Celebrate!

So, the birthday party...

Last year, I was so on top of things for Addison & Mackenzie's first birthday.  I had the party planned weeks in advance, including handmade accents and personalized dresses.  I hired a photographer to capture every detail of the party--a decision for which I am grateful every time I look through those fantastic pictures.  I was (still am) very proud of the party I threw to celebrate my girls' first year of life (and our survival of it!).

Pancakes and hot dogs for breakfast, at the request of the birthday girls

 

This year?  Well, let's just say the party was a little more true to our family's style than last year's soiree.  I did a lot of thinking and list-making in the weeks leading up to the party, picking up a few supplies here and there.  I didn't have a good picture ready for an invitation, so I picked up some blank invitations and planned to print them myself.  Naturally, I ran into printer issues and ended up just hand-writing invitations on some cute blank notecards.  I also used Facebook to notify our guests...is that a sign of a 21st-century birthday party, or what?

We had planned to have the party here at home like last year, and I will readily admit that we were dreading the pre-party cleaning and preparations.  I began to seriously question the sanity of this decision when I saw the weather forecast for the week leading up to the party.  Rain was predicted for literally every day that week, except for Saturday!  We needed the backyard for the party, there was no getting around it.  Finally, on Wednesday, I gave in and admitted that the weather was not going to cooperate.  Thankfully, it was relatively easy to orchestrate a last-minute move to our church, which has plenty of open space and a great outdoor play area.

A rare picture of me and both girls!

 

Addison

Despite my relative lack of preparation, everything fell into place and we had a great party.  I picked up supplies to make the girls' birthday shirts and threw them together Friday night.  They turned out great and coordinated perfectly with pants we already owned.  I ordered cakes (separate ones this year!) from our local bakery, and they were delicious.

Mackenzie and my dad, in deep discussion about cars

Best of all, Addison and Mackenzie had a wonderful day celebrating with friends and family.  They looooved the attention and of course, the cake...which they had been talking about for weeks beforehand.  The only problem is that my silly girls don't seem to understand that "birthday" is gone until next year!