Happy Birthday, Little Bear!

Andrew turned 2 last month and we celebrated with a Little Bear birthday party. The big boys picked the theme (the choice was between Little Bear and Mickey Mouse, since he loves both.)

 

Little Bear decorations and party supplies are impossible to find! I found a picture of Little Bear on the Nick Jr. site and just eyeballed it as I drew it onto a birthday sign. We decorated with blue and green balloons and streamers to make the kitchen cheery. Very simple.

 

Some of the balloons had little pinprick holes in them!? and shrunk during the party.

For dinner, we served "birthday soup." In the book, Little Bear's birthday soup has carrots, potatoes, peas, and tomatoes, and is definitely NOT chicken soup (Hen is his friend!), but... we had chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles because it was more kid friendly. Yum yum Hen.

 

We also served Mother Bear's Fresh Bread, Father Bear's Fish (goldfish crackers),  And Cat's Fresh-Milk Yogurt Bar along with Emily's Berries.

I tried to keep Andrew's food preferences in mind while planning the menu. I knew we would do soup and rolls, but I was coming up short on sides - potatoes, veggies, he dislikes them all. Since it was HIS birthday, I tried thinking of what he liked best. His favorite foods are strawberries and yogurt, so we did that and it worked well! We dished the yogurt into individual cups to make serving easy.

Originally, I planned to make a round chocolate cake like Mother Bear makes for Little Bear on his birthday. Simple, easy. But at the last second, I decided to go fancy and do a colorful decorated cake. I didn't even have a cake board big enough or time to buy one (I taped two together with packing tape! which is why the cake split down the middle). I used the same image as on the sign - printed it, cut it out, set it on the cake and decorated around it and then freehanded the details.

 

I placed the image on the cake over my first layer of blue sky, and cut around it. so I could see the outline. Fancy!!

 

Filled in with brown and did the grass details. 

 

Finished!

This may have been the first cake I've done with all my children awake the entire time, and that I am quite proud of. ;) Ben "helped" a lot.

He couldn't quite get the candles blown out by himself (he tried), but he loved the cake.

 

We considered playing musical chairs (which Little Bear and his friends play at the party in the show), but decided against it just because we wanted it to be super low-key. We had just gotten over a pretty severe illness so the planning was at a minimum here! We ended up getting sick again the following week for pretty much the rest of February, so this party was a bright spot in a dreary winter.

 

Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet boy! 

Unfinished

 

I bought this pretty stack of fabrics in the summer of 2011, with grand plans for beanbag chairs and poufs. They showed up on my doorstep my first day of morning sickness with Andrew. Not only was I not in the mood to sew, but just looking at them made me feel nauseous for months after, even when most of the pregnancy nausea had passed (craaaazy, right? guilt by association?) I have come across them in my box a few times since then but haven't done anything with them. 

We painted Ellie's room and are in the process of cleaning out all the stuff that got dumped there during our move 5 months ago. I have spent several hours in there, twice now, cleaning up, and then suddenly more things appear. But it's for real this time (I think?). The boys are getting big beds soon, and the second crib will move from their room into hers. The dresser is already there. She won't actually move in there for a while yet because it's just too convenient to have her in a bassinet next to our bed! But the room needs to be done. Decluttering on my mind.

I unpack a box labeled "fabric". I survey several baskets filled with skeins of yarn, some half-used, some still unwrapped. I see stacks of felt in a corner. I open a plastic tub filled with embroidery floss, thread, bobbins, yards and yards of elastic. I sigh as I pull out bag after Joann's bag with items for various projects that I purchased and never completed. Quilts, fabrics for half a dozen skirts, Jesse Tree ornaments (begun four years ago), crocheted blankets and hats, a playmat for cars. The state of my crafting life can only be described as unfinished.

 

Very early stages of car playmat with all our favorite places

 

This fabric? Not photographing great, but a gorgeous, silky, silvery-gray swimsuit fabric. Because I couldn't find a maternity swimsuit top I liked, I was either going to make my own with a pattern drafted from a shirt I have, or have my more-talented sister make it for me. It never materialized. This stuff is expensive, ya know!?

It hasn't all been a flop; I HAVE done a lot of projects over the past couple years. And I was completely caught up on all scrapbooking over the summer (now I'm 6 months behind, but that's the way it goes?) I just can't stand the thought of all the precious time and money I've poured into starting these projects, only to have them sit in the closet for another 4 years. Or 14.

 

I emptied the bins and bags and put it all in this box. At least it's all organized and folded now, and it will sit in Ellie's closet for the time being - easy access. All the notions and threads went into the plastic 3-drawer bin.

I have never really had my own dedicated craft space, and I still don't. We have enough storage space in this house that storing these supplies really isn't a burden, but I'm tired of storing them. I need to use them. 2014 is going to be the Year of Finished Projects. And oh, we have a lot of them around here. Before the crafts will come the upstairs bathroom, nursery, and basement clean-and-clear-out - but the crafts will happen, too.