First, the big reveal. Back when Owen was starting the Jump Rope for Heart charity event, he spied this rocket ship in the prize list and that is where he set his sites and never looked back. Thanks to all of you that donated, his dream became a reality and he couldn't be happier!
Saturday morning we went to Owen's Tball game where he really worked on batting. It's great to see him having so much fun.
Afterwards we went to Montrose Harbor for the Kids and Kites Festival. It was our first time going but it was really nice and with it being such a beautiful day it was a great excuse to be outside. We even packed a picnic lunch which the kids thought was so fun.
We flew a kite given to us by our friend Andy. It had Wolverine on it!
Maddi found her own fun with an old swingset structure. I love the dimension it gave to the photos.
On Sunday we hung out with our good friends at a park. Alexander is one of Maddi's good buddies from school.
After such an exciting weekend, I wasn't looking for much more on my birthday. When Brett asked me what I wanted I told him I just wanted him to do something creative.
Weather-wise today was arguably the best yet this year (gorgeous) and Brett suprised me with a picnic by the lake for lunch. It was up there with one of the best gifts I ever received. It made me so happy!!!
He also had the kids make a card for me which was so sweet.
This past weekend we went to Toledo to celebrate Maddi's birthday and Mother's Day. It was a great time!
On Saturday we had Maddi's party which was a Very Hungry Caterpillar Theme. I just love creating for kid's birthday parties. I have often thought about making it into a business.
The invitations were inspired by a site I found online.(sorry, blogger is formatting the pictures oddly)
The favors were inspired by the book. If you don't know the story, the caterpillar eats through all kinds of fruits and then a bunch of bad stuff like a lollipop. I found runts to represent the fruit and included a lollipop and Hungry Caterpillar coloring sheet.
We kept the decorations pretty simple but still lots of fun.
Using party balls, I created a caterpillar to hang from the ceiling.
I loved this knit mobile I found but since I don't know how to knit I created a paper version very simply but printing out images found online and hanging them by clear thread.
For the cake I found a really neat picture online (sorry, there was no source) where someone had taken cupcakes to make the body and made a round head. I loved it! It was my first foray into fondant which was a bit daunting, but I found it SO easy to use. I will definitely be doing more of this type of thing in the future.
We kept the food simple with a spread from Barry's Bagels and used some balloons and pom pom balls to accent the table.
The birthday girl on her big day! I made her shirt with some glitter iron-on transfer paper I found. Adds a really nice personal touch to the day. We also had everyone sign the book which will be a nice keepsake for her.
The kids made caterpillar magnets with the pom pom balls.
We sang Happy Birthday and the kids enjoyed eating their cake.
The kids ran around outside for awhile and then Maddi opened presents. She had so much fun and got lots of fun, girly presents. I guess that's what happens when of the 9 children invited, only two (her and her youngest cousin) are girls. It's fun to buy for a girl!
It was a great day and I was thrilled with the way everything turned out. Thanks to everyone who came for making it a special day!!!
On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with our moms by going to a simple breakfast and Mass with my mom before heading back to Chicago. Very nice and low-key which was perfect.
I always try to make something for this special day and this year I found this great idea on Pinterest. Turned out so cute. It uses all of our handprints to make a beautiful flower bouquet.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mommies out there!
