A Fairy Party!

We now have a 7 year old in our house! Kendra celebrated her 7th birthday on March 17.  Her favourite books to read right now are a series called "Rainbow Magic" - stories about all different kinds of fairies.  So, it only made sense to have a "Fairy Party!"

 I googled "Fairy Birthday cake" and of course there were many, many different ideas for fairy cakes, but all of them a little too elaborate for me.  Kendra spotted this one and I agreed that I could do that.  This was my first attempt at an all fondant cake.  I love the smooth look it gives the cake and I was happy with my flowers.  I only wished that I had practiced the white piping  a little before I did the cake as it looks a little wobbly!  However, my 7-year old was thrilled with it, so I was happy too!

For the party, I did a few 'centers' that had to do with fairy stuff.  I knew my mom was going to be here so I had an extra pair of hands to help me out.  (Kevin took the younger two 'out' during party time so I didn't have those extra hands to worry about!)  The girls all decorated headbands with ribbons and flowers. 

Each girl also got a small clay pot.  They each got to paint and decorate their pot and put their name on the top with stickers.  We then filled them up with soil and planted a few Nasturtium seeds. (The package said they were easy to grow.   Now, a few weeks later, the plants are quite tall already and ready to be put outside.)

 Finally, they each made an origami tulip to put in their flower pots.  I added a few easter eggs in their pots before they went home and these were their 'goodie-bags', along with their headbands. 

Throw in some 'make-you-own mini-pizzas', a few treats, a game or two, some girl stuff and call it a party!! It was a fun morning!  Till next year!!

Birthday #2!



It was time for another birthday in the deWolde household with the youngest member celebrating her 2nd birthday!  Wow - I can't believe that it was already 2 years ago when she arrived, just in time for Christmas!  Here are a few shots of our day!

The morning pose - Happy Birthday peanut!

 

  As a good older sister and brother, Kendra and Owen were more than willing to help Jocelyn open her presents, read her cards and figure out her toys for her!

 I went with a 'Farmyard' theme for her cake as she loves anything with animals right now and the sounds they make.  (Thanks howdini.com for the tutorial!)

A fun day!  Now on to Christmas!!

Happy 5th Birthday!

 Today was Owen's 5th birthday.  Oh, the excitement in the house for the past few days, waiting for this day to arrive.  Really, is there anything bigger than turning 5 years old?  and having your birthday fall on your kindergarten day?  and having a party afterschool?  (Do you think the 5 year old was tired by the end of the day?!)

The morning began with opening a few presents from Mom and Dad.  Lego had been on his list and he was VERY excited to see this!

Still one of his favourite things to do is to play with his cars, so a racecar cake was requested.  I had made him one a few years ago, but didn't want to do the same thing again.  So, off to the internet to find a different one.  This is what I found.  I pretty much followed the instructions exactly as they were on the website. 

Then after school, it was party time in the gym.  There were 9 boys from his class and they had a great time playing and eating!

Happy Birthday Owen!  Hope it was a great day for you!

A 6 year old!

 Happy Birthday Kendra!  Yesterday Kendra celebrated her 6th birthday.  She had been very excited about this for quite a long time as it was her first school birthday party.  A few months ago she was quite concerned that it might not fall on a school day but was relieved when she realized that it did!  The big day finally arrived.  Here are few shots of the celebrations!

Opening a few gifts before school - this one was a new bell and basket for her bike.

When we talked about what kind of party she wanted, the response was instant - "A dinosaur party".  This was the same theme as last year but there was no convincing her of trying something different.  So, easy for me, I made the same cake as last year, just changed the colour!  (Last year was an all-boy party so the dino was green, this year it was an all-girl party so therefore, a pink dino cake!)

We did the pary in the school gym which worked out great.  The girls (and Owen) all had a great time playing, crafting, eating and just being silly together!

Kendra painting her wooden dinosaur. 

Jocelyn is One!!!

Our little baby is now 1 year old!!!

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we welcomed our little tiny bundle into our family! It really is amazing how much growth and development happens in a little person's first year of life. We enjoyed a quiet day at home celebrating Jocelyn's first year, eating cupcakes, opening a few gifts. The 2 older kids were probably more excited than the birthday girl! What a precious gift she is to us!!

Birthdays and snow days

4 years ago, God blessed our family with a beautiful baby boy! We loved him instantly and we continue to love him more and more!He is no longer a baby but a definite a boy! He loves his cars and trucks and loves anything with letters or numbers. He is full of unique personality and we can't wait to see what his 4th year has in store for him!

On the weekend when he was born, there was lots and lots of snow . . .

. . . and now 4 years later we have snow again!! The kids had a great time yesterday playing in the snow, helping to shovel the driveway . . .

make snow angels . . .

getting buried in the snow . . .

. . . or just trying to figure our what all that white stuff was outside!

Too bad it is almost all gone again this morning. Welcome to life in southern B.C. !

Birthday Flowers

I read a quote yesterday at a local market that said,

"I would rather have flowers on my table than diamonds around my neck."

I'm not sure if I agree 100% with that statement but I do love having flowers in my house.

I got this bouquet from my mom, which I bought at the Nutrifoods market. I love the purples and blues!

Then my sister also surprised me with flowers! These were super long-stemmed gerbera daisies. I cut half of them down quite a bit to make this arrangement. . .

. . . and then used the rest of the gerberas, along with the purple ones (can't think of their name right now) to make another little arrangement. Nothing like fresh flowers to make your home feel cheery!!

Kendra is 5!

In between Jocelyn's hospital visits, Kendra had a birthday! She turned 5 years old on Wednesday and was very excited about the whole thing! We had a family celebration on Sunday and for that one she requested a princess cake. I started it but half way through went to the hospital so my mom finished it. A joint effort that turned out pretty good I think!! (Except for the poor barbie doll that lost her feet because she was too tall for the cake!)
On Friday, Kendra then had her party with her friends. As most of the kids she plays with are boys, she figured a princess party might not work as well so we went with a dinosaur theme! A big hit!

They all had fun painting the dinosaur scene I drew for them.

Finally it was time for some outside time, some dinosaur games and just running around like 5 year olds like to do!!

Happy Birthday Owen!

This week Owen turned 3 years old! He had decided long ago that he wanted a race car cake for his birthday. Even though I knew he wouldn't eat any of it, as he doesn't really do cake, I went with it anyway! He loved looking at it so it was all worth it!Unlike his older sister, Owen is not real big on having any attention on him so the whole singing of the "Happy Birthday" song didn't go over very well with him.

Monday morning, he discovered a few presents waiting for him on the counter and this was quite exciting!

He loves anything to do with numbers or letters so this book was quite a hit!

In the afternoon, we had two of Owen's friends, Daniel and Zachary over for lunch, cupcakes and some playing. They all had quite a bit of fun!

My little buddy is now 3 years old - and will soon graduate from being the baby of the family to big older brother. We'll see how that adjustment goes for a little guy who likes to have things his own certain way!!