Recovery

If I never see another cupcake again it may be too soon.

All in all the party went off without a hitch. We had several no shows but all in all we had 11 kids and several adults. The weather was perfect, the activities were a hit, and clean up wasn't that bad. I swore to myself that I was going to do the preparty pictures that you always see on the idea blogs but that just didn't happen. I wish I had more pictures to show of some of the little touches I added like the cake pops from bakerella (which were not as easy as they looked but very yummy and cute enough in the end), the t-shirt that I appliqued for Emily (which is now ruined by the craft paint used to decorate the aprons but was SOO cute for the day and super easy), and several other things.

It was a lot of fun and very memorable but I am glad that it is over. Guess what else is over. NIGHTS!! You cannot believe the relief that washes over me everytime I think about the fact that for the rest of the year Bret will be home in the evening during the week. This morning was a little annoying when he set the alarm for 5:30 and was up and about before six. Of course after he got out of the shower he thought I needed to also be up and around. Nothing worse than someone gently telling you "your going to be late" when in reality for over a month you haven't even cracked an eye open to hit the snooze for another 20 minutes. It was good to be up earlier as it made getting work on time/early easier. The rest of the week looks so normal that I don't even know what to do with myself.

Then there's next week. So you remember how I was complaining about Bret going to KS without me and leaving me with two kids for a week? Well, word spread that one of the Heskett's were going to be in KS and not the grandkids and we couldn't have that right? So after weeks of looking at plane tickets and shaking our heads (even after offers of money to pay for their tickets) Bret has decided to drive back to KS with the kids...by himself.

So 1) Bret is going to drive the entire way with both kids by himself
2) I am the only one not going back to KS
3) I have never been away from both of my kids for longer than a day let alone an entire week and several states in between
and 4) I am going to be here by myself for a week with no husband or kids

I am still not 100% sure how I feel about this. I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do while they are gone (and it involves paint and maybe carpet) but we shall see. I will be happy if I don't turn into a mopey blob for the whole week that they are gone and try to relish in the relaxation that I should be taking advantage of. We shall see.

Emily has spoken

A very important day in a little girl's life is getting close and thus begins the planning. We gone back and for 10934806745082 times between candy, princess, fairies, butterflies, back to princess, to finally decide on her 5th birthday party theme. Drum rolls please.....Emily has chosen cupcakes as her theme (without a ton of persuasion from mom but I will admit that I did have some say).

I am thrilled with the theme and have begun my planning and preparing for this unforgettable party. Bret has set the budget and so I have begun my shopping. Yesterday I bought this



to make for the adults who will be at the party. I also got a really good coupon from Oriental Trading company that gave me 15% off my order and free shipping so I made some purchases there as well. Just in case you are curious here is the outline for the party:

Girls decorate aprons
Eat snacks
Decorate cupcakes
Make sprinkle people
Pinata

The aprons are from Oriental Trading and I was little disappointed that they were not white/canvas colored. They were sold out of those and only had colored ones to choose from. I looked a couple of other places but couldn't really find anything in our price ranges. So colored aprons to decorate it is. I also got some fun self adhesive jewels, puffy paint, etc to decorate them with.

For snacks we usually have Emily's favorite finger foods (fruit tray, vegetable tray, meat/cheese/crackers, etc, etc).

Emily and I will make the cupcakes in advance and have the frosting and toppings ready to go. I saw a really cute idea of using small muffin tins with liners for the different toppings. There is also a lady at the farmer's market that sells the most amazing variety of sprinkles. I have been promising Emily that we would go and pick a bunch of different ones out (they are pretty cheap too). I also got little cupcake boxes so that the girls can take home one of their creations as well.

The sprinkle people is the one craft that I have to work with a little before the actual party. I saw the most adorable idea in one of my magazines to make sand people using colored sand, empty plastic bottles, and things like funny hair/eyes/pom poms/etc. They were super cute. I like this idea because we have pretty much everything we need for this activity. The only hang up is that our sand it not colored...yet. I have been reading online about how to color your own sand (cause we have lots of sand) so I will let you know as I experiment on how it goes.

I really wasn't going to do a pinata this year but Emily INSISTED. To her that is the epitome of a birthday party. I am not having much luck finding a cupcake pinata (that doesn't have a 1 or 2 on it) for a reasonable price. I have, however, found a couple of tutorials on how to make your own. We will see. Speaking of not finding anything I am also not finding any tableware that doesn't have a 1 or 2 on it. So I am probably just going to go with solid colors or maybe just a generic Happy Birthday.

For invitations I found a really cute (and cheap) photo card at Walmart to use and have already ordered them. We are well on our way to getting this party ready.

On other party news I am helping throw a baby shower for one of the residents. The mom to be really likes monkeys so they are having a jungle type theme....but it is a girl. I am responsible for decorations and favors among other things. I am still trying to come up with a cute favor idea that is super affordable (cause there are going to be like 50 guests and it adds up pretty quick). I did find some super cute jungle stuffed animals at OTC for a good price that will look awesome placed around the area and I know that my diaper cake will be lots of fun too. It is slowly coming together but I am always open for cute ideas.