Monday, April 2, 2012

Look Whoo’s Turning One

Well, it’s happening…the baby is turning ONE on Wednesday!  We celebrated with family on Sunday.jensyns birthday invitation 2 copy

I don’t go “all out” with decorations, but we do like to make the kitchen look festive!  With all of our kids, we’ve started leaving the decorations up all month because it makes the kitchen so cheery!  (Besides, if I am putting in the time to make a homemade birthday banner, it’s going to see more than one day’s use!  Ha ha!)

We made all the party decorations using graphics from the owl tot pack. The basic idea for the invitation came from something I found on Etsy, but I wanted to use my own graphics and colors.  The pink box on the invite above is covering our phone number.  (Graphics by Pixel Paper Prints Etsy Shop) 

I’m hoping to remove the owl circles, replace them with something else, and reuse the banner at Jensyn’s future parties. 


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little candy bags

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Keith’s mom and niece made the cake, and they had the idea to make it look like the invitation.  It is one of THE CUTEST cakes I’ve ever seen.  They did a great job, didn’t they?!

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The dots on the edges of the cake match the tablecloth.

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Keith suggested that we do tacos for lunch, as Jensyn loves spicy food.  It was a big hit!  Keith made beef taco meat, and I made shredded taco chicken in the crockpot.  We set out hard shells, soft shells, and the quesadilla maker.  We had all the typical taco fixing, too. (…except for the shredded lettuce, which we realized AFTER THE PARTY, had never made it out of the fridge.  Now we have 2 bags of shredded lettuce that expire tomorrow…salad, anyone?!)

My mom made taco salad, my sister Deb made guacamole, cousin Ali made a bean and cheese dip, my sister Donna & SIL Janice brought fruits and dip.  As always, mom made pigs in a blanket with Little Smokies.  (Those are turning into a mandatory food at our children’s birthday parties!)

Jensyn, all ready to eat her first course…

(see her cute owl plate from Grandma S?)March2012 131Finishing course #2
(Jensyn’s a pipsqueak, but she can pack away the food!) 

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It was a beautiful day for April 1st, so we had people eating outside too!

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Present time…the boys were “helping”.  I’m glad they got to help, but I couldn’t keep track of which gifts came from which family members.  Things were being thrown in my face, opened without my knowledge, etc. 

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Let’s see if I can remember…
LOTS of dresses and play dresses
a cloth diaper cover and inserts
a few shirts and shorts
”Little Miss Matched” socks and a sock puppy
stacking cups
a ladybug book
a pack of Huggies
a bathing suit
a raincoat & hat
an owl plate
money for her savings account
pink storage boxes for her closet

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Jensyn enjoyed her smash cake, but she didn’t really get herself dirty until she started crying.  That caused her to smear it all over her face when she rubbed at her eyes.  There were taken over about a ten minute time span…

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I think she’s DONE.

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After this, we decided maybe Jensyn needed a nap while we hung out with the party guests.  I brought her to her room and laid her down as always.  She curled up, thumb in her mouth, bottom in the air, and closed her eyes.  She looked SO SWEET.

Since the camera was in my pocket, I pulled it out to snap a quick photo.  Look what Miss Sleepyhead did when she saw the camera…

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She did lay down and take a nice nap, though!

Here are some random shots taken throughout the day.  Oh, how we love a house filled with family!

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Jessica, Katelynn, Emma

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Since we won’t be with my family next weekend for Easter, my mom brought a little “egg hunt” along with the little ones.  She had eggs filled with candy and snacks for the preschoolers/toddlers.  Jensyn’s eggs were filled with goldfish crackers.

She also gave each of my kiddos a  new divided lunch plate…owls for Jensyn, rocket ships for the boys.

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Jensyn & Aunt Deb (before Jensyn’s nap…)

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Aunt Donna & Emma

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a rare shot of Mommy

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Emma & Uncle Greg

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Jessica & Cailin

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Jensyn & Cailin

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the part of the cake that I couldn’t bare to cut…

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOVE the cake!! What a great party! I love the taco idea as well! Looks like everyone had fun hanging out! Happy Birthday Jensyn!! :-)

Gwyn said...

Great pics Dawn! Did you ever find the Owl merchandise at Walmart? Your little girl is a cutie. Gwyn

Kat said...

I'm such a sucker for owls! The girls' room is the same line as Jensyn's plate!!! :)

The decorations were so cute!!! It looks like such a fun day for your whole family!