7 Quick Takes: Birthdays, Remodels, and Meltdowns

I've never linked up with anyone before, but I'm in a blogging rut, and 7 Quick Takes sounds really easy!  Off we go!

1. Ira's 8th Birthday is tomorrow.  We celebrated on Saturday with a party with family.  Ira wanted a Nacho Bar for his meal and a "New Super Mario Brothers" Cake. I found some awesome real food recipes to help the nacho bar not be such a gut bomb: carnitas, nacho cheese, pico de gallo.  The food was a hit and Ira was thrilled with his cake.  It's probably one of the best cakes I've ever decorated.  It took about 4 hours to decorate it, but the look on his face when he saw it was TOTALLY worth it!

2. We got new carpet!  The carpet that we replaced was original to the house from when it was built in 1984.  I don't really want to know what all was living and dead in that carpet, but we are THRILLED to have it gone!  It was low on the priority list of "things to redo" when we bought the house though because the old stuff was okay enough.  Finally, we are checking off the final boxes of totally flipping this house.  Since we bought 5 years ago we have: Replaced: all the flooring, every light fixture, and every faucet; Added ceiling fans to the bedrooms, Remodeled the kitchen, adding an eating bar and a dishwasher; Updated the main bathroom; Replaced the toilet in the half bath; Primed and painted every wall; Finished the basement; Added a perennial flower bed and vegetable garden, and are nearly finished with adding a 3rd bedroom.  It's been a lot of work and taken a lot of time, but we wanted to do it on a cash basis, so we are thrilled to be nearly finished!

Before

After

3. Homeschooling is going so wonderfully for us.  I cannot believe how well our first year has gone!  We are just weeks away from being finished with all of our curriculum for the year.  We are all looking forward to summer and I'm actually excited to start planning next year.  We will be basing our curriculum around Mater Amablis' recommendations once again - doing Level 1A, year 2.  I have been so pleased with their recommendations and have discovered some real GEMS of books that I'm sure I wouldn't have found otherwise.

4. We switched Ira to Saxon 54 after using ALEKS since the beginning of the school year.  ALEKS worked well for us in that we needed to accelerate through some things for Ira to find his learning level (he'd already finished 2nd grade Math in 1st grade at our Catholic School last year).  He finished with 3rd grade math in ALEKS in January, and after doing some Olympic-math in February, I assigned him to 4th grade math in ALEKS.  Then we started noticed he wasn't retaining some really important topics (like long division and fractions and all that good stuff)  To me, it's a twofold problem with ALEKS: first of all, there is no instructional dimension.  The child is set straightaway to working on problems, and have to click "Explain" if they don't understand it.  Well, that takes maturity first off, but I also felt like the explanations lacked depth.  So I supplemented with my own knowledge, which is fine in the younger math grades, but not so once we start getting further.  Secondly, the topical nature of ALEKS wasn't working for us.  Doing a topic and then being done with it without really any opportunity for review (other than when you log in the next day) just doesn't work for the math basics like multiplication and long division and rounding and fractions and decimals.  Or at least it didn't for us.  Having learned from Saxon for a number of years myself, and having taught it when I taught 4th grade, I was very familiar with their spiraling concept and felt like it was exactly what we needed.  We've been very pleased so far and will just continue with it next year.

5. Ruby had a total meltdown at Ira's birthday party because she offered him a plate when he started going through the nacho bar and he (rudely) told her he didn't need it because he already had one.  I took her to our room where we chilled out for probably half an hour.  We had a good talk about femininity and emotions.  She is such a beautiful girl with a big open heart and I am sure this will not be the last time we have that talk.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to parent both a boy and a girl.  So different, both of them, and so wonderful!

