The Everything Ellie Birthday Party

We celebrated Ellie's 2nd birthday yesterday with a few friends. I've had her party dress for almost a year now and the party theme "Everything Ellie" was designed around Ellie's whimsical and fun personality.


Ellie making her grand entrance excited to see all the balloons, suckers and other treats she loves.

Ellie loved hearing everyone sing to her and was eager to blow out her candles right on cue.

Loving her balloons. The kids have been running around and playing with the balloons nonstop.


Ellie with Grandma Patty
Nate, Claire and cute Norah. Claire is eight months pregnant and hardly looks it!

Mama and 'da'eee-uh' with the birthday girl. No time to stop eating candy for a quick picture.


Ellie being a diva and crying because Preston finally broke her piñata.

Ellie had an average of 3 suckers in her mouth at all times.


The guac boys. Super out of focus, but I could't trash the picture because even blurry, these are some good lookin' boys. They made an awesome guacamole dip! I think Joey has finally mastered the art of the guac dip and I can't wait for more!

I must say how amazing my brother Jonny is. Jonny was awesome helping me get ready for the party. He totally helped me decorate all the cupcakes, set up and get everything clean.


Helping themselves to some sugary goodness.

Star Wars Birthday

We have been planning on a Star Wars birthday party for Kenny since the moment his Toy Story Party ended last year! Seriously. So needless to say, we've been pretty stoked about it for a while. Luckily it lived up to his expectations and Kenny had a blast. When we were getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" one of Ken's little friends, Sage, turned around and shouted "This is the best party EVER!". It was hilarious. So without further adieu, here are some of the highlights of the best party EVER!

The Invitations

I totally tried to hire a graphic designer to make these invitations, but nobody ever got back to me. Soooo I had to figure out how to make them myself. I made them way back in August since I wouldn't have enough time this semester. I was quite proud of them. Would it be weird to frame one for Kenny? ;)

 The spread. 

I had so much fun designing all the little table decorations for Ken and making the pom poms. 

 The cakes

This little R2D2 took a lot longer to make than I had anticipated. At last minute Kenny told me he decided he wanted a General Grievous cake instead of R2D2. So being the awesome mom that I am, I told him heck no. I had put way too much time into researching how I was going to get the R2D2 with the correct dimensions and all. Then I started feeling guilty because it was technically his party so I made a couple extra round cakes and slapped a general grievous toy on top of it. My mom was awesome enough to cover it in fondant for me while I was fighting with R2D2 to make him look right. And yes, Kenny was quite pleased with our efforts.

 Kenny proud of his birthday spread.

If you blow the picture up you can see the giant rain pelting away at us.

 Jedi Training Academy

The Jedi Master, Joey, came out in his Jedi robes to instruct the young padawans in the ways of the lightsaber.

Did I mention my super amazing, talented, awesome mom made all of these padawan robes for all the kids??! Isn't she the best?

 First Mission: Destroy the Death Star

The kids had tons of fun attacking the Death Star with their lightsabers, but we had to pull out a big stick for them to bust the candy out.

 All the young padawans gathered around the Death Star

 Final mission: Defeat Darth Vader

a.k.a. Ken's version of heaven. Ken had a perm-a-grin the whole time he was battling Darth Vader

 The young padawans were victorious at last!

 Ellie was devastated when she realized Darth Vader was her father and he was being destroyed by the Jedi

 Other than that minor incident, the padawan princess had tons of fun at the party always pumping her fist in the air and shouting "STAR WARS"! So cute.

 

 Dress 15 kids up like padawans + give them all light sabers + set them loose in a bounce house = one awsomely wild time (+/- a few injuries).

Our super yummy lightsaber treats and thank you gifts.

All in all it was an awesome party with lots of awesome company. I definitely couldn't have pulled it all together without my mama. And big kudos to Joey for being a good sport and dressing up in an insanely hot costume (plus a ski mask!!) in super hot and humid weather to be attacked by 20 kids with light sabers.

And most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY!!!!

We love you so much! I can't imagine how dull our lives would be without this lively boy.

Most of my party inspiration came from Here and Here

Summer Tea Party

A tea party is a perfect afternoon activity in the summer and so quick and easy to throw together! The kids had a delightful time before we went to the beach on Saturday. They were adorable and all tried so hard to stay in character with little English accents and perfect manners.

Ellie's favorite part was the fruit-kabob

Kayla being a little lady and helping Ellie eat her fruit

Jenna was just happy to sit and suck on lollipops in between sips of lemonade

Kenny was such a little gentleman, always making sure everyone had their teacup full of lemonade. He frequently walked around asking, "Would you like some more lemonade, Miss?" in an adorable English accent. 

Ellie getting her diva on right before the party.