1.24.2013

Violet's Birthday Bash

Violet's little birthday party was a success. A few people had to miss it due to the stomach flu, but we're very grateful they kept their germs away.

First we sang and let Violet blow out the candles. Well, we tried to let Violet blow out the candles, but there were at least four other children trying to help. I had to keep relighting them just to get us through the song.


The cake was tasty, but the kids couldn't be bothered with it for long. All of the children abandoned their food after about 5 minutes... all except for Violet. She liked it enough to sit quietly and eat it until we made her stop so we could do presents.


Violet got a lot of nice gifts. My parents sent her a helmet, some Minnie Mouse toys, and this dress, which she was excited about.


She also got a Dora DVD, a book, and more Minnie Mouse toys (you can never have too many of those, right?). Her gifts from Dave and I were clothes, a mixer to go with her play kitchen, and a scooter. The scooter was a big hit. While the other kids played upstairs, Violet stayed down with the adults and tried out her new scooter. This morning, I brought Eddie's scooter in (which he got for Christmas), so they could ride together.


All in all, it was a very nice birthday for Violet and we are grateful for everyone who helped us celebrate.

1.23.2013

Violet is Two!


Today is Violet's 2nd birthday! In honor of her birthday, we are having a party for her tonight. I got tired of nagging Dave to design an invitation, so I did it myself. I am pretty proud of my Photoshopping skills.


Obviously, we decided to go with a Winnie the Pooh theme. Violet loves "Winnie Pooh" and watches it nearly every day. She also sleeps with her stuffed Pooh every night. To help give Pooh some time off (for a thorough cleaning, maybe), Eddie decided to give Violet an Eeyore. Soon after receiving it, she told me "Want Raddit." Unfortunately I think that Rabbit is such an unpopular character that they don't make Rabbit toys.


Grandma and Grandpa Barton came to visit on Saturday and brought Violet a new blanket. It was the perfect gift because it had kitties on it and Violet's favorite game to play is pretending to sleep. She is always climbing into someone's bed. As soon as she got her new blanket, she laid on the floor, pulled it up, and said "I seepy." Of course, she doesn't actually go to sleep when she does this. Because that would be awesome if she did.


Some of Violet's other favorite things to do these days are playing catch, hopping around pretending to be a frog ("riggit! riggit!"), and having dance parties. She also loves to draw and can be occupied for quite a while with just a pencil and a blank sheet of paper until she has filled the entire thing with tiny squiggles. She loves animals and babies and Cub Scouts and Eddie.

Violet makes us laugh every day with her silly personality. She can count ("one, two, blast off!"), knows the letters W and E, knows how to use the iPad, and is an exceptional snuggler. Also, thanks to her recent interest in Princess movies, she has learned how to give passionate kisses and occasionally tries them out on Dave and I (which is a little creepy). She also knows quite a few songs and will randomly sing nursery songs, Christmas songs, princess songs, or Winnie the Pooh songs.

As for the birthday cake, I am quite proud of it. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at different ideas and melded several together to create this:


The cake itself is a checkerboard cake with funfetti and pink raspberry cake. Unfortunately the cakes stuck in the pans so the cake is sinking a bit in the center. For the frosting, I had Dave sketch Pooh on top with a toothpick, then I made the rest up as I went. I found pre-made frosting bees which worked great and added a few pre-made frosting flowers. I think it turned out pretty great, but the true test will be when Violet sees it this evening.