Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Noah's Batman Party, Part 1

Our sweet Noah turned four on July 7th. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a Batman cake. Easy enough! After going back and forth about whether to have a party, I decided in the 11th hour to go ahead. It was going to be a small party, but of course with our family and neighbors alone, there is no such thing as small. I am so happy that we decided to have a party because it ended up being such a wonderful day. And, I got to put my budding craft skills to work. This will be the first in a 2-part post chronicling Noah's Batman party and all the decorations, food and activities that were prepared for the event. I owe many thanks to my search engine and the blogs where I found inspiration and free files!

With only three weeks to pull it all together, I had no time to spare. Inspired by this invitation that was comic strip style, I found a website with archives of the actual 1940s "Batman & Robin" comic strip. I personalized it to include the details of the party, pasted it to black card stock and, voila! Homemade invitations.
I really wanted to go with vintage Batman & Robin, and came up with the idea of creating "Pow, Zok, Wham!" signs to post around the house.

I also really wanted a Happy Birthday banner, so I decided to make one in the same style. Strung together with black satin ribbon that I found at a discount store, I was very happy with the final product.
The rest of the decorations were kept pretty simple.
The cupcake toppers were super fun to make!
I can't take credit for this one. My artist niece-in-law, Sofia, made it.
I borrowed the super cute idea of a Superhero Academy from Designer Girl 007 and Executive Homemaker and got to work creating all the crafts, decor and signage for the back yard obstacle course. The first step in becoming a superhero is to look like one, so I made foam masks (templates from Family Fun) for all the superheros in training.

Next step, Leap Buildings in a Single Bound. The kids had a blast with this one, so I let them go several times. Third was to rescue Superman from the Batcave.
Using glow stick necklaces and a giant Superman figure that was given to Noah recently, their mission was to remove the cryptonite from Superman's neck and meet me at the next station, which was...
Mr. Freeze had frozen Batman and Robin, and the next mission was to use squirt guns to free them from the ice blocks.
Finally, the superhero wannabe's moved on to the last step in Superhero training - show off your Mighty Muscles!
With all of the steps successfully completed, we were now ready for Justice League certificates and favor bags, handed out by a very special guest.
Of course, no Batman party is complete without an appearance by the superhero himself...
I kept it simple with finger foods.
Of course some specialty Bat-food and Bat-Candy for the kiddos.
I had to frost these the day of the party...
And last but NOT least, my friend Mary whipped up this FABULOUS Bat cake. Isn't she amazing!
My first attempt at cape-crafting.
He was too overwhelmed to participate in Superhero Academy during his party...
...but he was ready for action the next day!
Stay tuned for part 2!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

New Stuff to Remember

So it seems I have a new animal/insect/arachnid rights activist in my home. We have always battled itsy-bitsy spiders, and sometimes not-so-itsy ones. So naturally, my first instinct when I see one is to kill, I mean remove it. Well now one of these eight-legged thorns in my side has become a "pet." Noah found it yesterday and immediately ran up to me, insisting "DON'T kill it Mom, it's a nice spider. He's my friend." I guess he was still traumatized by the last one I smushed and his protective instinct kicked in. I am proud of my son, but also completely defeated by the loss of this long-standing battle. Although - I wonder how long spiders can survive in a can with no food or water...?

I thought Penelope had found her voice a long time ago, but she has reached new heights recently. I suppose it was inevitable. Along with every beautiful little girl, eventually comes a high-pitched screech/scream... right? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it is really deafening! She was actually shushed by our grocery sacker yesterday... sorry! On a much cuter note, I was spying on her via baby monitor yesterday morning and she was so adorable with her babies. She was sitting up in her crib, hugging Curious George and patting it's head. Then she sat it down facing her, and began to feed it chicken nuggets, french fries and ice cream. What a nice mommy!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

In Loving Memory

G.G. Romero (1995-2010)
Gentle, loyal, protective, intelligent and irreplaceable. I hope there are plenty of tennis balls and adventures where you are, sweet girl. We love and miss you.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Reverse Psychology

As I was playing with the kids yesterday, I was focused on tickling Penelope. Noah's strategy?

