Chica Schmica

I went into planning this party thinking, “Fall Harvest.”  You’ll see from the pictures, however, that my one-track mind kept bringing me back to pumpkins. Lots and lots of glorious pumpkins!

The favors: Pumpkin finger puppets

These little finger puppets were super easy, albeit somewhat time consuming, to create. I made about 10 of them and each one had a different face. I really had fun with them.

By the end of the party the kids were really getting into them, too. One of the kids decided he needed one for each hand!

The Games:

One of the games we played was a pumpkin roll. It was absolutely perfect for the little ones. We have a slope in the back of our yard and they had a blast rolling their pumpkin balls down the hill and then running down the hill after them to bring them back.

Not quite as popular was the pumpkin ring toss. Although a few of the kids gave it a go, it proved a bit too challenging to keep their interest for very long. Perhaps it would go over better with an older crowd. All you need is a pumpkin with a nice long stem and some rings. We made our rings by cutting some rope and attaching them using masking tape (which can be seen partially on towards the bottom of the photo).

The Cake:

For the cake I went out and bought a fancy pumpkin cake pan, which is really just two bundt cakes joined together. It was supposed to look like this:

I should know better than to try something fancy. It was doomed from the beginning.  As I rushed around at the last minute trying to get everything together (as usual) I relinquished the task of putting the cake together to my mom. Who then passed it on to my dad. By the time I came back to check on it, my husband’s cousin was putting the finishing touches on it.

The cake was a excellent reminder that setting a picture-perfect, Martha Stewart-esque table is really not that important after all. Plus any attempt at something fancy would have been thrown out the window by all that debris left on the table. Good, grief… you’d think we would have cleared the table before setting out the cake, wouldn’t you?   Just FYI, it was a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese icing.

Decor:

We kept things simple by sprinkling pumpkins, gourds, and acorns throughout the tables and such, and picked up some hay bails for extra seating.

Lastly, we have the birthday girl’s dress. Which I made. Which we did not get one SINGLE good picture of. Which got icing all over it during the cake eating. Which completely fell apart when I washed it. I’ll paint a picture for you: dark green corduroy, a-line jumper, little felt squirrel applique on bottom right-hand side. Very cute. The end.

And of course I have to include a picture of the birthday girl eating her cake.

Such a fun day…happy birthday baby girl!

on birthday preparations for my sweet little munchkin.

Hope to be back after the weekend with details!

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlotte!

Growing up as an Air Force Brat provided me with a number of very unique childhood experiences. Not the least of which was traveling to foreign countries and experiencing other cultures in a relatively intimate manner.

I spent part of my childhood in Germany. During a very recent conversation with a friend, I recounted a memory from those years that I cherish to this day:

We lived on an Air Base that was situated in a largely agricultural area characterized by rolling hills. The climate was typically rainy, but during periods of good weather our family would make the scenic, 30 minute drive to a town that butted against the Mosel River. We would pass miles of vineyards and beautiful farmland punctuated by compact villages. Once there, we would often enjoy a ferry ride, explore a few shops, take in some lunch, and then stop for spaghetti ice cream.

The ice cream was the best part. I always looked forward to it and savored every moment. Very simply, spaghetti ice cream is made from strings of vanilla ice cream topped with strawberry sauce and white chocolate shavings. It really looks like spaghetti and it’s as delicious as it is fun to eat.

I realized, after telling my friend about this special treat, how fond my memories were about the dessert and decided to try to recreate it for my own family. I used a potato ricer for the ice cream. For the strawberry sauce, I mixed chopped strawberries with sugar and let it set until a nice liquid started to form, then I ran it through my food mill.

It was sooo good. I believe it’s the strawberry sauce that makes this dish taste totally sinful.  Now that I’ve made it once, I would love to do it on a regular basis. I’m thinking about tying it in with a holiday and making a tradition out of it. This way I can pass something very special about my own childhood onto my children. Maybe Christmas Eve? Totally unrelated, I know. But it seems like it would be a sweet way to end the night with the family.

Does anybody else have any holiday traditions that are totally unrelated to the day in question? Do tell so I don’t feel like it’s too silly of an idea. Thanks!

Edited: Forgot to include how the “parmesean cheese” was made. It’s shredded white chocolate! Enjoy!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The Spirit People, a local intertribal group, celebrated the autumnal equinox over the weekend with a powwow that was open to the public.  The ranch on which it was held was alive with music, crafts, and color.

Aside from the obligatory dreamcatchers, we marveled at such beautiful handmade goods as leather medicine bags and hand carved bows.  And the dancing. The dancing was hands down the best part of the morning. The dancing circle was usually filled with children in colorful costumes who would stomp and twirl with the music. The beat to which they danced was the product of five men pounding in unison on one large drum and chanting together.

The girls were enamored with the spectacle and Annabelle, especially, was disappointed when the time came to find our way back to our car.

This is the group’s third year at this location and I’m hoping they’ll continue to welcome the public into their celebration.

are lined with Amoxicillin.

As of today, both girls are now on this tasty, pink antibiotic.

Bear with me. The girls are gonna be better soon and I’m on the verge of making a couple things. That is, ideas have been brewing in my head and I’m dying to get ‘em done so that I can move on. Know what I mean?

Today was my first "official" day being back as a stay-at-homer. I relished it.

After breakfast, I dropped Annabelle off at the DCC then came back home with Charlotte…AKA "the little one."

I know there are some folks out there who have two babies close in age. Do you ever feel like one demands significantly more of you than the other? Does it create a huge well of guilt within you that you can’t give your littlest the same one-on-one attention that you gave your first because, well, there’s another one there?  This has been one of my biggest challenges of having closely-spaced children. 

Having Charlotte home with me was exactly what I needed. And, I think she needed it, too.

She has such a sweet, gentle spirit. And a temper. Her little ten-month-old personality continues to unfold and I don’t want to miss a heartbeat.

She’s also a climber. Anything that’s taller than her becomes an obsession until she’s scaled it. I love that about her.

And do you see these eyes? These are my eyes. Be careful. They’ll suck you in and before you know it you’ll be lost in them.

This is my youngest. My baby. Charlotte.

Today was the first of many days that I was able to devote real quality time to just her. We played, sang songs, made up games. All the things I remember doing with her big sister. It was so good.

I will learn to sew.

I will have a better attitude about staying home with my kids.

I will fix my glasses.

I will get off my butt and clean up the house more often.

I will sell more T shirts on Cafe Press.

I will be mindful about how much time I spend blogging.

I will eat more granola and fewer cookies.

I will be patient with my mother.

I will remember my purpose in life.