Cupcake Wars

I borrowed (read--stole) an idea from a few friends who had successfully thrown a wonderful Cupcake Wars inspired birthday party. I have four good friends who had recent birthdays (three of them during the same week!) so it was a perfect theme.

Most of the guests brought cupcakes to enter into the competition and this is what the spread was beautiful. And HUGE. Don't underestimate how quickly you get full after eating several tiny cupcakes. Must. Have. Milk.

It was really amazing to see what everyone brought. They were all different. I hadn't ever heard of most of these types of cupcakes before.

We opened a few gifts first.

l to r: Eliza, Akayleia, Lacey holding Jenna's baby Landon, and Jenna

But then the party really got started.

Akayleia might have failed to shove that entire cupcake into her mouth but it was just a snippet of how the night went. I honestly have not had that much fun since high school. I mean that in a good way. There was some WILD giggling going on. I suppose that is what happens when you get a bunch of Mom's together after kids bed time and supply infinite amounts of sugar. :) I'm already wondering if we should do it again next year.

We had the birthday girls judge the cupcakes. Every participant got an award. Some of them were for cutest and best decorated. Others were for "fits in your hand but not in your mouth" (wonder who got that award) or Next Stop Food Network, Julia Child in Disguise and so on.

We voted for our favorite cupcakes and picked a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Embarrassingly, my cupcakes won first place. I blame Noelene's lemon curd filling. Even though I made the cupcakes Brad had made the filling and it just wasn't right for me to take the credit. He got to get in on the award action too.

Heather came in what I'm assuming a close second. She made two different types of cupcakes that were out of this world.

And Lacey came in third with her delectable cupcakes.

Yum. Fun. What more could you ask from a birthday party? I'd say it was a success!

A photo of the whole crew. Watch out! We bake cupcakes.

Shoe Boy Strikes Again

Mary Poppins

Ever since we went to the Nutcracker and I found out about those 1/2 price student tickets I've been dying to see more shows. This time we went to Mary Poppins with friends. It was practically perfect in every way.

It was nice to go with another couple. A very rare experience. I'm usually asking the people I'd enjoy double dates with to watch my kids. Thanks Lacey for making the evening possible!

Will's Actual Birthday

As long as you aren't a grandparent you are allowed to stop reading. I'll give you license to be nauseated by this third birthday post. On William's actual birthday he got to go to the grocery store with his Dad to get a balloon and some doughnuts.

What is it with kids a balloons anyway?

A quick re-cap of William this past year:

Will has been impressive in asserting his independence. He'll often demand to do something himself that older brother David doesn't mind letting Mom and Dad do. We can pop a messy treat into David's mouth but William MUST. HOLD IT. HIMSELF. He's also thrown some impressive fits. The most memorable was probably at Independence Hall in Philadelphia this past summer, but that certainly wasn't the only long one. It was just one of the more embarrassing.

For all the pains he takes to assert himself Will is a snuggle boy and a sweetheart. We refer to him as the "barnacle." He still gives a great soft squishintoyourbodylikealittlebaby hug. If we weren't mean and our kids ever slept in bed with us William would be there...every night. Will is also quite the talker. He's been speaking in sentences for awhile. I guess it is no surprise with parents who also like to talk.

William has a killer doe eyed look that he can pull out on demand. Our neighbor Heather was convinced that we'd taught him that skill but he honestly just came that way. He was so convincing that she ended up giving him what he wanted! Will is also the yin to David's yang. William knows David's name and can point his brother "David" out but still always calls him Willie. He must think that he should call David Willie because that is what we call him? William says a very sweet prayer before dinner and bed. We love our snuggly but independent little boy.

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Brad had tickets to the BU hockey game. William didn't get go even though it was his birthday. David does better when he stays up late so he was the winner of the extra seat.

Go Terriers! Fierce mascot, right?

Dean Hutter, Brad, David, and Dr. Calabrese

William and I stayed home and watched our little friend Annelise while her parents were out at a work party. Our downstairs neighbors came up and we had brownies and sang "Happy Birthday" one last time. He probably didn't need it but I needed it. I guess we'll be off of sugar and birthdays for awhile.

Will's Family Birthday

Since Brad was going to be gone the night of William's actual birthday we took the kids to a 1950's style ice cream joint called Cabot's. It's a fun little place, especially for dessert. The boys did a good job sitting. I think tiny chairs work better than a bench seat!

William got to blow out the candle on a huge brownie. David had a cookie and Brad and I split my favorite--a Belgian waffle sundae--but thankfully we didn't eat the whole thing. He'll officially be two tomorrow and I swear that his first two years went even quicker than David's did.

Lots of Fun With Grandma Kathy

Our last week in Arizona rolled by quickly we spent much of the time playing with Grandma!

Went headed to the park:

How many Grandma's do you know that dig in the sand?

We "helped" garden:

We "helped" wash the produce from the garden:

We tearfully (at least my Mom and I) read a Hallmark recordable book that Grandma put together so the boys can hear her voice while reading their Twinkle Star story at home:

The boys still love the book.

We were fed snacks and milk and brought every toy our little boy hearts desired too!

We enjoyed sitting on the porch with everyone one last time:

And we enjoyed Grandma at the airport:

I for one wasn't complaining about the extra help through security!

Thanks Mom.

My phone broke while I was at Sky Harbor in Phoenix. I frantically tried sending a text to Brad when they predicted we'd be an hour early because I knew he was in the clinic and couldn't track the flight. By some miracle the text sent just after they asked me to put away my phone. Phew.

The flight back went even better than the flight out (no transfers!). Except for the end. Will didn't fall asleep until we landed. He doesn't have the best track record for keeping it together when he is tired. The airport was a bit of a nightmare.

Because of another small miracle Brad was able to pick us up. He wouldn't have been there early but his patient cancelled. Double phew. I was thrilled he was waiting at the baggage claim because it wasn't too fun trying to walk through the airport with a screaming kid and I wasn't excited about the idea of waiting with a screaming kid while trying to pick up baggage.

William kept on throwing his fit (even though I was sure he'd be excited to see his Dad) and Brad got the kids in the car while I collected our too many bags. I was happy to see Brad and very glad to see that the snow piles and melted to a much more reasonable amount!

Just Visiting

Sometime before we celebrated Will's birthday we made a visit to see my cousin Natalie and her son John. She and her husband Robert and staying with Natalie's other grandparents who conveniently live in Phoenix too! It was fun to watch the three boys playing together.

Natalie grew up in California and I grew up in Arizona so it wasn't often that we were together when we were younger. We sure had fun when we "reunited" at BYU. It was also nice to see Natalie's grandparents Ward and Sigie. They are the kind of people that make you feel like they could be your grandparents too!

David, Johnny, and Willim playing with the music table.

Our visit couldn't have been complete without a stop at Kimmie's house. Kim is my step-sister but I dislike that label because she is a real sister and is most certainly a real friend. It was fun to see her and Sean's new house too. It was a very nice place, she and Sean had it tastefully decorated and it honestly made me a little jealous since it will be awhile before we think about owning a home. We loved seeing baby Alex and David got a kick out of playing with his toys.

Alex, Kimmie, me, and David.

So nice to visit!