Noah: Mommy, DON'T tickle me
Me: Okay, I won't tickle you
Noah: Mommy, please tickle me!

Noah: Mommy, DON'T chase Noah (as he's running away)
Me: Okay, I won't chase you
Noah: Okay Mommy please chase me!

I don't always appreciate having my attention pulled in different directions, but this was a moment worth remembering. :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Birds & The Peas

...& The Bluebonnets!

A year ago, I blogged about a bird who had built her nest over our back door. I was, indeed, a little sad when she left. In fact, I didn't remove the nest until several months later. So one can only guess how excited I was when she returned again this year to nest in the very same spot! When I told my friend Gail how badly I felt for removing her first nest, she called me a homewrecker. Ha! Her new nest wasn't visible at first, but she has since renovated and it's much bigger now.
Once again, she has two baby birds who have grown at lightning speed. By the time I first saw them, they were already the size shown here.
Last week we went to a bluebonnet field with our new friends, Allison, Eden & James. Eden and Noah discovered peas were also growing in the field, and they had a good time picking and opening them.
In their typical fashion, Noah and Penelope gave me a run for my money as I attempted to get a good photo of them together. This is about as good as it gets.
I was so excited about this adorable vintage-inspired romper that I have had my eye on for the last year. I had the entire outfit planned out, down to some cute little gold sandals. Penelope however, had her own ideas about the perfect shoes. Her faux fur leopard print boots were clearly the winners.
I try to compensate for being a very unskilled photographer by taking hundreds of photos in the hopes of lucking out with a few good ones. This is my favorite.

Monday, April 5, 2010

I'm in Trouble!

Just have to share this little story about our trip to Hobby Lobby last week. Penelope got really angry when I wouldn't give her the item she was asking for off the shelf. So, in usual 1-year-old fashion, she began crying hysterically. After a while, I informed her that crying was not going to get her what she wanted. Her response: "It-not?" and immediately stopped crying. And she's only 18 months old. Very funny and also a little scary. Pics coming soon! i promise...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Noah-speak

On the way home from the Y this morning:

Noah: Mommy-
Me: Yes, Noah?
Noah: No, I not Noah. I GREY. BATMAN.
Me: Oh, sorry. Yes, Grey Batman?
Noah: I hungry
Me: Okay, we'll be home in a few minutes and mommy will make lunch
Noah: Di-sore duggets? (Dinosaur nuggets)
Me: No, today we'll have turkey dogs, fruit and chips
Noah: Mommy. That's beauful* lunch. (*beautiful)

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Layla Grace

All I can think about tonight is Layla Grace. Her life story has touched me so deeply, and tonight I feel so much grief for her family and friends. I can only say that I am thankful to Layla and her parents for reminding me of what a special privilege it is that the Lord has entrusted me with two of his children. I feel ashamed for every time I have lost my patience and for every moment that I have taken them for granted. My deepest desire is to be the type of parent that God is to us all. Impossible, but definitely something to strive for. This is an awesome responsibility, and I pray that I never forget to cherish every. single. moment. God bless us all, and may Layla Grace rest comfortably in the arms of our Father.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Cuties in Ketchup

Yesterday was the perfect day for lunch on the patio. Sunny, breezy and beautiful. So, after the Y we went straight to the backyard and played, listened to music and the kids enjoyed their lunch of chicken nuggets and "cutie" oranges. Noah will not eat any type of meat unless there is ketchup involved. Penelope decided she wanted ketchup, so I put a little squirt on her plate. She then proceeded to dip her little cutie orange slices into the ketchup and devour them one by one. And it. was. just. perfect.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Where's the dignity??

Okay, so life is about balance, right? There are the moments that you just can't wait to blog about. And then there are moments like today, when Noah pooped in his Lightning McQueen underwear. In an effort to have as little contact with the poop as possible, I positioned him in front of the toilet so I could just pull the underwear down and dump the poop directly in. Nice and neat, right? Well, that plan backfired on me. Or should I say, backsplashed. Directly onto my face. Yep. Life is good. I won't be posting a picture of this. You can thank me later.