6. Ruby and I got to hang out together while Andy and Ira worked at our parish's quilt bingo today.  Of course, the first thing she asked to do was paint.  It's her fravorite thing to do, so I obliged.  She painted a Christmas tree.  I painted my favorite bush, a forsythia.  It looked really bad until it dried, then I was shocked by how well it turned out.  While it was drying we read books and listened to music.  Then we played the longest game of Chutes and Ladders like ever.  That game can really get on my nerves...

7. I cannot get Jennifer Trapuzanno out of my mind/heart.  I don't even know her personally, but on Tuesday morning she posted in our NFP group on Facebook asking for prayers for her husband who had been mugged.  He ended up dying, leaving her behind, eight months pregnant with their first child, a daughter.  I cannot imagine the loss and heart-wrenching grief she is feeling right now.  Please keep her and her daughter in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks and months ahead.  If you feel moved to donate to their family, you can do so here.

Well that wasn't necessarily quick, but I got a lot of stuff dumped out of my head there.  Head on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Time Flies

You know, in a lot of ways, it really does seem like just yesterday that I was a kid.  I've always had a decent memory - I can recall a lot of details from my childhood.  My siblings used to tease me by asking me what underwear I was wearing during a particular memory because I was often able to recall what people were wearing.  And I still have lots of vivid memories from childhood...  Playing with blocks on cookie sheets when Grandma Sakis came over and asked if we wanted to go to Talarico's Pizza for lunch - I was building telephone poles...  Pushing my little sister up and down the street in her grey stroller (by myself!) and wondering if people that drove by thought I was her mom (ha! - I was so dumb as a kid)... Checking out the window at bedtime to make sure that the house behind us wasn't on fire because my sister was scared to death that it would be... Drinking the mist from the humidifier when we were thirsty after we'd gone to bed - such a musty flavor... Sneaking into the kitchen while mom and dad were watching TV to get a snack out of the cabinets on the west wall...  And these are all things that happened before I was 7 years old!

So it is hard for me to believe sometimes that my siblings and I are all grown up now.  All of us very happily married.  All of us blessed with beautiful children - who are not even babies anymore!  Full-fledged kids, we have!  We all live relatively close to each other and are all able to get together once a week.  It is time I cherish, first of all because I love my siblings and consider them some of my closest friends, and secondly because I know not every family gets that.  It's so awesome to be able to "talk shop" with my siblings about the joys (and let's be honest, the frustrations and difficulties) of parenting - 'cause we're all right there in the trenches right now.  I wouldn't want it any other way!

Tonight we got together to celebrate my brother's sweet little boy's THIRD birthday.  THREE!  I can't even believe that's possible.  Time. flies.  He is taller than Ruby by a couple inches and has just recently taken off in the talking department.  Tonight he was singing the Veggie Tales theme song during dinner.  It was adorable!  One of my favorite parts was when he said "brockolocki."  Pretty sure I'm going to have to start calling it that!

Anyway, here are some pictures I grabbed tonight:

Happy (almost) Birthday sweet nephew!  

Journal: Dec 4

Outside my window: sunny, 50s/low 60s.  We've had beautiful weather lately, just wishing it would rain for the farmers' sakes.  And wishing it would freeze for awhile so the bugs/spiders would go away.  This coming from the person who loathes winter.

Clothing myself in: Boots, skinny jeans, thermal t-shirt, brown short-sleeved sweater.

Around the house: Well, the house got cleaned in a whirlwind last Monday because I decided (that morning) to host around 20 people for a surprise birthday party for Andy.  We also decorated for Christmas this past weekend.  Ira was really excited about decorating this year (which was good, because I needed some motivation to actually do it.)  We don't do a ton of decorating, but what we do, I really love.

Ruby: Is still insisting that she is (or is going to be) a football player.  Everyone who comments on what a cute little girl she is gets the same response, "No, I'n a football player."  It cracks me up!  She is clinging to her binkies for now.  She loves having the Fisher Price Nativity scene out to play with.  She also loves the ornaments on the tree that make music - so far she's been good about being gentle with the tree/ornaments.  Has been copying her brother's attitude at times.  Replete with door slamming and yelling.  Oh joy!

