Red, White & Blue Sangria! 

Riesling + Blueberries, strawberries and gala apples. 

I had intentions to cut the apples into stars but it was way harder than I thought it would be lol.

Polka dots & Baby pigtails! 

Finally my roses are blooming!

Luke. Emily and Cole

None of these kids were in the mood for pics yesterday.

Emily tried to steal the camera from me numerous times lol.

DIY Caramel Frappuccino

Will post the recipe later in the week. :)

Outfit selfie

Let's just pretend the background is not a disaster. 

H&M Dress-Love this dress! I was impressed with the quality.

Faux pearls from Express

Sugar cookie "fruit pizza" Made by my fab sister! 

Hope everyone was able to spend time with family and made the most of their Holiday weekend!

Cole's Dinosaur Party!

Cole's Dinosaur party!

I can not believe my Cinco de Mayo baby is 4 years old!
Yes Cole was born on Cinco de Mayo exactly one day before he was due lol. I predict his 21st birthday to be quite the occasion considering the holiday. . .

Here is a little throw back pic! 

We originally planned to do a Candyland themed party but Cole's indecisiveness got the better of him and he chose dinosaurs instead! I swear he is so much like me.  I am not capable of making a quick decision without second guessing it.  Our birthdays are only 5 days apart so maybe that's the explanation.

Overall it was a perfect but exhausting day! It was the last party (of my children) of the year which I am kind of relieved about because I love to plan and throw the parties, but it is a lot of work!

Paper Mache dinosaur eggs! 

I put them in a huge plastic bin filled with tissue to look like a nest.

To make the eggs I used tissue paper and elmers glue to paper mache little balloons(and left an opening at the top).  Let them dry overnight filled them with goodies(little dinosaurs, chocolate coins, mini gummy bears, candy necklaces, tattoos and princess stickers for the girls!) 

The kids loved them and a few adults did too!  Lol

The birthday boy!

Dinosaur 'sand" cups made by my fab sister! 

It is hard to tell but those are gummy dinosaurs on top and dark chocolate cadbury eggs.

She used vanilla pudding mixed with cool whip and crushed nilla wafers to make them.

They could not have come out more adorable!

                    Stole these pics of my sister's instagram because I did not take enough pics!

More cake pics!

Party Menu

Apps

Mini hot dogs(brought by my aunt!)

Buffalo chicken bites(my mother in law makes them and the kids love them!)

Strawberries and bananas & marshmallow fruit dip

Taco dip with tostitos chips

Main

Pork BBQ

Lunch meat & cheese tray

Meatballs

Potato salad

Pasta salad

Penne alla Vodka

Deviled eggs

Dessert

Dinosaur cake

Dinosaur egg cupcakes

Dinosaur "sand" cups

Big sugar cookie(with dino eggs baked in)

Dark chocolate brownies

There was tons of food leftover which worked out for me because I got a little vaca from cooking.

I sent some extra cupcakes in with Luke to school for his class to brighten up their Monday!

Thanks to my mom and my sister because without them I would never be able to pull off these parties!

Also to my mother for taking Cole out for the day before for a birthday shopping trip and a haircut!

I also did this grad cake over the weekend!

I have been super busy(with all the parties and cakes!) lately which is why I've been a little MIA on the blog but things are settling down so don't abandon me just yet lol.  I haven't even had time to snap a pic of my new hair yet but soon! When we went out Sat night we were rushing out the door and Miss Emily managed to break the camera on my phone somehow! Have a great rest of the week! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day! Mine was Ikea plus cheese fries and not having to work the holiday for the first time in a while!  So it was of course perfect.  I'll post my mini ikea shopping spree later in the week! (Love that store!)

Luke's Pirate party!

Luke's 7th birthday party!! (Pirate themed)

The Birthday Boy!!

