Basketball Birthday

For Jake's birthday, we had a little party for him at school, so all his friends could be there!
Hailee was such a big helper, passing out plates and napkins! Proud sister.The birthday boy.
Yum!

Doesn't he have the cutest friends?!

Jake's Birthday Party

My cute little guy is two! He turned two in September and I'm only now getting to actually posting the pictures. We were surrounded by lots of people that love my little baby so much!

I couldn't bear to cut out very many pictures, therefore I have created many collages for your enjoyment where you can view smaller pictures of all the wonderful things I want to show you:)

First, I was motivated by the extravagant birthday party that Ty threw for me, so I decided to go all out! I debated between basketball and Old MacDonald's Farm for the theme, since those are Jake's two favorite things. MacDonald won out because I figured basketball would probably be an acceptable theme for a birthday party in later years. I did, however, throw him a mini basketball birthday party at his school, but that's for another post. We served "chicken wings" (buffalo wings), "haystacks" (pretzels), "little piggies" (hot dogs) and other fun festive food.
We played lots of fun games.

Pin the Hat on the Cow!

Check out the middle pictures. Jake figured out how to beat the system. Duh, you just lift the blindfold up so you can see.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Puzzles!

UNO Moo!

Haystack Treasure Search!

Note to self: Many people are allergic to hay.

The cake may look simple, but it took me FOREVER.
Our best attempt at getting a picture of all the cousins together.
Our loved ones were all there to share Jake's special day...if only I could've done a better job at taking pictures of all of them...
I dropped my rubber duck!
I think I can reach it!
Jake and his corn again:)
Just having fun.
Make a Wish!
And of course, TONS of awesome gifts. Jake is one spoiled (and loved) kid!
Thanks to both of our families for all of the wonderful support you give to us. We cherish these wonderful times together. Our kids know that they are loved.

My Cooking Blog!

I just thought I'd put a plug in for my cooking/food blog for those of you that don't know of it's existence or those of you that have long forgotten about it. I've been on a blogging hiatus for awhile, but I've added some new posts recently. There's also a link to it on my sidebar. Here it is...

cookinbrooke.blogspot.com

FIVE

Happy Birthday "week" to my little Hailee. She's loving all the attention this week. Lots of phone calls, gifts and parties, she's just glowing! She woke up at 5 AM on her birthday to ask us to measure how tall she was. I guess she thinks she literally gets "bigger" on her birthday. She is so much fun and makes us laugh everyday. She loves her little brother and helps take good care of him. Love you my sweet little girl!

Birthday Party

I hit the big 30 this year and my sweet husband threw me the most awesome party ever! He put a ton of work into it and it really turned out so great. He did have some helpers too. When he told everyone at work he was throwing me a party, they all jumped in to help him.

The decorations were awesome.

Every level of detail was carefully thought out.
He even included a "Twilight" corner at my party. Do I have the best husband in the world or what?!
And look who he invited!!
Everyone anxiously waited for their turn to hang out with him.
My mom was in charge of the cake. She did an amazing job!! Does anyone recognize it? It's a replica of Bella's cake from New Moon! My dad cut my name out of wood (twice...my mom made him do it again to get the font right, but it was worth it!) and it looks just like Bella's cake!
He also had "my favorite things" throughout, which I thought was an extra special touch. That of course includes diet coke...
And popcorn. He spent a ton of time using our popcorn machine to make batches and batches of this stuff that I love. He packaged them all up in disposable popcorn bags and had them at the party. Why we do not have a picture of that, I don't know!!

There were also finger foods around, which are another favorite of mine. Again, if I'd had the camera that night, I surely would've taken pictures of the food! Here's the menu though:

Skewers of Fresh Mozzerella, Basil & Tomatoes with Balsamic & Basil Oil
Asiago Stuffed Tiny Red Potatoes
Cambezola Pear & Toasted Pecan Canape with Proscuitto
Hot Shrimp Kisses in Orange Chipotle BBQ Sauce
Strawberries
Eclairs
Sugar Cookies
Candy Treats

So awesome and delicious!!

Here's his big helper, Dawn. She's an interior designer, so she knows style. In fact, he told me she even overrode him on a couple of decisions. :) Thanks to Dawn and everyone else who participated in making this such a wonderful event!
Here's my mom and dad finishing up the cake.
Seriously awesome cake, mom!
Here I am arriving at the big event.
The kids even had a great time. Thanks to everyone for their help with babysitting, so I could socialize with my guests!
Lots of guests came...family, friends and coworkers. I felt so loved!!
Thank you to my wonderful husband for pulling this off and for everyone who helped with it. Especially my parents and Ty's parents. They are always so helpful and supportive of everything we do and we appreciate it so much! It was such a great birthday and one that I will never forget!!