Ira: Has had an attitude lately.  Last week was kind of a crazy week as far as after-school time went, which really seems to affect him negatively.  We tried to spend good, quality time with him this weekend, which helped some, but still he was doing this entitled/attitud-ey thing, so he had some consequences to face for that.  He really really needs the boundaries and consequences that a good routine provides, so we're trying to stick to it better this week.  Earned computer time for practicing piano ever day last week.

In the kitchen: Crockpot chili, Brown bag burritos, Homemade Chicken & Noodles, Tomato-Mushroom Soup with Grilled Cheese, and maybe Sweet & Sour pork.

Hobbies: I've been editing photos like crazy lately and am so pleased with how easy it has become now that I "know what I'm doing."  I just wish our computer was a little faster.  Maybe someday...

Bringing me joy: Hubby's 30th Birthday party was tons of fun.  Went to the zoo as a family this weekend and then went running at the park afterwards.  A new-found peace that God is asking us to wait for Him in a couple areas of our lives.  I am not usually good at being patient, but I am feeling a certain peace in waiting on God right now.   Started my complete hormone panel for Dr. Hilgers.  Curious to see what  all can be determined from it.

Thinking about: This article that a friend shared with me.  What a weird position it is to feel called to have a big family and physically not be able to (at least for now.)  Again though, I'm waiting on Him, and His plans for my life.

Pictures to share:

The big 30 year old!

I know it's blurry, but I LOVE the emotion is this picture!

Silly kiddos at the zoo!

  

Journal: Nov 13

TODAY

Outside my window: Mid fifties, sunny.  Most of the leaves have vacated the trees.

Clothing myself in: Jeans (the THIRD pair of pants today mind you), eggplant-colored long sleeve shirt, black short sleeve sweater.

Around the House: Would you believe that I waited to blog until today so that I could report to you that I finally cleaned the aquarium?  Well, I did.  Hooray!  Also, there are "cuttings" ALL OVER!  Ruby is SO into cutting paper right now.  It occupies her for hours each day, but it also means that I need to vacuum most night... not that I actually do, just that I should.  Also, I divided ALL the (kids) books we own into 12 stacks, one for each month.  That way, the kids have "new" reading material each month (some of which is month-specific.)  I did leave about a dozen "favorites" out to stay because there are just some books we can't do without.

Ruby: Cutting paper, painting, coloring, but mostly cutting.  Switched to having "Quiet Time" instead of nap time each day.  I read her a book, then leave her in her room with a basket of books to "read."  She usually ends up falling asleep after 15-20 minutes, then sleeps for an hour or so until I wake her.  Bedtime has been a lot better.

Ira: Still hanging on to that loose tooth (he "broke a root on it" yesterday during school apparently.)  Doing SO much better about getting his chores done.  He ran out of "spending money" last week and had to pay me with a pound of candy one day.  That was the end of that!  He's been really responsible about getting both his morning and afternoon chores done lately.  He's also really into telling us he's going to "throw us in the trash" if we don't stop whatever we're doing that he doesn't like.  Love you too, bud!

In the kitchen: French bread pizzas & salad; Leftover goulash; Chicken over curly noodles; Herbed Tuna Sandwiches

Hobbies: Read the entire book from the PPVI Institute over the course of a couple days.  So beautiful and inspiring!  Transferring video from our camcorder to our computer.  It'll take awhile, but it'll be worth it to have it digital (and backed up).

Bringing me Joy: Aforementioned book.  Grandma Gladys' 90th birthday party this past Sunday.  What a woman, what a party!

Thinking about: The election.    Trying to be really "present" for my kids in the after school/dinnertime/bedtime time frame.  How this is the only childhood my kids are going to have.

Picture to share: Grandma Gladys with our family.

