Emma's 11th Birthday

Emma turned 11 on April 23 (I know, didn't I JUST have a kid birthday??  And the last one will be next weekend....)  and it was pretty low key.  She wanted glazed donuts for breakfast (she is her mothers daughter:) and shrimp alfredo for supper.  After supper we went to American Burger Bar for their birthday shakes.  

Saturday we had her party with 8 of her closest friends.  Now if you recall, Rachel just had a sleepover with 10 girls and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  Emmas crew is still in the overly dramatic "OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE ** ON INSTAGRAM???  OMG I CAN'T BELIVE SHE WORE THOSE SOCKS"....sigh...

3 hours was plenty and I informed Emma we'll stick to 2 hours next year.  Her theme was Hollywood, and I even had a red carpet for the sidewalk into the house!

Anyhoo, I loved how my cupcakes turned out!  I used marshmallow fondant to make the stars, they weren't as stiff as I was hoping, but looked cute.

Emma found these on Pinterest...damn Pinterest.  They were actually pretty easy to make, just took a little time.

Some things I had leftover from her movie night theme last year which you can see here.  I also ordered a bunch of things from Oriental Trading Company.  I love that place!  I spent maybe $30 and got a ton of things.  

Emma wanted them to all have stars, so she made those.

Friends of ours had the movie reels and let me borrow those.  Everything turned out so cute!

And this is the little birthday diva.  Is she not just the cutest girl ever??  Love her to pieces...She is my very sensitive, emotional, and crazy smart girl.  Everyone says she is my twin, but I don't really see it.  She is a lot like I was as a kid, a little bit more quiet, loves animals and loves to read.  LOVES to read.  She is the kid walking down the driveway reading, haha!  

Love this girl so much and love being her momma!

Easter 2014

We had a wonderful Easter weekend that was full of fun!  I had a girls weekend in Stillwater Thursday-Saturday, tons of fun with 3 of my favorite ladies.  We shopped, ate and drank far to much beer, but it was an amazing time!

We got back Saturday afternoon and after a much needed nap, I got busy making food for Easter dinner with my mom and step dad.  While Brad went grocery shopping with Rachel and Alayna, Emma and I got busy making Bavarian Jello Salad and Sweet Milk Dinner Rolls (these are the BEST dinner rolls).  I also had made mashed potatoes last week and froze them, worked perfectly!

We then made 400 (ok maybe not THAT much) boiled eggs and colored them.  Our favorite part is the nightime egg hunt.  I use mini light up tea lights and fill plastic eggs with them.  It was fun last year because we had snow and I was able to shove the eggs in the snow which was way cool!

Alayna, always the card...

Finding the eggs!

My not so little beauties all dressed up for church!

Rachels' 13th Birthday

This year for Rachel's birthday she wanted a sleepover.  Perfect...I love her group of friends, so I said, why not?  And then she showed me her guest list....10 girls.  Um, wha???  I obliged as any good mother would do.  It ended up being a super fun night, those girls are hilarious!

There is a reason why I am not a professional baker.  I can never get that damn icing to look right.

Rachel didn't have a theme, but wanted the colors to be blue and green.  I grabbed some stuff around the house and decorated the dresser in the dining room.  She had a volleyball tournament that day, so half of the girls were exhausted!  They still managed to sit in the hot tub until the were wrinkly:)

Rachel really has a great group of girls, they still have some drama, but they truly are a fun bunch of ladies!