Kendra's 19th Birthday Party

The kids did valentine crafts and gave each other valentines.

We set up the Goodie Bags so they could be used for mailboxes.

Drinks and snacks

Vannan made "doughnuts"

We had a "Pre Party" sort of ... for Papa's Birthday. We were delighted to have Meme join us.

The tiny lady bugs were thumb tacks.

Cupcakes

Malinda and Jade

Gift Table

Aunt Ruth (and a missing Uncle Paul) got the first gift ....

Beach Vacation in a jar. for their 17th Anniversary.

And Kendra got this gorgeous necklace. Yes ... her shirt says "Sweet 16" And she gave herself a name tag... so she wouldn't loose herself.

May 22 - Birthday Cakes

May 22 - These were Joel and Matthew's 5th birthday cakes.

Their party was during the time Karen was so sick.

So Kendra made the cakes.

The boys LOVED them.

The loved putting on their own candles.

Harvest Fest Cakes

The "main cake" that Karen made.
It was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Kendra wanted to make the "special" cake.
For our special guest

It was regular frosting,
but Papa helped her cut it to make an "oreo" sandwich effect.

Good start on cake making.

Groom's Cake

My best friend borrowed Mom's extensive cake supplies (what she needed) to do a groom's cake for her brother.

He wanted CHOCOLATE.

So we had an idea.

Finished product.

Everyone seemed to like it a LOT.

More Gingerbread Train Pictures

Making a Gingerbread Train

Each year for about 8 years now - my mom has been buying Gingerbread kits on sale after Christmas - and for a while it was a HUGE day at Grandma's house.

A couple of years ago - I acquired the leftover kits and began doing them ourselves.

Our church is having it's annual Christmas Dinner on Sunday Night. So we thought we would send a nice center piece for the holidays.

So, what do you think?

Joel, Matthew, Bethie, and even Esther tried to help (er ... at as much candy as they could when adults were not helping).

Karen and Vannan did the bulk of the project.

We plan to make a few more before the holiday's are over.

Vannan turns 11 and Finds Treasure!

Sometime this Spring, Vannan discovered "Pirates of the Carribean" and loved the silliness of the movies. Anyone remember her last pirate party? I think she turned 5? We made a big pirate ship out of McDonald's boxes.... well, we didn't do that this year.

Vannan found a treasure chest cake in a magazine and my mom made the cake - all that gold - that's butterscotch! And to the left there are the black and white candles that she put on it. My mom even found tiny skeleton sprinkles for it.

Not many people showed up. Tim said to have the party at 2pm - but it turned out to be the hottest week - with the heat index up to 112, and 104 in the shade. We buried coins and aquirium jewels in the sand - but they were too hot to dig up. My nephews are getting rich on the pennies they have dug up since then.

Then my Uncle (dressed with a genuine sword - he loves dressing up for Renisaunce Festivals) and Vannan's best friend's dad each took a team of giggling kids on a treasure hunt. Both teams had the same clues ... but in a different order and not always to the exact same place. It was a riot, and took a lot longer than we expected. Everyone got stuck on the tire clue. Kendra dressed for the part, planned the whole hunt (with a little help from mom at the end) and planned to decorate all the treasure boxes - she ran out of time.

Presents and cake and the kids were ready to go home. It was a penny pinching affair - we spent a tiny amount on the cake - used left over party stuff from past parties, drank water (which was fine with everybody as hot as it was) and had icy treats to go with it. I doubt the whole party cost us more than $25. And we had FUN! I just regret that a few people recieved their invitations late and were unable to join us. We missed them.