Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Birthday :: Check

Lord, I am tired. Bone weary. But the past week has been one of the loveliest ever. Those boys of ours, we gave them quite a time, running them to and fro and here and there. I doubt a post could cover it so I will use all the pictures as fodder for multiple posts in the upcoming week. We had the pleasure of a visiting Gramma, all the way from Portland. And she loved it just as much as they did.
Trolley Rides
We had our first ride on the local trolley prefaced by a stop at the train depot where the commuter train awed them both as it roared in. We had presents, introduced slowly which the boys quickly learned held some enticing new play things. They got the hang of presents really fast.
The Day

Saturday we had a visit to their new preschool, slated to start in September. And then a momentous trip to Griffith Train park, a wonderland of rusting yet beautiful old locomotives and a train ride on the mini train made famous by the Jerk.(Pictures to come, I promise, Gramma).

And then we finished up their birthday week with a party. I had mentioned in a few posts that I had a lingering guilt due to my avoidance of a one year birthday. I wanted to take the time to make a party happen but I also wanted to avoid any stress, the kind that ramps up as expectations and plans and guest lists grow and grow.

I figured we would invite all the little ones we know and that did not seem like a big number. But along with them come their parents. And then a few more friends, child less but always so great. And then the fam, ah, the fam. Their numbers dwarf the kids. Not really, but there is quite a few family members. So, it looked like 10 or so kids and then lots of good natured adults.

I had fun with the preparations. The sandwich rings were ordered from Claro's, a great little local deli, we can highly recommend them if you need food and are nearby.
Foods
Omi and Gramma got in the kitchen and made their signature dishes, hot salsa and gaucamole and tuna stuffed sweet peppers. Mmmm.

That gave me time to make my favorite cupcakes using a recipe that is not too sweet but very delicious. And I had time to try my first real buttercream icing, using SK's simple instructions. And 23 tablespoons of butter. Yum.

Cakes
And then I tried my hand at coloring and rolling out fondant to dress up the little cakes. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to color and roll fondant. I found it in a prepared package in the cake decorating aisle, added a bit of blue food gel, kneaded it in (with gloves) and cut the shapes with a biscuit cutter. I really like how these came out. And I really like the buttercream icing. Though a few of the kids did not and kept bringing me their cupcakes to wipe them off. I swear I did not eat it. Really.

Favors and stuff
We had a generous giving of presents which the boys were on in a heart beat. Luckily they opened the Thomas stuff first and every other bag paled after those were out. Uncle Alon scored a yard sale find of a classic Hot Wheels track that was a big hit, boys and girls alike.
hot wheels

We met some new little ones, had fun with some old friends and survived the chaos that is 12 little ones under 4 running amok.
Bling

A party project I loved was the photo time line where I printed one photo for each month (I mixed some of them up, but whatever, it was all okay).
Party Decor
I loved walking through the year and seeing just how much has changed and so did our friends.

Party Decor
It was fun and would have been easy if my hard drive had not crashed on Friday night (and I had not obsessively tried to gather the photos anyway). I am going to have to save those prints as I am not really sure if I can access any others. (Note to self :: Back up is essential).

A party project that got a lot of laughs was the home made pinata. I contemplated making a truck, then found a brilliant idea. A rock.
Rock pinata

A pinata shaped like a rock. And so that is what we did, my reasoning that they were just going to whack the crap out of it and that they are 2 and cannot be embarrassed yet. It got quite a few laughs and sent our kids into a sugar coma due to the Skittles mini bags.

We had favor buckets filled with bracelets and magnifying glasses and kazoos.
kazoos

I wish I had audio of the sound of 12 kazoos being 'played' at one time.

We had a little bit of singing, crowns intact.
caking it

We had a little bit of climbing, waiting out the sugar high in the backyard with our friend Zac.
Sugar rush

And we had a little bit of beer with friends as we all laughed at the zany antics of our now two year old boys.
post party

We had a good time. And I think I finally assuaged my whole guilt issue with this party. Now, if I can just get through my 'working' Mama guilt, I think we will all be just fine.
Peek


Upcoming events

:: A blow-by-blow account of the train park experience with full recommendations for the locals.

:: Featured artist of the week, my amazing sister and her amazing gift to the boys that blew our minds.

You can get a sneak peek and see all the pictures here.

11 comments:

Dawn Johnson Warren said...

Happy, Happy Birthday wonderful boys! And many blessings to you, amazing Momma!

You've inspired me to play with fondant ;)

Preeti said...

Happy 2nd Birthday M&O:):) It looks like they had a really special birthday week and there was so much fun and love and laughter!! Loved seeing their mesmerized eyes at the train park! Little boys and trains - too precious... ::Hugs::

LauraC said...

Happy birthday Owen! Happy birthday Mason! Congrats to mom and dad on making it two years with twins! The party looks fabulous and if you figure out a way to get over working mom guilt, let me know!

Disentangled said...

What a great party...now you are making me want cupcakes!!

brook said...

you are awesome!!! looks like a fabulous week. :) happy birthday to your boys!!

Liz Jimenez said...

Looks like it was a wonderful party! Happy birthday, big boys!

Sadia said...

Happy Birthday, boys!

It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

I'm unhealthily paranoid about losing all my digital photos, so I
1. Upload them all to Dropshots (www.dropshots.com)
2. Burn them to CD, one month per CD
3. Send CDs to my Mum and mother-in-law

I've even considered putting backup CDs of photos in a safe deposit box with my jewelry and house title, but that seems a bit much. ;)

jennifer said...

happy happy to you guys! what a wonderful celebration and such love!
xoxo

The Adventures of Carrie, Brook, Finn and Reid said...

What an incredible birthday party! It looks like you had all the right elements...family, friends, food and a rock pinata! I love it!

May Year Two be the best of the best! You guys deserve it!

C, B, R & F

Sereknitty said...

Happy 2nd birthday to the Owen and Mason!

Nice job, Mama on the birthday party organization and all the fabulous photos -- beautiful!

Em Natural said...

I wish i was there. Look at those yummy cupcakes! MMMMMMmm italian meringue buttercream :)
kisses!