What I Loved About Last Week 9th Edition

Here's what I loved about last week (May 14-20):

1. Birthday.  Monday was my birthday and Andy found the most awesome card by one of my favorite children's authors, Sandra Boynton.  On the back it says "Boynton!  Trying to think of a motto since 1973."  If you haven't seen any of her books, you seriously need to go buy one right NOW.  Some of our favorites are "Moo, Baa, La La La," and "The Bellybutton Book."  Andy also made my day by having flowers delivered.  It was such a sweet surprise and totally made my day.  We took the kids to a Japanese Steakhouse (where they do tapanyaki cooking right there at your table.)  Although initially scared by the fire, Ira recovered nicely and said "awesome; that is so cool; and, how did you do that?!" for the rest of the dinner.  Ruby was pretty enthralled too.  They both had fun using chopsticks with little helpers on the end (plastic pieces that made them almost like a clothespin.)  I hadn't been there since my 20th birthday (long long ago) so it was fun to go eat some delicious food and see a fun show again (and of course the mom in me loved sharing the experience with my kids as much as anything.)

2. Fieldtrip. I helped chaperone Ira's kindergarten class' trip to the zoo.  It truly was a ZOO!  I only had 3 kiddos in my group (Ira included) but the zoo was so busy with other schools' fieldtrips that about the only thing I did all day was make sure that I hadn't lost one of my kids.  By the end of the day, I had a killer headache and a backache to boot, but it was fun getting to see Ira with his friends.

3.  We went through some boxes at my parents' house last week and found our old Geo Safari with about half a dozen sets of cards.  Nobody else wanted it, so I snatched it up thinking that it would entertain Ira this summer.  Boy oh boy, is it entertaining!  We've been learning all kinds of things from Geography to Spanish and Landmarks to Puzzles.  He loves playing it by himself, but we've also had fun playing 2 players.  I foresee the Geo Safari getting lots' o' use this summer!

4. Rubyisms.  Sheesh, this is becoming almost a weekly feature, but I tell you what, the girl cracks me up.  Her latest are: pree-dee-ah-school (preschool - we drive by her cousin's preschool on our way to pick Ira up from school.)  And then there's this: We duh duh duh cleem uh def uh Lord, we da cleem uh resuhrehtion, an you not tome a din, an you not tome a din!"  (The Mystery of Faith that we sing at church "We proclaim your death oh Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.")  She is also really into singing "O Saving Victim" at the top of her lungs all throughout the day.  It's a hoot that I've yet to catch on video (because although she sings it at the top of her lungs, she gets all shy about it when you start paying attention to her.)

5. Schooooooooooooool's ooooouuuuut for Summer!  (did anyone else's mom sing that on the last day of school each year?.... just mine?.... hmmm...)  Ira finished kindergarten on Friday and (surprise of surprises (to him at least)) he gets to go to 1st grade next year!  I am SO excited about having him home for the summer!  We have plans to do a little learning and a lot of playing and swimming and I CAN'T WAIT!

6. Lawn and Garden. We spent all day Saturday outside work work workin'.  I weedeated and mowed the WHOLE lawn (we have a BIG lot - like over 1/2 an acre.)  The weedeater must have rattled every muscle in my body because I'm achin' like bacon right now (does bacon ache?) but the lawn sure does look nice.  While I lawned (should totally be a word), Andy gardened (see what I did there, lawned... gardened... forgive me, I'm apparently a little loopy today.)  He built structures for our cukes, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe to climb.  It turned out pretty awesome and we can't wait to see how it'll work out this summer.

The garden all but done (just need to put straw down between the last 3 rows.)

Not really a picture of our lawn, but look at how big my flowers are getting! 

 7. Kids in the same bed.  The kids had (because they broke their streak last night) gone to bed in the same bed for the last 3-4 nights very well.  It helps that we completely wore them out all weekend.  I guess we'll have to see what this week brings to see if it was luck or learning that led to those 4 nights...

