paper-cat/mother-cat

PHew! {sigh of relief}

Sofi had her 2nd birthday party today.
I'm not a big party thrower (we only have 1 or 2 a year).
Needless to say it is a source of stress for me. Preparations. Cleaning the house. Planning the menu. Waiting for people to show up. Oh yeah and the party itself! All that small talk.

But of course it was all worth it. Sofi had a good time. She mingled (in her own way). She played with the other kids and babies. She acknowledged the adult guests by offering them little gifts: tea bags, baby birds, her mama mouse baby blanket, toys.

She even HUGGED one lucky guest goodbye! Note: We see our friend Marylou and her son Matthew twice a week during our Toddlers's class and Kindermusik class so she is very comfortable with them.

Menu: Jamie made crepes with our new VillaWare Crepe Maker and I set up a chocolate fountain with cut-up fruit, pretzels, graham crackers for dipping. (I got the idea from Michelle and her first birthday party). The chocolate made a good topping for the crepes (in addition to the strawberries, powdered sugar, whipped cream and blueberries). I also made a cupcake tower (no mess of cutting the cake! and good for portion control) decorated with gummy bugs and worms and two star candles for Sofi's (which she has yet to eat - she filled up on graham crackers.). So it a very SWEET menu. But I think people liked it. Jamie said it made the house smell like chocolate which is a good thing.

Decorations: I made a paper chain out of my leftover SEI Petals andd Paisley papers (matched our yellow walls of our dining room. I had Basic Grey star and ball Fruitcake ornaments on our mantel and book shelf and various balloons. Very low-key. The view of Seattle was a nice backdrop. One of the clearest days since we moved here, I reckon!

Party favors consisted of a hello kitty bubble necklace and a slinkie jr and a couple sheets of alphabet stickers.

Entertainment? I originally had toyed with the idea of hiring the Bubble Man - but I never followed through. Then I though I'd make my own bubbles so I got this bubble machine, but it's way too COLD for bubbles outdoors. So I pulled out some of Sofi's toys and spread them out in the living room: 3 toy pianos, basketball hoop, a leaf puzzle, , drawing desk, legos etc. I also gave rides to some of the kids in Sofi's new wagon around the living room! The balloons also seemed to entertain the kids (And babies).

So, I guess now I can gear up for Christmas!

We still need to:
* get our tree
* make a few gifts
* decorate the house
* make/send our Christmas cards
* take a Christmas photo of Sofi for the cards.

And all this with Jamie leaving for Singapore next week....