whata pinata.

I love pinatas. I have such fond memories of being little and going to birthday parties with candy filled donkeys hanging from strings. I never had one of my own - I have only had one birthday party and nada pinata. But I love them. I had decided that I would get one , but I had to change my mind once I began to dream of all the little 3 year olds trying to bash it open and then becoming increasingly frustrated when nothing happens, because you know, they're only 3. Hmmm, so I decided that I would make one and make it not so hard to break open. I could only find instructions to make them in the shape of a balloon. boring. Eventually I decided to make mini individual pinatas for each child to destroy. I have got the first few layers done and as soon as they are fully dry, I will be able to fill them up with goodies. Hopefully they are not too fragile to hold all the loot I have to go inside. I will be so mad. These bad boys have taken up a lot of my time. I need to figure out a creative way to display them at the party. They are so colorful and will make nice decorations. I had thought that I would hang them from a tree or something, but they ended up being much bigger than I had planned. Any ideas?

Troy made some Miso soup with prawns for lunch and it was so pretty I just had to take a picture. Delish!

craziness

These past couple of weeks have been insane. Actually, this time of year is always insane in our family. Four years ago today, my handsome husband and I were married (Happy Anniversary honey!!!) and then three months later we were pregnant. Purposely pregnant, but maybe not planned so perfectly. Marnie was due to be born the day after our one year anniversary - she was instead born 2 days later on the 26th. Once Marnie turned a year old, Troy and I decided we were ready to have another baby. We wanted our kids to be very close to two years apart plus a couple of months so that their birthdays would be a bit apart. We were spot on this time and Ethan was due to arrive July 9th. We would have a couple of weeks between Marnie's day and Father's Day and then yet another couple of weeks until the Fourth of July and E's day. He had other plans though and make it into this world six weeks ahead of schedule. So, now all five events are scrunched in together. We do the best we can. Usually this time of year goes something like we forgo Mother's Day activities and Troy and I are lucky if we are able to go to dinner on our anniversary...we try to make the birthdays special but simple... and then somehow Troy ends up with some crazy kind of expensive Father's Day gift. I'm not sure how this happened. Last year: Mother's Day = nada. Father's Day = a great big gas grill. Hmpf.

This year however, it is going down a bit differently. Sort of. We are once again not really 'doing' too much for our anniversary. We are shipping the kids off to Chicago this afternoon and spending a whole day and a half by ourselves. Did you catch that? a.l.o.n.e. I am so freaking excited to sleep in tomorrow that I cannot even put it into actual words. It just keeps coming out ploopengotten smattenhoop. Nope, this year we have chosen to forsake our selfish Mom and Pop holidays for a huge kiddie bash. We are doing it up toddler style. In a mere two weeks, our house will be filled with loved ones celebrating our children's lives. I am pretty stoked about this event. Right now however, I am selling off all my worldly possessions on ebay in order to pay for it. Okay, so not all of them. Maybe in fact it is just a bunch of crap. Crap for sale.

Updates on all things Marnie & Ethan Birthday 2007 to come...

birthday banner banter

The family and I attended a birthday party last Sunday in the burbs. Birthday parties are of great interest to me right now as our big shin dig looms in the near future. I am really big on making things *extra* special and memorable (especially when it comes to my kiddos). This party that we went to was for the son of my dearest friend all throughout high school and up to now. We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do, it's just like we were together yesterday. Anyhow, her son turned one and we were able to make it out to the celebration. The thing that caught my eye was this large and lovely banner that she had made to wish her son a happy 1st. It was made of fabric and very cute. I had never thought to do this - but what a clever idea! Every year at the child's birthday, you can bring out the banner to hang up. With permission, I am totally stealing this idea for the kid's party. I am going to make one for each - in case they decide to do separate parties in the future or what have you. I am going to take the sentimental factor a bit farther however. When Marnie was a baby, I was so crazy about having this beautiful little girl that I went a little overboard on cute outfits. I have never had the heart to give away many of the dresses even though I have no plans of having more children. They have been sitting in the basement, collectively growing in numbers as she outgrows her still adorable dresses. The same kind of goes for Ethan too - I still have all of his baby clothing, however being only 11 months, there is not as much of a stash. Back to my point - I had the idea to use this clothing for the lettering on the banner. I think it will add a bit more to
the feeling of the banner.



Okay, so I still have quite a bit to do. I bought some felt today for the trim and to outline the letters. I hope that it doesn't take too much time, because I still have another to do. I have to say though that this project thus far has been super easy and really cheap. It really is not going to cost much more than one of those stupid plastic birthday banners and this will look much better hanging off the deck. The only thing that really sucks about this banner is how emotional it was to cut up her little dresses. I am not sure if it is due to the realisation that my baby is becoming a big girl or that I am not hanging on to them anymore in case I have another baby girl. Whatever the reason, it made me cry - a lot.