With that, I'll bid you adieu!  Thanks for hanging with my goofiness this week!

What I Loved About Last Week 7th Edition

Here's what I loved about the week of April 30th - May 6th.

1. The scent of roses wafting through the house.  When we have the windows open, I often catch the smell of the rosebushes in the front of the house.  I don't like the smell of rose-scented things (lotions/soaps/perfumes) but there is nothing like the smell of a fresh garden rose (our yellow ones are especially fragrant.)

2. My Kitchen Aid Mixer.  It was our wedding present from my parents and although it's almost 7 years old, it still works (and looks) like it's brand new.  The kids and I used it this week to make pretzels and it made the whole process SO simple.  Well, as simple as baking can get with a 6 year old and a 2 year old bicker over pouring in every. single. ingredient.  Not that that frustrates me or anything.

3. Mulberry Vinaigrette.  Andy was feeling all hunter-gatherery and foraged some Mulberries from a vacant lot that backs up to ours.  Then he made them into the most delicious vinaigrette to eat on our home-grown lettuce.  Pretty cool if you ask me.

4. Ira. Ira. Ira.  One morning before school, he was looking at some papers on the desk.  One of them was a sign up sheet for Room Mothers.  At the bottom it said "Please circle which grade you would like to serve" then had each grade listed out: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.  So he says to me, "Mom!  Look what the teachers are doing this year!  What grade do you think I should be in next year?  I'm pretty smart."  And in case that isn't clear as mud - he thought that he was going to get to pick what grade he'd be in next year.  Love that kid!

5. Diary Fieldtrip.  Each year Andy's mom's kindergarten class takes a field trip to their dairy farm.  Before Andy was in Kindergarten, he got to go along.  Before Ira was in school, he got to go.  Now Ruby gets to go.  Marilyn delights in showing off her grandchildren and her students love getting to meet the kids behind the stories she tells at school.  Not to mention it's just a little more in-depth of a look at the dairy than we get when we go to get milk each week.  The kids get to see a cow being milked, feel a milker, feel fresh, warm milk, see and learn about the milk tank, bottle feed a calf (pronounced "kev" for those who've never been around a dairyman), take a hay-rack ride, climb in a tractor, a combine, and a swather, and eat an ice cream sandwich.  Ruby was a little shy at first, but after awhile she was marching around acting like she owned the place.  She put her finger in the milker twice (that's a big deal, a lot of kids are scared of that) and ended up being in each of the 3 kindergarten classes' pictures (with "Crampa Beel")  She's such a goose!

6. Swimming.  It was hot on Friday, so I set up the kids' pool for the first time.  They LOVED playing in it.  Seriously, they were in there for no less than 2 hours.  I foresee LOTS of swimming this summer for those two.

7. Cream in my tea.  I've been skimming the cream off the top of our milk and using it in my tea in the mornings.  It adds such richness!!  I always wondered why my friend Jolene's tea tasted so much better than mine (despite the fact that we had the same tea.)  Turns out, cream vs. milk makes a BIG difference.  Yummy!

8. Playing Monopoly.  Monopoly has LONG been my favorite game to play.  When my younger sis and her hubby come over, we like to play games.  We usually rotate between Canasta, Pitch, International Rummy and Monopoly.  For the longest time we avoided Monopoly because it took FOREVER.  Well, it turns out, if you play by the REAL rules (not house ones like putting money in free parking, selling houses/hotels back for the same price you bought them, giving immunities when trading properties, etc.) it actually doesn't take any longer than any other game.  So we played on Friday night.  My brother-in-law royally trounced all of us, but it was still tons of fun.  I got out first, so I made the pizza (because it's not a get-together with my sister if we don't make a second dinner at 11pm.)  Life is good!

