I Can't Believe She's Two!

Yesterday, my sweet little girl turned two years old.

She has a sweet disposition and is loves to nurture anything and everyone. She's also fiercely independent and adventuresome and can be very passionate, which is also a nice way to say that she can have some bad temper tantrums!

I didn't do a Pinterest-inspired party since I've decided that I'm not very good at them. Instead we spent the gorgeous day out picking apples with the kiddos, and then a lunch with family.

I made a cake from scratch (yep!) and decorated it very simply. It must've been good since my other daughter got up before the rest of us this morning to lick the icing off the leftovers. Can we say sugar rush??

Tomorrow as we start our 31 day series for October. I'm so excited to get started!!

Birthday Party!

Two weeks ago, Gavin turned two. This was my sappy mommy post on Instagram the night before:

 

His birthday was the first really warm day in a long time. It was nice to be wearing shorts and t-shirts again! I bought a helium balloon from the dollar store the night before and had it waiting in the living room when Gavin woke up in the morning. Best $1.25 I've spent. He carried that thing around the house all day.

We had hamburgers for supper and donuts for dessert. He only ate the sprinkles.

A few days later we celebrated his birthday with my family. Even though it was suppose to rain, it actually ended up being a nice evening, so people could be outside if they wanted, which was great, because our house is small.
We chose to do things simply and had pizza, veggies and chips for supper. I covered our coffee table with kraft paper, put our basket of crayons on the table and let the kids colour on the paper as they ate their supper.

 

I pushed our table, which I covered with kraft paper, against the wall and had the food and drinks all laid out, waiting to be devoured. There isn't a picture of the table filled with food, because by the time I thought about it, all the food was gone and just crumbs were left.  

Since it was such a nice evening, we did the presents and cake outside.

It was a simple party, but it was fun to celebrate our little boy! 

You can read about Gavin's first birthday party here. 

Birthday Party {Numero Deux}

It's hard to believe, but Gavin is turning two tomorrow!

 

Look at those chubby cheeks! 

Gavin is definitely a little monkey these days! He makes me laugh each and every day with the things that he says. 

He is obsessed with hockey, big trucks, drums, his little brother, Curious George and being outside.

I am so thankful for this little boy!

Like we did last year, we are having a small family party, although I laugh at the word "small", because our family count is at 22, with the 23rd one on the way. :) 

We'll be having pizza, veggies and cake. I decided against a theme this time, but there will be sprinkles, balloons, and lots of pendant banners. Here is what I am thinking: 

Printable from Tried and True // Fun banner from the Purl Bee // An easy way to decorate a cake!

Balloons hanging from the ceiling // Polk-a-dots on kraft paper // Sprinkles melted in tea lights

Tomorrow we'll have balloons, donuts, a birthday shirt, and a few surprises throughout the day. I can't wait! :)

How do you celebrate your children's birthdays?

Yummy Apple Crisp

On Saturday my little Sienna turned one. I can't believe how fast the year went. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital!

My husband was able to be home for the weekend which was a blessing. Because of his work, he misses quite a few special occasions so we were both excited that he would be there for this one!

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we decided to go apple picking. We live 15 minutes away from the nearest orchard so we packed up the girls and headed off.

Since it was early in the morning, hardly anyone was there and we had the place mostly to ourselves.

They gave Bella her own basket so she could pick her own apples but Sienna wasn't interested in picking, just eating!

Fresh apples are the best for making into apple crisp and I have the best apple crisp recipe in the world. My mom always made it this way growing up and it was always so delicious there were never any leftovers.

This recipe makes a large 9x13" pan so if you would like to make a smaller batch, cut the recipe in half.

Apple Crisp 

8-10 apples peeled and sliced in a buttered 9x13" pan
Combine and crumble over fruit:
4 cups oatmeal
3 cups brown sugar (I usually use a little less)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 lb of butter 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Your house will smell absolutely amazing and cinnamony (not a word, but it works, right?)

We are almost up to 100 "likes" on Facebook and you know what that means? A giveaway! Yep, we love you guys so much we want to show you how much you mean to us! I have a few options that I've been thinking of so if you could comment below and tell me what you would be most interested in winning, that would be great! I've decided on a cowl (big surprise, right?), a slouchy hat or a purse made some really fun fabric in my stash. So let us know! :)

Time to (1st Birthday) Part-ay!

We celebrated Gavin's birthday on Wednesday night with our family. A nice, simple party with only about 22 people. (We have a big family) (And two were missing).

Since the weather was nice, we had the party outside. I didn't go all out or do as much as I was thinking I was going to for the decorations. 

Ever find that when your day gets going, the plans that you have go out the window? It was kinda one of those days. 

 I made this banner out of old book pages and cut out the letters on my Cricut machine. (It really does say "Happy Birthday" not "Appy Birthday".)

One of my friends found the cutest little cupcake decorating kit at the dollar store! Since Gavin's room has the owl theme, they were too perfect for her to pass up. Thanks Karissa!

After Gavin opened a few presents, 

 It was cake time!

 I decided to make a healthy birthday cake (I know. BORING. But Gavin liked it!) and this one was easy and tasted really good too! You can find the recipe here. 

We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Gav and then he had the healthy birthday cake, 

 and we had the not-healthy cupcakes. 

 All in all, it was a nice way to end the day celebrating our little guy's first birthday. 

Now he has so many toys and books he doesn't know which one to play with...or eat. 

Have a happy weekend! 

 

 

Birthday Happenings

Well the day has arrived! 

We're busy (well I'm busy. Gavin is having a nap) with running errands, getting some work done, making cupcakes for the adults and a baby friendly healthy cake for the little ones, tidying up my house and being thankful I'm not in labour like I was at this time last year! 

I'll be popping in later this week to give you the recipe for Gavin's first birthday cake (looks good and easy to make!) and pictures of the party. 

Oh, and if you missed it, Melody had the opportunity to be interviewed on blog talk radio this morning. We hear that they post the interviews to YouTube later, so hopefully we'll get that up sometime so you can hear the interview!