WHM's Birthday

My baby is four. 

(That means, if you're keeping score, that I graduated law school four years ago. Took the bar exam four years ago.  PASSED it four years ago.) 

Two of those four years were spent at home with W and C, though, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the universe.

Still, my baby is four!

This photo actually shows two of the most important things in WHM's life these days:  "Fighter"man and Buzz "Wightyear". 

Look carefully to CAM's right and you will see WHM's hand.  He was 100% NOT into blowing out his candles.

--Jen

Super Why Party

As you know, I did very little advanced prep for this party.  It was a comedy of errors last week; every time I tried to do something, something happened.  So, baking the cake on Tuesday so I could dirty ice it Wednesday and decorate it Thursday or Friday?  We had no eggs.

Then we had no buttermilk.

Then I forgot to let the butter soften and didn't want to start baking a cake at 9 p.m.  5 a.m. comes early!

And then, yes, I ended up making the entire cake Friday.   I was up 'til 1, which really wasn't bad considering that I also had to make banners, Super Why masks, pretzels, cookies, and about a zillion other things.  Poor WHM, I was NOT on the ball for his party.  There was so much I wanted to do that I didn't do, and so much (his big Super Why welcome sign -- you'll see it in the photos below) that I wanted to do differently and better that just didn't happen, for lots of stupid reasons, but not the least of which wasbeing spread too thin and being a vicious combination of exhausted and lazy the past two weeks. 

Not to worry; despite my insane stress levels Saturday morning, things came together pretty well (even if not at all the way I had envisioned).

The best part of all, though, was how excited WHM was.  I mean, the kid was up with me at 6:30 Saturday morning, sitting on the couch while I did party stuff and everyone else slept.  He was just plain giddy that it was his party day.  It made everything worth it.  It was his own personal Christmas morning, and it was the first year I think he really got it.  It was so much fun to see him, and especially when it was just the two of us.

Here are some photos -- I've put descriptions in the captions.  And in the meantime, if you have wisdom about fondant technique, please share.  I'm desperate.  Both cakes this past month have been awful compared to what I was able to do last year, and I can't for the life of me figure out what I've done differently -- but clearly, I am doing something wrong.

--Jen

Before the party, watching some Super Why on tv to keep busy.

Super Why coloring pages and Super Why masks.  I made six masks and ran about 100 copies of various Super Why coloring pages. 

Super Birthday Boy!  (His teeth are NOT this yellow.  Camera/lighting issues again.)

Okay, I am totally proud of those "Why Writers."  They were tricky and they worked!

That's right.  I iced us some cookies.  YUM!  They are a pinterest recipe that doesn't require refrigeration before rolling, and I've never done dipped icing before.  I'd say the cookies are okay; a bit dry, but the look of the iced cookies was, I hope, pretty cool.

Just a little table art.  Also, I am in love with the fabric I used for a table cloth.  It was the perfect color and pattern!

All around the table, I put Super Why rings.  They were little wearable confetti, and the kids LOVED them!

Centerpiece now ... cake topper later!  (There is a funny story about this. I'll put it in the p.s.)

See those streamers?  I hand cut all the Super Why medallions to tape to them.  The effect was pretty cool!

Little snack cups of m&ms

Boys ...

... wrestle!

Before. I should say that there are only 4 kids in WHM's class, including him, and one girl couldn't come.  So there were the three classmates, CAM, and Bob's granddaughter.  It was a perfect size for the kids -- and the grown-ups.  See the black cube in the back right?  We also did frame decorating like we did at CAM's party... 

Coloring to start the day.

Popcorn and Super Why watching.

It was so nice to not have to empty the living room of all furniture for this party!  And it worked out well for "movie time."

The cake!  The fondant REALLY didn't like me, and it was over 90 degrees out so the buttercream was melting.  I'm not happy with this cake. If you don't know anything about Super Why, the Super Readers fly into Storybook Village, where the buildings are in the form of books.  I tried to replicate that and to help myself out because I was failing so epically, I labeled the bottom "STORYBOOK VILLAGE."  There are some amazing Super Why cakes on Pinterest.  This will never be one of them.  All I did all weekend was lament to Mick that I REALLY need to go to a cake decorating class.  Or twelve.