9.  Saturday.  It was just a great day.  Andy and Ira got up early and went fishing.  They brought home enough fish for lunch.  After lunch, I got to go shopping for new clothes by myself!  Andy watched the kids and put in the rest of our garden (tomatoes, peppers, herbs, melons, cucumbers...)  I shopped 'till I dropped and for once had WONDERFUL luck.  I feel like a new woman!  It's so nice to have "pretty" clothes to wear each day.  Maurices and Vanity were where I got most of the clothes.  Those stores just "get me."  I never have luck at the department stores because I feel like all the clothes are either way too young (and tight and short and skinny) for me or way too old (and baggy and dull and big.)  Although I did pick up a few pairs of shorts at the dept. stores (and another 2 lightweight cardigans - that I now have 4 of because I love them SO much - the picture in the link really doesn't do them justice) I got about a dozen (I really needed clothes) short sleeve/sleeveless shirts between Maurices and Vanity.  Vanity also had some really GREAT camis/layering tank tops that were both long and had modest necklines.  I am excited that all the clothes I found are both stylish and modest.

10. Birthday party.  We celebrated my Mother-in-law's birthday on Sunday and had a wonderful time.  The kids got to play with their cousins, we ate lots of delicious food, and just had a great time in general.

What I Loved About Last Week (3rd Edition)

Happy Easter Season to all!!  We're on a roll here - 3 weeks in a row!
Here's what I loved about last week (April 2-8, 2012):

1.Miracle of miracles.  After my rant last week, the bike riding w/ training wheels reached a fever pitch on Tuesday when it took us FORTY-FIVE minutes to ride home (it's like a 5 minute ride.)  Two blocks from home, I said, "that's it, the training wheels are coming off at home!"  We took them off, and what do you know, Ira can ride on two wheels without training wheels!

2. Getting over Strep Throat.  Yes, that means that we all (with the exception of Ira) had Strep Throat last week.  Andy's had it about a million times, but I'd never had it (thought maybe I was immune to it or something.)  Alas, I am not, nor is Ruby apparently.  Props to the antibiotics for working FAST.  And props to people who deal with Strep regularly - it is NO FUN!

3. Good Friday.  Ira was off school.  While Ruby napped (from noon until three o'clock oddly enough) Ira and I both decorated one of his Birthday cakes together and prayed the Stations of the Cross with a Stations Booklet that I'd made from materials from Holy Heroes' Lenten Adventure.  He was also FULL of questions (had to have been the Holy Spirit) about other faiths, masculinity and femininity, authority of the Catholic Church/the Pope, and martyrs.  Thanks to the Holy Spirit's help, I feel very good about the answers I was able to give him.  It made me hopeful that he will always feel comfortable asking me questions that he has about our beautiful faith.

4. Like I said, we decorated a cake for Ira's birthday party together.  Ira refers to himself as the ace of cakes now.  I would say he did a pretty bang up job (with some help), wouldn't you?

5. Rubyisms.  She has been full of good ones lately.  She calls green olives "blue grapes" and has recently started saying "Goo grief," "What in the Lord (world)" and "Eeee my dooness (goodness)"  She is just too funny!

6. Ira's Birthday Cake.  One of my proudest yet.  I did a gel transfer (1st time) and although I messed it up a little transfering it, I was able to fix my mistakes for the most part, and ended up with one of my "proudest" cakes.  I was really, really excited with how it turned out.

7. We hosted about 30 people at our house on Saturday morning/afternoon for Ira's birthday party (aliens from Toy Story theme).  The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and the party was a blast.  I just can't believe that our little boy is SIX!

The sandwiches we served "alien style"

Playing with his new kite from my parents

8. We had a beautiful Easter (albeit busy.)  We went to Easter Mass in the morning, then to Andy's folks' house, then to my parents' house.  Ruby didn't take a nap all Easter weekend, and *spoiler alert for next week* she took a FOUR hour nap on Monday.  Can I get a WOOT!  And the Easter Bunny did not disappoint as far as the "Sacrifice Jar."  Look at what our table looked like on Easter Morning!

