Happy First Birthday Brenner!

Ok, let me try and explain this interesting cake.  My mom gave me an idea for Brenner's cake.  How cute would a caterpillar be?  Yes, that's such a cute idea.  And I can get it made out of cupcakes, and they can ice it all together so it looks like a cake.  Perfect!  So I headed to the local grocery store and tried to explain my grand idea for a caterpillar cake.  I wanted bright colors for the caterpillar's body in primary colors, orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple.  I wanted grass on the bottom, and light blue on top with Happy 1st Birthday Brenner written in white.

And this is what I get.  A yellowish-orange, and burgundy, with a huge pile of icing in aqua blue on top.  ...not exactly what I had in mind.  But I suppose it could be much worse.  So, there you have it.  At the last minute, I thought of ordering bumblebee and ladybug cookies as well to go along with this bug-themed party.  And those turned out pretty cute.  Even though they were piled high with 4 inches of frosting.  Ha!  What's so funny about that is I specifically said when I ordered, "And I don't want very much frosting on those.  Just a little bit." Anywho, just like I told my mom, it doesn't look so bad in the picture. 

We sang him Happy Birthday.  Then he picked out his cupcake.  I placed it on his tray.  He picks it up with both hands and digs right in!  No testing the icing with a finger or two.  No uncertain looks or glances my way.  He knew exactly what to do.

Thank you Theresa, Sarah, Rebecca, Adam, Bethany, baby Charley, Dustin, Terah, John Franklin, and baby Anna for celebrating with us!  It was great fun!!

Our Home

I finally got around to taking some pictures of our house.  I have a few more projects in mind, so as soon as those are finished, I'll post more.  Chelsea was so much help with decorating.  Thank you sis!  Here's what I have so far...

The Kitchen

The Laundry Room

The Living Room

Brenner's Room

I had fun making Brenner's letters.  They're wooden letters from Michael's and I glued coordinating scrapbook paper on top. 

I call it a surfer/old car/boat theme.

Emberlyn's Room

The Playroom

Our Room

I'm standing in my doorway, facing Brenner and Emmy's rooms.  There is a linen closet on the left, and across from that is the door to the playroom.  There is also a bathroom door on the left that you can't see.

Arts and Crafts with Chelsea

Chelsea and I painted canvases.  We were inspired by a picture in a magazine.  It took lots of mixing, a few retouches, and several trips to Michael's to get the colors just right.  Haha!  Thanks for all your help Chelsea!  They turned out just perfect.

We painted these and then glued scrapbook paper on top.  Yet another fun project!