Happy 2nd Birthday, Aurora!

My grand niece, Aurora, turns two tomorrow. (The funny thing is that her mother was born on Christmas Eve - they seem to like holidays.) My mother asked me to make a cake for the celebration, and I was happy to do so. I wanted something really cute and special. I want her mother to know that she is loved.

I also made a light-up "A" and a birthday crown for Aurora because every girl needs to feel important. They were fun to make. I did some serious glittering last night.

I was inspired by the one that Posie, over at Posie Gets Cozy, made for her little girl. I was surprised at how hard it was to find nice,somewhat realistic plastic animals.

We celebrated by having a party at my mother's house.

Poor little Aurora did not feel very well between not being able to breathe very well because of allergies and the pain she must be feeling since she has at least one molar coming it. It was great to get a chance to visit with the family, especially my brother and his girlfriend, Ebony.

It was fun to make little girl things for Aurora.

Graduation Party Decorations - Paper Fans, Photos, Black Streams and Gold Mylar

Ellie graduated on Saturday, along with the four boys in her class. It was important to the families of the graduates to throw a fun and classy party. After some thought and a lot of searches on Pinterest, here is what I came up with. I came up with the concept and gathered the stuff. Members from each graduate's family gathered on Friday night to decorate the main room. It is a bit of a challenge since it is a long, thin, large room. I handed out drawings of my concept along with the appropriate supplies and set everyone to work. I am so pleased with what we came up with.

We festooned each doorway and window in a way that complimented the decorations over the sharing counter.

I gave Brandon and Xander the task of putting together the photo banners. They did a really great job. I am so proud of these two guys who do not consider themselves artistic or creative. Don't you think they are lovely?

We grilled burgers and hot dogs outside. Each family provided some homemade side dishes and we set up an ice cream sundae and root beer float bar for dessert.

Center pieces were a little more challenging. Each idea I came up with was too girly, or too cheesey. Eventually I toned it down and we ended up with these. Each family got to take one home and people seemed to like them:

After it was all put up, the room looked really great and I was very happy. We had to tape everything since we were not allowed to use thumb tacks on the walls. I slept likely that night, worried that the bigger fans might fall down, set off the motion sensor alarm which would in turn call our home and wake us up. Thankfully, the gods of party decorations blessed our party and it went off without a hitch. :)

I love decorating for a party.

Getting Ready for Celebrations - Kitty Approved Decorations and Party Menu Plans

We are gearing up for a big weekend with Ellie graduating on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday.

One of Ellie's favorite decorations is the flag bunting that I made for a summer party a few summers ago. She requested that I make more. I was happy to oblige her. I dyed the fabric during spring break, and then have constructed it this week.

I measured the original ones to make sure that they will go together well. Then I cut them out.

Next, I sewed them onto the colorful seam binding.

I don't know how long the original bunting is, but now we have an additional 30 yards. That should suit her just fine. I am happy to see that the bunting is kitty approved.

Tomorrow we are going to graduation. I am the head of the celebration reception at school, and then we are having a party here at home. It is a bit overwhelming, but I think I have it all under control. I have my fingers crossed, just in case.

Here's what we are serving at the party at our house:

Appetizers:
Caprese Toast
Pizza Pinwheels (Ham or Pep.)
Dirt Cups*
Fruit Kabobs (maybe)
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple *
Cocktail Wienies in BBQ Sauce*

Pasta Bar:

Pasta:
Spaghetti
Bowtie
Fettuccine

Sauce:
Marinara
Alfredo
Garlic Butter
Pesto (?)

Toppings:
Meatballs
Grilled Chicken
Sausage
Olives
Broccoli
Parmesan
Peas

Salad
Garlic Bread

Drinks:
Watermelon Peach Spritzer
Iced Tea
Water
Mint & Pineapple flavored water (maybe)
Blackberry & Basil flavored water (maybe)
Beer
Wine Coolers
Wine

and there will be cherry pie, if I can find the time to make it.

Whew, I better get back to getting ready.

Happy Mother's Day to my friends!

Pumpkin Carving Party

Solar Eclipse, Dinner and A Ticket to Ride

This evening we went up to Indian Hills to see the solar eclipse.

Andreas and Aubrey invited us to their house. The clouds were moving in, so we changed locations.

A few miles down the road gave us another vantage point and the clouds moved away just as the most important part of the eclipse was occurring.

We had a lovely assortment of viewing possibilities, including this pair of fun metal working glasses.

