Black and White Baby Blessing

We decided to take advantage of grandma Patty and Uncle Jonny being in town and have Bruce's baby blessing on the 17th of August, the morning after we got back from Universal Studios. Joey gave our little Bruce Anthony the sweetest blessing. It was so tender and heart felt. I hope we don't ever forget the sweet spirit we felt during that blessing. 

To make the meeting even more special, Jonny was able to give his homecoming talk in sacrament (which was a fabulous message on Christ being the center of our testimonies) followed by me accompanying (on the piano) the kids singing "I hope they call me on a Mission" which was basically the cutest thing ever. I need to have them sing it again so I can record it.

I pulled together a very simple monochromatic table to celebrate along with our sloppy joes after church. We had just returned late the night before from a long weekend at Universal studios, so I kept it simple with some store bought treats. I did make some chocolate cookies and the oreo cheesecake a couple weeks in advance and froze them for Bruce's big day.

Bruce making his blessing outfit look good. Daddy blessed Bruce wrapped in this blanket from Grandma Bowden that Kenny and Ellie were both blessed in as well.

We are so in love

I just love to sit at stare at his perfect face all day long

Kenny is such a proud big brother

Cute little tuxedo details + peter pan color. So simple and so perfect.

Black + White for this happy happy day

Could Ellie look any cuter sipping her milk?! // Yummy Oreo cheesecake cake we made for the special day (Recipe)

Jack just waiting for something yummy to fall

Getting ready in the morning

Cutest little lips + cheeks + eyes + hairline + everything, obviously

Sara (our nanny) & Jorge, Grandma Patty, Ellie, Uncle Jonny, BRUCE, mommy, daddy, Yara and Kenny & Dylan up front.

Ellie's tea party

Ellie came home from school yesterday and decided she really wanted to invite her friends over for a tea party. Luckily we had just made a trip to Trader Joe's so we had lots of cute little dainty treats in the freezer ready to go.

Ellie putting the final touches on her party table before her friends arrived

Trader Joe's sells boxes of frozen macarons! So awesome to have handy!

Little sandwiches Ellie stamped with butterfly prints // everything is cuter when it's miniature!

Enjoying her treats and sipping on her lemonade

Ellie wanted to wear this dress specifically so she could wear her little white gloves with it

Little girls at tea parties are the cutest thing ever

Cinco de Mayo 2014

Since we are about as culturally insensitive as they come, we decided to throw a Cinco de Mayo: parte dos party this year. Nothing like a good excuse to eat lots of tacos, make every version of every piñata we can think of and invite lots of friends over to fiesta with us!

We like to fiesta
Paper dot garland tutorial on Oh Happy Day HERE

I tried to make a bunch of cactus piñatas, but after making all the shapes and stuffing them with candy, I realized they were going to take WAAAY too long to decorate the way I wanted them. So my solution was to just throw them all away. Easy fix. Since Joey is a fixer, he decided he was going to decorate them a much more simple way than I wanted. We ended up with a handful of cactii and some coordinating tamales. I was definitely impressed with his ingenuity! // We brought back the kids favorite M&M cake pops.

He made such a good Mexican with his fake stache

Our fun desserts and piñata everything

Even Jack got into the Mexican spirit // The best part about having a Cinco de Mayo party is having everyone bring a salsa or dip to share!

Kenny set the mood with a little 'La Bamba'

It's not a fiesta without the Jarritos...although I had to add a few Goyas for color since I couldn't find an actual Mexican supply store // piñata cones

Feelin' it

My round piñata cake actually worked this year! Woot!
Tutorial on a Subtle Revelry HERE
I recommend overcooking the cake a bit, using a pound cake recipe and not thinning out the inner hole too big in order to make it sturdier so it doesn't collapse like mine did last year!!

A few of us girls

Still so proud of my cake that didn't crumble this year

Kenny and a couple buddies on the tramp

Taco station

Easter 2014

It was fun being able to celebrate our first Easter together in our new house this year! It was also the first time we've had our own backyard to do an egg hunt for the kids since we've lived in Miami.

Easter dessert table
FREE 'Happy Easter' printable from the Caravan Shoppe HERE

Obligatory family and sibling photo. We are extra grateful this year for another little boy on the way!

Chalk board eggs this year. Kit purchased from Williams Sonoma.

This wheat grass never ceases to amaze us with how quickly it grows! The tutorial for these cute spring pots on Oh Happy Day!

On the hunt

I was so excited about my rainbow carrots.
Recipe HERE

Carrot cake has got to be the very best part of Easter dinner. It may look plain...even a bit motley, but I swear it's the best carrot cake you will ever taste! My dad found the recipe years ago online so I'm not sure of the original source but here is a copy of it: RECIPE // the kids wouldn't pose for a picture until their mouths were stuffed full of chocolate

I made the flower arrangements to match this beautiful wedding china from my mama. It all sat perfectly on one of my Grandma Beth's old lace tablecloths.

Earth Day 2014

The kids (read: Kenny) didn't appreciate me skipping over the earth day party last year so he kept reminding me every day for two weeks that it was going to be earth day and I needed to make a party for them. I love that he does that. And I love making parties for them, I just sometimes get bored of the same themes year after year. Since Kenny's new room is a map/world theme, I couldn't resist it as the perfect backdrop for an earth day party!

The funnest little party-ers that keep me going all the time

I just love Kenny's room theme!!
Party printables from One Charming Party HERE

This year we added globe and map cookies to the party mix

Einstein's bagels wrapped in maps were a huge hit

That's pure enjoyment right there!

We decided our activity for this year would be painting a bird feeder for our backyard. Ellie has been wanting one for a long time and the kids loved the project.

Yes, that's an extra sterile table cover from the OR one of the nurses pawned off on me that we threw down on the floor...perfect for messy activities!