Time for 3~

It's was time for another fun-filled packed weekend with my firstborn turning three. Her actual birthday is July 29, but we celebrated with a little family party on Sunday afternoon, a couple of days early. All day Saturday I was trying to cook (see my famous 'Cowboy Caviar' below), and make Caillou decorations for the party. I had ordered all of the decorations online a couple of weeks ago, but I got a phone call from the manufacturer last minute that they were all out of stock. Nice. So I had to devise decorations on my own. And it figures that no one seems to sell Caillou party themes (not Target, not Walmart, no party stores---no one)!

I printed out pictures of Caillou from the internet and created a mobile decoration to hang from the kitchen light above the table. I also made a place setting for Haleah and formed a decoration for the cake as well. They turned out okay.

While I was party prepping, the girls were swatting flies in the house and watching the rains pour down outside. The weather has been super wet around here lately.

We had our family party over at my mother-in-laws, so we could have more of a surprise factor for Haleah. And besides that, she's got the pool in the 100 degree heat! I decorated over at Irene's house on Saturday night after I got the girls to bed. I also made the cake that I saw in the Schwan's catalog. It was a cake made by layering ice cream sandwiches, whipped cream and M&Ms. Haleah loves these three things, so I thought this cake would be perfect for her and the other kids. It was super simple to make; I just had to unwrap each ice cream sandwich and assemble it quickly before everything melted. Then I had to freeze it overnight.

The party was a success, I thought. It was low-key, which was what I was going for for a three year old. We had balloons for Haleah and lots of food. She got to swim and open a lot of nice presents from her family. She got games and puzzles and a child laptop. She received a baby doll that talks and wets herself (nice), a bug scope and some Chapstick. One of her favorite gifts was a whoopie cushion, which I thought was a hit. She loves it and it is fun to use. Not bad for an 88 cent gag.

The two mishaps of the evening occurred when I went to retrieve the cake and realized that it had toppled. I had to fudge it and put it back together. I was not happy, but luckily it was just for a toddler. The taste of it was excellent, though. The second mishap was when Haleah fell off the new/refurbished battery powered Barbie vehicle that she got from Aunt Missy as a gift, and gouged the top of her foot and forehead. Blood came a pourin... but she did survive! And at the end of the night when we tucked her in, Haleah said, "Thank you for my party. It was really, really fun."