Clara's 1st Birthday Party!

We had this little girl's birthday party Monday the 23rd at the park just by our house here in Minot!

We were going to do her party this weekend on her real birthday- the 28th, but after looking at the weather we saw that Monday was supposed to be like 80 degrees and beautiful, so we just did it then! and I'm so glad we did, because it's supposed to rain and be cold again all weekend!

Here's a picture of the set up... no biggie, I got there 5 minutes early to set up... but what else is new? I'm always running late. and never mind the pom poms and the banner just swinging in the wind!

So this party- like the other birthday parties I've had for Lucy was really randomly put together. And last second-- last week i was like, Oh ya! Clara's birthday is next week! Maybe we should have a party? So she had this darling dress, and that's where i decided which colors to use!

I made my mama's yummy sugar cookies, ordered some of the cute colored straws on etsy, and made a bunch of paper pinwheels that up until I started to set up I had no idea what I was going to do with.. I just thought they were cute!

I also made these cute hats for the girls-- Clara's was by far the cutest, and I had intentions of doll-ing up the rest, but that didn't happen. That's ok though, the little girls still thought that paper hats were way cool! And that pinwheels were like little wands!

My cupcakes were quite comical really-- I bought some of the frosting tips at walmart and decided to experiment a little. Some of them turned out so ridiculous looking, and others ok. I definitely have no idea what I'm doing with them! And I might have stepped on a few in the car on the drive over... No big deal. I made the little cupcake stand, thanks again to bridgeywidgey.com-- Bridget is awesome. And found the little cupcake toppers at Hobby Lobby.

I also had some pretty random candy, and I figured out from one of my favorite blogs to read: armelleblog.com, that you can print right on paper bags! So i had already happened to pick up these mini paper bags at Hobby Lobby then just printed right on them. I didn't get a good picture of them, but they say,"It was SWEET of you to come  Love, Clara".

So me and cakes are NOT friends. I made another 'rainbow cake' just 4 layers though this time....and well I obviously didn't let it cool long enough because it was totally falling apart, and my frosting job was TERRIBLE, and the candle was ugly, I stuck random pinwheels in it, and it totally tipped over when I cut it... but it still taste really good. So that's ok right? Betty Crocker sure knows what she's doing! ;)

again more random goods, chips and dip, veggies, animal crackers, and fruit snacks, and some water bottles. Tyler was giving me a hard time for having him put little labels on the water bottles, and then did a really crappy job putting them into the ice bucket... BUT, he did humor me by helping me set everything up, and letting our house be a disaster for the few days before.

We said no gifts on the invite, but cute Jaymie got Clara 'Pinkalicious'. Lucy was so exited to check it out when we got home! Thanks Jaymie!

I also made the tissue pom poms for my first time! My first two were absolutely awful, but after that I think I finally figured it out. It's always windy here so really these just kind of blew around, but that's what I was expecting anyway! I ended up hanging these above Clara's crib today and can't decide how I feel about it. She thinks they are awesome though!

Ok now on to the good stuff...

cute Lucy and some of her friends- Alize, Sky, and Ruby

Clara's BFF: (aka only other baby we hang out with.. Haha...) But my cute friend Jenny's baby, Georgia. Who I absolutely love!

Clara was pretty grumpy but then found a random sugar cookie someone had left on the blanket, and was in heaven.... I mean it was her birthday party right? She can do what she wants!

Lucy and her little friend Sky. She just moved in a few weeks ago, and Lucy LOVES her! They are the cutest little friends. She asks if we can go to Sky's house like everyday, and loves seeing her at daycare at the Y and at church! I mean how cute are they together?

 the cute women folk: angie, molly, jaymie, celeste, anna, me, amy, heather, jenny, cody, and tera

i love these girls and am so glad we have made some good friends since we have moved in!

 the park was the BEST place to have a party! I even had Noah tell me that this was the coolest party ever! haha, that is something saying he is a 10 year old boy, and the party was for a 1 year old girl! Haha-- but the kids all had so much fun playing together and eating all the cookies, candy, cupcakes, cake, and juice boxes they wanted! We need to have family nights like this more often!

I of course forgot the lighter again, and oddly no one there smoked! ;) So, we pretended while we sang to Clara and she was in heaven eating her pineapple and looked so so cute in her little princess hat!

cute friends Justice and Ivy watching Lucy eat her cake! I love Ivy, she is my friend Jaymie's little girl and I feel like we're friends. She is a seriously cool 10 year old! =)

please notice all these little girls: all the girls walking are Lucy's age, and the 3 on the tire swing are all 5. They are like herds of little girls around here! It's awesome!

We had so much fun on Monday! I really do love doing little parties like this, and since it only happens twice a year-- once for Lucy and once for Clara, it makes it fun for me! Thanks to everyone who came, Clara had so much fun! =)