I truly can not believe I am the mother of a 7 year old! Luke is one of the most hardworking and genuinely sweet boys I know.  He puts forth such an effort every single day to do what is expected.  We are so incredibly proud of him.  From the time he was diagnosed with autism(at the age of 3) until now he has made such amazing progress!  When he was diagnosed he was barely verbal.  He would label a few things and would use a few single words to communicate what he wanted.  (He did echo a few phrases also)  Then he began early intervention preschool and he slowly began coming out of his shell.  I'll never forget the day that I asked him for a kiss and he leaned in and gave me one for the first time! Before that day he would allow you to kiss him and hold and cuddle with him but never gave kisses.  When he started kindergarten we also began private ABA therapy twice a week which provided really great results.  He now is able to answer many questions, observe and comment, label most things, request and ask a few Wh questions.  Which is really amazing considering where we started.   He has always had a good sense of humor also! He makes us laugh all the time!  He is always smiling and loves birthday parties and family get togethers. You should see the way his face lights up when everyone sings Happy Birthday!(and not just at his own party lol) He does blow out everyone's candles for them though!  At school he is placed in an autism inclusion class which means for most of the day he is in a smaller class, but is integrated in to the regular ed first grade.  The other children are so kind and accepting which I am so grateful for.  My biggest fear was that he would not be treated well or be misunderstood.  The kids are also extremely encouraging.  They take note that they share commonalities and want to see him succeed. Luke learns so much from them also. He presented a show and tell project to the whole class recently.  Which included telling his classmates about our family beach vacation.  I was so nervous for him, but the teachers said he did amazing.(They actually said he gave a rockstar performance lol) All the kids clapped and from what I was told at the IEP meeting he's already a bit of a ladies man(always gravitating towards the group of girls in morning meeting) and they will ask Luke to demonstrate known skills and he happily complies and loves the attention they give him lol. He has a certain charming quality. This year he has really shown an increased desire to share things with us and chooses to be involved in more and it's just really nice to see.  

Disneyquotes

This little man is always cracking everyone up with his observations.  You never know what to expect to come out of his little mouth. The other day he was being babysat my my mom and she commented that there was a hippo on tv(she just looked to quickly ha) and he corrected her by saying "Mommom that is not a hippo that is a rhinoceros..Awkward!"  Lol!   He also has to be the most dramatic boy that ever existed.

Cole

Emily( Queen bee )

She's tougher than she looks lol.  I have no worries in life this girl will stand up for herself with the attitude she already has at 14 months!

Treasure map cake

Note: I did not dry out my fondant decorations, because I made them the morning of the party ..(Yes I'm that last minute) lol Which posed a problem with the mermaid tails.  They were falling over.  I made a little stack of rocks to hold them up, luckily I'm pretty good at solving creative problems. lol

Pirate tattoos are a must have! 

as well as eye patches

No i wasn't crazy enough to give these out lol (My mom bought them)

They did look cute out on the table though!

Rainbow Cake!

Rainbow Cake!
Baked a little rainbow pinata cake for the kids for some St Patty's day fun. (It's filled with skittles!)

Emily's fabulous 1st birthday party recap!

My little Emily turned 1 on Saturday! Her party could not have been more perfect.  We celebrated with a few close friends and family and the birthday girl reveled in all the attention.  Her party colors were pink and gold accented with florals.  The decor came out just as I imagined. (Thank goodness).  Time truly flies once you have children.  I still remember the moment(like it was yesterday) it was confirmed that we were expecting a girl.  We literally could not stop smiling. The boys were being babysat by my in laws while we attended the ultrasound.  We struggled to keep a poker face intact when picking them up because we weren't going to announce it until the reveal party! We managed to keep the secret and everyone was ecstatic when the cake was cut to reveal a pink filling.  She is the first girl on my Dad's side of the family.  The ratio of boys to girls across both sides of the family is dramatic.(Very few girls).  Which was the opposite when I was growing up.  It was mainly girls and only a few boy cousins.  I remember waking up the first morning feeling like I was in a dream. We feel so lucky to have been blessed with such wonderful children! The boys are fantastic big brothers to Emily.  

Every girl needs a 1st birthday tiara and sash! 

Purchased at Marshalls.

This made for some memorable pictures! She did not try to remove her crown once!(because she is a queen)lol I put it on and she just smiled. She actually carried the wand for a while too!

Daddy's Girl ♥

Pink sassy straws

home made Kate spade inspired confetti

Gold confetti garland

(Gold circles punched out of paper sewn together.(By my lovely grandmother!)

Rose cakes

Gold mason jar holder

Smash cake!

Pink ombre cake ♥

BTW the roses on the cake are not real(Everyone at the party thought they were!)

I'm so grateful everything went as planned! Then again I did take a whole week off beforehand to prepare. lol

♥