and i didn't know what to expect. i certainly didn't expect to deliver two babies in three pushes! i certainly didn't expect to not even know i was in labor (the babies were so big, i ALWAYS felt like i was having contractions!!). i certainly didn't expect to have no pain or recovery after the delivery. i think God knew i'd need my strength,ha!

a year ago jimmy and i had a quiet thanksgiving in a hospital room as we looked at our two daughters...marveled over them...and talked in hushed tones about the future.

everything about them, EVERYTHING...has been unexpected. from  the moment they told us they saw two heartbeats...everything has been a surprise.an adventure.

they have turned our worlds upside down.

they have taught us all more than we ever could have known.

and i NEVER could have anticipated how FUN this would be. watching them together is a blessing. it is so interesting, and wild, and exhausting, and funny, and scary, and did i mention exhausting?

i became a better mother this year. i became more patient, more loving, more able to just soak it all in.

they are my "gentle reminders" from God. my nudges.my reminders that i am not in charge. i am not the one that knows what is in store.

they are proof that WE CAN. every time we think we CAN'T handle something as a family, we do. they are proof that we are stronger, better than we think.

 

they are beautiful. they are wild. they are EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING. they have taught me that my love can MULTIPLY. my love has not been divided. i now love four little girls with more love than i knew i had.

 

they are our saving graces.

 

happy birthday, cate.

happy birthday, lucy.

thank you for lighting our lives and filling our hearts.

xoxo,mama

scrappy sunday 5/1-no-sew ice cream cone wrapper bday banner

(see post below for lisa leonard winner)

happy sunday and happy may day!

right now i'm working furiously on decorations/favors/etc. for miss harper's "may flowers" birthday party next weekend.

my slice has gone into overdrive i think. ha!!!

here's our dining room table right now. ACK! i have WAY too many ideas in my brain (and on my pinterest boards) and it's causing a bit of chaos. ha!

today i wanted to share a SUPER easy no-sew birthday banner i came up with.

as most of you know, i don't sew. at all. and learning right now would just add the icing to the stress cake. so i usually invent ways to make things without sewing.

when i saw these sweet ice cream cone wrappers at michaels, i snatched up a couple of packs right away knowing that i wanted to make a banner with them.

they are the perfect shape and colors for a birthday banner so that is what i had in mind, especially considering i have bday on the brain right now. :)

i grabbed a spool of my divine twine in aqua

a pair of scissors, and my EZ runner.

note: any dry adhesive would work nicely here. but it must be a strong one.the wrappers are very light weight, as is the twine...but i want it to last. that's why i prefer ez runners. i've never had anything fall off when i use it. another great adhesive to use would be glue lines of some sort.

before i made the banner, i snipped each cone down the side seam on both sides.

try really really hard not to be jealous of my non-manicured gluey hands. they were working hard and that does not =pretty. :)

 

i then applied a line of adhesive directly across the top of the inside of the cone wrapper.

 

the rest is pretty obvious, i placed a large piece of twine across the floor and just stuck the cone wrappers on the twine.

and the end result makes me (and the birthday girl, more importantly) very happy!

 

 

 

 

woohooo! easy peasy rice and cheesy :)

enjoy!

i'll have more birthday projects to share on wednesday!

have a beautiful sunday.

xxo

s

 

 

 

dreaming of pink

well the pinkalicious party went off without a hitch!

great fun was had by all...especially the party girl.

i had SO much fun too...and no nausea at all yesterday. i'm so very happy i was able to enjoy it and see the happiness on my angel girl's face.

table shots...

tissue flowers from prost to the host

 

 

 

the cupcakes were by tara at lewis jones market here in columbus...

didn't she do an AMAZING job recreating the cupcakes from the book??

 

marshmallow pops from hostess with the mostess!

 

 

 

the entry table...each kiddo got a gerbera daisy and bubbles for a favor:

 

 

the mantel:

 

 

pink tulle wound around twinkle lights:

 

i ripped the heads off of a bouquet of fake gerbera daisies and strung them on the twinkle lights:

 

and my sweet sweet FOUR year old (as of tomorrow)...harper elizabeth.

shirt by the amazing amy tangerine.

 

 

 

her face when everyone was singing to her almost broke my heart in two:

 

 

and if you are in my neck of the woods please PLEASE come by and get some jelly bellies fortheloveofallthatissacred

before we all go into a sugar coma.

much love and pink kisses to you!

xo


 

lovey dovey scrappy Sunday

Happy Happy Valentine's Day, sweet friends!

I hope you have a sweet, love-filled day. I'm so grateful for all of you!

I wanted to share some photos from Sadie's Birthday party yesterday. It was the first time I've been able to give either of my girls a real birthday party, and it was a blast!!

First the decor (which coincidentally is the scrappy part of my scrappy sunday post :0)

 

 

ribbon: martha stewart

foam doilies: oriental trading

medallions on white banner: making memories

roses on pink/red banner: hobby lobby.

super simple. lots of banners i saw online require sewing (which i don't know how to do and didn't have time to learn before the party), so I just strung them on ribbon. This Martha ribbon looks like old fashioned seam binding ribbon, i love it. I adhered the felt roses with big (multiple) glue dots.

 

 

ribbon: martha stewart

pink doilies: oriental trading

felt mini red hearts: hobby lobby

white doilies: baking section of grocery story

red doilies: dollar spot at the PX (our on post walmart-type store)

The white garland looks a tad sketchy (ha!) but this is the no-sew option. i took the white circle doilies, folded them in half, and wove the gold ribbon through the top. then i adhered the circle into a half circle by using glue dots.

so that's the scrappy (ish???) part of the post. here's some more pictures:

favors:

 

Cupcakes. Aren't they GORGEOUS?? They tasted just as wonderful as they looked. I found a photo online and worked with the pastry chef at Lewis Jones Food Market. She did a fantastic job, I was thrilled with them.

 

 

the birthday girl's HUGE cupcake had a "tutu" on it. I found this sweet tulle fringed ribbon at Michael's, it's total tutu ribbon!

the table:

 

i put layouts of sadie in the display piece on the back wall. it's a great way to show her growth AND an easy decor idea!

the cups for the pink lemonade:

 

 

 

i arranged the candy in cookie cutters from the dollar section of the PX.

valentine's bingo (with red hots as markers), and cookies for the winners:

 

and the sweet birthday girl!!!

 

 

shirt by the amazing Amy Tangerine,

Tutu and hairclip by Tiara's Tutus

She was SO SOOSOSOSOSOSO excited. When she woke up from nap and I told her it was party time, here's the face she made:

 

and one of both of my girls:
 

who could NOT stay away from the candy:

 

and when it was time to sing, someone got verrrrrry shy.

faker.

 

or maybe just a daddy's girl:

 

so there you have it. i think i need to have a valentine's themed party every single year.

it was too fun.

tutu fun. snort.

love you all, have a beautiful, happy, love day!

xxoo