Larr and Arie had fun. They love to hassle and joke with one another.

Afterwards, we went back to the house to play a game of "Ticket to Ride." I love the game. Larr hates it. Ellie's leg was hurting and she was feeling ill, so she relaxed on the couch while we waged war on the board.

Nearly A Lovely New Beginning - Missa and James, an Engagement

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Beginning to think about Graduation - Decorating Ideas

Today we had a meeting at school to begin planning Ethan's graduation party. Brett and Ethan will be graduating together. In the big room and the main room we would like to hang up some sort of fun garland, or flag bunting, etc. The big room has buttresses.
Party Tassel Tutorial and Table Decoration Idea:
These are from the Dec. 21, 2011 Joe and Cheryl blog where they have generously included a tutorial.

The tassels are made from 1'=2'long strips of fabric or ribbon. Each tassel has about 6 pieces. It seems like the fabric pieces are pretty wide.

I like this idea, too, though I think ours will have some nice garden fauna and paper dots of various sizes that match the colors the boys will be using.

Shutterfly Give and Get Joy Party

Dinner with Friends and a Technical Takes Her Out!

When I am watching Ellie race and I see people who are usually behind her go by without my seeing her, my heart begins to worry. My eyes scan the course for a crash and I begin to notice who else might be missing.

This pastSaturday was the Colorado State Cyclocross 2010 Championship race and that happened near the end of the race. Ellie had prepped for it, gotten a good start, but then crashed in the second (of three) laps. It broke her shifter and locked up her front wheel. She had to walk back to the start of the course with her bike on her back. It was a long, slow and most likely lonely mile or so back to where the cheering crowds were. She ended up with a DNF (Did Not Finish) and earned no points. She was bummed, but handled it with grace.

We had the most delightful dinner with some friends last night. I thought we were going over to have a simple meal and decorate the great wooden snowflakes that Wendy and I recently purchased. When we arrived, we found that it was something much more in-depth and exciting.

Wendy set two lovely tables, each with their own theme. She wanted to honor the kids and the adults alike.


Inspired by Ethan's recent hunting trip, David made a few recipes from The Sacajawea Cookbook by T. Evenson, L Lesmeiste and T Everson. We started out with a lot of chatting and soon began eating. David made a mushroom pate' that Ellie really enjoyed. (I have included the recipe for that one below.) David also made a great salad with an oil and vinegar dressing. This was pared with the wine we brought to the party. Next up was a Venison stew (that actually had buffalo meat since they could not find venison in the store) that everyone loved. We were really touched that they went out of their way to try new recipes and honor Ethan's recent new adventures.


The kids seemed to have conversations that were just as animated as the one at the adult table. Ethan handled the needs and interests of three very different girls with ease and grace. What a boy. :)

Part way into the main meal David upcorked an old and wonderful wine. It was much smoother than most of the wines I have had. He had Wendy pull out the decanter and a flashlight so that we could see what he was doing. He swirled the wine until it was well aerated.

We finished up the lovely meal with chocolate fondue. You had your choice of strawberries, green apples, bananas or pund cake for dipping. ait was luscious. Most of us ended up wearing some it.


During all of the chatting we did at least look at and admire the basecoat painting of their snowflakes. I was inspired and began to rethink my plan. Laura had each one painted a different shade of blue. Wendy had been inspired by nature. She had many colors including a nice, dark teal blue and an intensely purple one. Caroline made my favorite ones. With her usual child infues enthusiasm and carefree attitude, she let colors mix and mingle. She made one that look a bit like tye-dye and another looked like it was made of heavy water coloring paper. (I wish I had taken photos of them to share.) I think they are wonderful just the way they are. Mine are all white. I may have to rethink my plan.

Hazelnut Mushroom Pate'

2TBL Butter
2 Cloves of Garlic, roasted and minced
1 1/2 cup Fresh Mushrooms, diced
1 small Onion, diced
1 cup Hazel nuts, chopped
1 TBL Basil Pesto
1 TBL Soy Sauce
1TB Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper (To taste)
2 TBL Cream Cheese (softened)

Melt that butter and saute' the garlic, mushrooms and onions until the onion is translucent, but not browned. Transfer this to a food processor. Add in the hazel nuts, basil pesto, soy sauce, lemon juice and seasonings (to taste). Process until smooth. Add in the cream cheese and pulse until just incorporated. Serve with cracker or bagel chips.

Makes 2 cups