See all the folds and puckers?!

I kinda like the books.  I drew them with food markers and then made the sculpted one.

I also drew that Super Why logo.  It's okay.  Not the best ever.

Birthday boy wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate middle.  The cake may have looked ugly, but it was pretty tasty, I have to admit. 

Check out CAM's plate:  pretzels, cake, m&ms ... and a Why Writer!  SUGAR HIGH!

Carnage!  Oh yes, after cake we made ice cream sundaes. 

I painted this.  It was supposed to have all four characters, but that didn't happen because I ran out of time (and my transfer method wasn't working well).  Also the letters are too small.  But it's okay.  And WHM loved it.  I may work on it more once school gets out and put it in the kids' playroom.

Running around outside!

Sucking on ice. 

I love this picture. 

Showing off one of his gifts, a Rescue Bot.

Our Birthday wreath.  This has been a big hit this year!

The "Super Why" banner that I literally finished about 20 minutes before the party started.

a detail shot

For CAM's party, this banner was purple and white.  I love paint!

Since it was a Super Why party with Super Readers, each kid also got a book to read with a sheet of Super Why stickers.  I'm not a big fan of "junk" party favors or candy.  So they took home some rings, their frames, their coloring, a book, and stickers.  I hope the parents appreciated that I at least tried to contain the sugar binging to the party hours! 

p.s. -- The story about the centerpiece.  Remember I told you how hard it was to find anything Super Why?  Last weekend by dumb sheer luck, my mother-in-law took the kids to the treasure hunt store and WHM found this.  I'd not mentioned a word to anyone how hard I was looking for this stuff.  She picked it up for less than $10!  It's practically brand-new ... and made the absolute perfect topper, since I couldn't find anything on my own and am NOT ready for gum paste sculpting!  There was an angel on our shoulders with this, and I love it.

Fancy Nancy Soiree*

*first of all, I know that a "soiree" really means an evening party.  But Fancy Nancy "fete" just doesn't sound all that fancy.  

Yesterday, almost a full month after CAM's sixth birthday, was her Fancy Nancy Soiree.  Originally it was going to be three things:

1. A girls-only,
2. Merida (from the Disney movie Brave)-themed,
3. outdoor party.

But then CAM had been invited to only one birthday party all year, and it was a boy's party, so I felt really badly not inviting boys. 

And then we got into the idea of a Fancy Nancy party and changed from Merida.

And thank goodness we did -- because Merida's activities would have been archery, but we had thunderstorms all day yesterday, so the party was moved inside.

After last year's Strawberry Shortcake tea party (for which I went a little crazy because it was fun, because I could, because I love all the crafting and detail stuff, and because at that point we really knew it was our last "hurrah" in Georgia), I wasn't sure what I would do this year.  Stick with the relatively extravagant party throwing?  Or tone it waaaaay back down?  We've been to exactly one party in Maine and it was distinctly different from the Pinterest-esque Georgia affairs we'd been to.  (It was still wonderful and the kids had a ball, which is all that matters!)

You can guess what I did.  :)

Here are the photos.

The food spread.

The cake.  CAM requested the same as last year, which is to say a strawberry cake.  It had vanilla buttercream filling and the bottom tier was very dense because I also soaked it with/in strawberry puree.  And I mean, pureeeeeee, not a ganache or layers of strawberries.  The cake, it was a heavy beast.  It was all homemade except the fondant, which I bought plain white.

another view of the food.  The tablecloth is actually four yards of fabric and it's sparkly!

It's really hard to see here, but the bunting says "Ooh-La-La"

Totally a Pinterest idea:  I made fancy veggie cups.  About 2/3 had ranch dressing on the bottom, and the rest were plain -- because you never know when kids will hate "dip."

I bought plain wooden frames at Goodwill, painted them, and used them to make table signs.

Even the Rice Krispy treats are Fancy -- they have little nonpariels on them. 

Lesson:  don't paint the bumpy side of a Rice Krispy Treat with chocolate.  You will never get it as smooth as you'd like!

