Zoey's Elmo Party

So this is a milestone post for two reasons... 1) It documents Zoey's 2nd birthday party. 2)I finally got *some* new pictures off of my new camera! (On that note, these pix are in no-way artsy or fartsy... however, I have been taking those pictures too. I was a bit preoccupied with making food, gathering family, and all-together living in the moment of my kid's joy. AND, I still haven't put any editing software on this crap-tastic laptop... so these are more for documentation of the event - at the moment!) :)

*Was that disclaimer long enough for you?! HA! On with the show....

That first picture is of the sign I made for the yard. I was quite pleased with it. :)

Here's the CAKE!! Yes, for those of you who know of my stressings over Z's first cake recipe... this cake is from a BOX, but the icing was all hand made... with SUGAR!! and BUTTER!! and yes, even a bit o' CRISCO!!! and yes, that's RED DYE But I avoided giving Zoey any piece with any coloring on it. :) **Here's a shout out to Joyce for helping me with her infinite wisdom of all things cooking... and in this case icing... she gave me some great tips to keep the cake top from coming up with the first layer of icing. Just let me say... hot water knife, baby! yeah! ;)

Here's the birthday girl blowing out her candles (with Daddy's help). I made the onesie that she's wearing. Well, I drew the Elmo on it. I simply used fabric markers. I learned my lesson when I tried to use puffy paint on the last birthday party shirt (the missed ladybug party in March). The puffy paint melted in the dryer and stuck to itself. This current shirt will hopefully be able to be worn again.

Here's another shot of Z in the shirt. This is one of many photos taken outside... she loves to run around outside. The HEAT was bad. The HUMIDITY was worse that day, so our outdoor time was kept in shorts bursts.

Here's one shot of some of the decorations. I made four flag strands and hung them up around the room. It was simple, but added a wonderful touch of color (and Elmo-theme-ness). John helped me one night too. That quiet time was an added bonus! :)

Zoey is waiting for her cake and ICE CREAM!! (This girl LOVES ice cream even more than cake!)

We all had such a great time. I was so happy that my mom could make the trip. Zoey was happy too. (I have some pictures of them playing around with balloons in the front room before everyone else arrived, but they are pretty blurry... I'll try to clean them up for you, Grandma!!) :)

**Let me take this monent to thank everyone who came to the party, sent cards, facebook wishes, and just all around good ju-ju our way for Sweet Beana's birthday. We are truly blessed!