I love how Ruby looks like she's getting ready to punch someone.  And Ira, well, the sun was in his eyes, what can I say?

It's on it's way

"Spring, Spring, glorious Spring.
It's on its way hooray hooray!!"

I am not a winter person.  At. All.  So when I see things like this, I know that Spring is truly on its way:

Beautiful red cardinal on top of the raked-away straw from last year's garden

Flowers (as Ruby would call them)  Nonetheless - brightness amidst the gloom

Rotor-tilled garden plot!

Long lists of things to do to get ready for a certain little girl's SECOND birthday.

Sorry I've been an absentee blogger.  This lent I am really trying to focus on being more present as a wife and a mother, which means I am more absent from the online world.  We're less than a week in, but it's been good so far.  These sweet kiddos are just growing up too fast and I don't want to "just a minute" their childhoods away while I'm on the computer.

Hope you and yours are having a peaceful, reflective Lent.  I read something the other day that said that the sacrifices we make during Lent help to make more room in our hearts for Love and for God Who Is Love.  May your heart expand this Lent!

"One"derful Day

Since last post was about Ruby's 1st year more than about her birthday party, I thought I'd do a special post just with birthday pictures!

I had fun making the invitation using Photoshop and Ruby's 0,2,4,6,8, & 10 month pictures.  I wanted a simple "theme" for the party, and had been wanting an occasion to make these adorable flower cupcakes from my "Hello Cupcake" book, so I decided "flowers" would be our "theme."

The week leading up to her party was spent Spring cleaning our house (works kind of well that birthdays at our house coincide with the urge to excessively clean.)  So everything from the window screens to the light globes on our light fixtures were scrubbed clean.  It was was kind of tough fitting everything in, especially since that was the same week Andy went back to work (for those who were wondering, yes he's back to work but not in his original position and for a significant pay-cut - however, his company is doing everything they can to keep him employed.  We are just thankful that he's working - times are so hard right now and we feel very fortunate to be in the situation we're in.)  But everything (except for scrubbing beside the refrigerator) did get done and I was thrilled to have a clean house for... well 30 minutes.

Ruby was surrounded by family and friends for her party.  We had a blast having everyone over and hanging out.  Although we have a lot of people over for birthday parties, (between 20-30 - what can I say, we have a big circle of close family and friends) we try to keep things pretty simple otherwise - we have a meal for everyone (instead of party favors, which just seems to be junk that collects at everyone's house's anyway.)  Then we do presents, play for a little bit (no organized games/activities) and then have cake and ice cream.  I really enjoy making cakes/cupcakes, so I spend quite a bit of time planning and making the cakes/cupcakes for the kids' birthday parties.  This year presented a little bit of a challenge because of Ruby's food enzyme sensitivities.  Luckily, I put the question of what to do to my FB friends and someone suggested Rice Cakes.  So Ruby's cake was 3 rice cakes stacked on top of each other frosted with homemade marshmallow/marshmallow cream.  Everyone else got adorable flower cupcakes (used the homemade Oreos!)    

Like I said, the party was a lot of work, but we had a LOT of fun!

Ruby's 12 month chair picture before all the guests arrived.

Ruby's rice/marshmallow cake

Fun flower cupcakes

The spread

Ruby looking to see if anyone else was coming.

Andy's mom with her 4 grandchildren

Ruby's dolly & stroller from Grandma Evelyn & Grandpa Chris

Playing with her present from us - a purse with headbands, a comb, a brush, and a mirror.

Showing off her dolly and stroller and new Stride Rite shoes (from Grandma Marilyn & Grandpa Bill)

Not quite sure what to think of the birthday cake (love Ira's face in this picture.)

"Happy Birthday dear Ruby!" (the candle was the one that was on Andy's 1st birthday cake - we used it for Ira's 1st, and now Ruby's 1st too!)

Hmmm... what's this stuff?

What a One-derful Day!