I have no idea why I took this many photos of the food table.

The living room, minus the couches ... tables set for ten kids, which was EXACTLY as many as we had -- phew!  :)  (We invited all of CAM's class and did not get many r.s.v.p.s, so I had to guess.)  One of the tablecloths is Fancy Nancy fabric, and the other two are ... well, leftover from last year because I meant to sew two additional tablecloths and decided we didn't need to.  I will use that fabric on something else.

The table settings.  CAM did them herself.  She did a great job, didn't she?!

The dress-up station.  I had tons of hats and accessories, including four or five clip-on neckties and three sport coats for the boys.  They loved them!

Le Chic Boutique.  (I don't know if "boutique" is masculine, but I liked it here.  OKay, okay: I was too lazy to check.)

3-foot-tall Eiffel Tower courtesy of my dad, who made two of them within 12 hours of my request.  Anything for his first grandchild!  Hey Dad -- I'm still waiting for my ballet bar ... what if CAM requests it instead??!

Another Cricut-ed banner.  I have gotten much better at these this year!

tissue paper poufs.  Just the right balance to the banner and easy-peasy!

It's hard to see here, but the sign says "Frame Fancification Station."  I bought 20 of the $1 wooden frames at Michael's, painted them in various colors (including blue for the boys) and filled them with a little thank-you for coming.  Then we had literally thousands of various stickers for the kids to decorate with, including princess stuff, stick-on "rhinestones," sports stuff, dinosaur stuff ... you name it!  

The sign says, "Merci beaucoup for coming to my party.  I hope you had a Fantastique time!"

After the frame decorating and snacks, we had a Spectacular Sundaes bar.  I used one of our storage cubes, because it was just the right height for the kids to reach without having to climb or lean.    

All the frames say what's in the little jars -- cherries and hot fudge not on the table for kids yet, though.  (Moms ended up dispensing those for me ... thank you, Moms!)

Check out the bedazzled spoons.  There was a sign that said "Sparkly spoons," but I decided the table was too crowded.

That sign says "Praline -- that's a fancy word for cookie -- crumbles."

Frame fancy-fying

I put this sign at the end table where we piled all the gifts.  I wasn't sure if it was pretentious ... but I was hoping it was just a nice touch.

All fancied up!

You know, because sometimes a stole is meant to go on your head!

I painted three different frames like this.  They didn't get as much use as I had hoped, but I did get at least a few photos.

These two guys LOVED the dress-up station.  Phew!

It hurts my heart that this is blurry, because I love this photo.

CAM's dress was made by Jody at My Kids Drawers.  I adore Jody, and her work is second-to-none.  Check her out on Facebook and Etsy. 

The clip-on ties were a hit even with the girls!

I have no idea what Mick is saying to me, but I promise he was smiling, not yelling!  

Sometimes, little brothers need a break.

Fancy Nancy?  More like Silly Nancy!

Hip Hop Mogul?

At one point, WHM was the subject of a tickle attack.

Snacks and ice cream sundaes.  I forgot the whipped cream!  Even as I type this, it is there in our fridge, all labeled with its Fancy Nancy glory ... unused.  Mick said he will remedy that. 

Another view of the cake. You can see it glistening in the humidity -- the bow sagging and all.  Oh well.

If only Mick's arm weren't in this. I love the look on CAM's face here.

Might have wanted to switch to shutter speed mode on this one!  Fast kiddos!

Action shot!  Again -- hello, shutter-speed mode?  I'm a dummy.

Blowing out the candles with Gram.  I think this was attempt number 5.

I didn't take a lot of photos of gifts because I was also recording them AND trying to keep a parent-less kid OUT of them.  

In the end, I have three things I wish had happened better.

1.  I wish I'd remembered the darn whipped cream.

2.  I wish I'd done a better job on the cake -- and taken a photo that showed the GOOD bow!

3.  I wish I'd known to not allow kids to attend without their parents.

Also, I wish I'd known that black food coloring, while it washes off one's hands pretty easily, will never, ever come out from under one's nails. I need a manicure just to hide it!  :)

What do you think?  CAM loved it!

--Jen