Noah’s 2nd Birthday!

Noah’s second year has been quite a whirlwind and it unbelievably went much faster than the first year. He started walking, running and talking and he now even says small sentences. It’s crazy how much can change in a year! Noah is totally obsessed with yellow right now so I decided to go with a yellow theme for his party this year. The decor was yellow, the food was yellow and we even asked our guests to wear yellow. Noah was quite pleased. He walked around the house pointing at everything saying “yellow yellow yellow.” I got so stressed over all the work I had to do but it was so worth it to see his happy, smiling face about all that yellow.

We served burgers and hot dogs…I know, not yellow but I couldn’t think of a good yellow main dish. Deviled eggs, potato salad, mac-n-cheese bites, mexicorn dip, pineapple skewers, cupcakes and a yellow candy bar also graced the buffet.

Although it was sweltering outside, the kids had some fun…

jumping in the bounce house,

playing beanbags, knocking over cans,

shooting hoops

and playing with bubbles.

Although Joel and I aren’t big fans of chocolate, we somehow have a little chocoholic baby. So naturally I went with chocolate cupcakes for him. Once again, he didn’t dig into them as much as we thought he would.


But he did stick his face and fingers in the frosting.

And he put his cupcake wrapper on his head. He was an overall goofball as always!

And here is the whole family decked out in yellow. Not a bad looking crowd at all! Happy Birthday my love! Here’s hoping two is terrific, not terrible!

Valentine’s Day Inspiration: Pinterest Finds

I found some amazing Valentine’s Day food and ideas on Pinterest…too many to make myself. But some look so spectacular that I just had to share with you all. And be sure to follow me on Pinterest here for more food inspiration.

I love the combination of raspberries and chocolate so these decadent brownies with raspberry buttercream by A Farmgirl’s Dabble immediately caught my eye. My dad loves raspberries and would absolutely love these yummy treats.

Mel’s Kitchen Cafe is one of my favorite food blogs and I almost squealed when I saw these DIY Chocolate Boxes that she recently featured. What a great way to dress up store-bought chocolates.

So often all the Valentine’s Day recipes we stumble across are for super rich desserts and chocolates so I totally loved the idea of heart shaped calzones for a yummy V-Day dinner. These would be so fun to make and eat with your kiddos.

Homemade Marshmallow Conversation Hearts…..enough said.

This Valentine’s Chex Mix is fun, festive and totally tasty. I have had this before without the M&M’s and sprinkles, mmmmm.

Holy Chocolate! These Kiss Chocolate Cupcakes by The Tomkat Studio are so darn cute but just too darn chocolate-y for Joel and me but I couldn’t resist sharing them as I know many of you are die hard chocolate fans.

Super Bowl Menu

We are hosting the Super Bowl this year for the second year in a row and I am totally ordering pizza for the second year in a row. It’s easy and makes my life less stressful. But of course I can’t just have pizza. I could never have at least one homemade thing at a gathering…it’s just not my style. Sooo, in addition to the pizza I am going to prepare some dips and desserts for our guests. I’m pretty darn excited about them so I thought that I would share them with you now in case you want to try them for the big game. I will feature them in the future if they are a hit among the crowd.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Mexican Cheesy Corn Dip from Piece, Love and Cooking

Caramel Peanut Butter Dip for Apples

Dessert is a toss up right now…either mini fruit pizza’s or Blue Moon cupakes…ooooor both. I just can’t decide. Blue Moon cupcakes would be perfect for the game but mini fruit pizza’s would be so cute and fun.

Blue Moon Cupcakes from Erica Sweet Tooth

Mini Fruit Pizza’s (store bought or prepared sugar cookies with frosting…if I make these I’m going to frost the cookies then set out the fruit so everybody can create their own using the fruit they prefer)

Noah’s 1st Birthday!

I cannot believe my baby is one! This has been the most rewarding, special, exhausting, amazing, sleepless and blissful year of my life. Becoming a mom is the best thing I’ve ever done and Noah is my greatest joy! I look at him everyday and wonder why I am so lucky. God blessed me with a happy, beautiful blue-eyed boy and I will be forever in awe. I am still a bit in shock that it’s already his 1st birthday. This first year went by so fast and I get a little teary eyed thinking about my baby not being my “baby” anymore. He is such a wild and curious little man and he has to know everything that’s going on. He keeps me on my toes and is always up for a good chase.

Noah absolutely loves Elmo so we decided that was a must for the party theme. I hit up Party City for much of the decor and got the cute streamer idea for the dessert table at Annie’s Eats.

His amazing cake is from The Cake Specialist and it was absolutely delicious. This is our go to bakery (even though we no longer live in Nebraska – my parents always come up for special occasions so they bring it up for us). I considered making his cake myself but I really wanted a tiered cake which I have never attempted and I didn’t want my first try to be for such an important event. And I was trying not to go overboard (wasn’t successful there) so I would stress out (lost on this one too).

The bakery made a special smash cake just for Noah. We thought he would totally destroy it but he ended up digging in then looking at his hands in disgust, opening and closing them because of the frosting. He tried a little bit but was just too disturbed about the frosting all over his hands.  

He did enjoy the cake when it was fed to him though. He demolished the Elmo cookies I made at a surprising rate. I was pretty proud of how they turned out, especially since it was only my second time decorating sugar cookies. They took FOREVER so I’m glad that he enjoyed them so much!

The menu consisted of burgers, brats, pasta salad, potato salad, layered salad, fruit and veggie trays with yummy dips, baked beans, mac-n-cheese, Elmo sugar cookies, cake and ice cream. I will be sharing the recipes very soon with you all.

The party was just perfect and was everything I wanted for our little man. Thanks to our family and friends for helping make this such a great and cherished day for us! We created some priceless memories that will not be forgotten anytime soon. Happy Birthday my love, you are amazing and I love you with all my heart!

Linked to Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays!